Soccer

Premier League postpones six matches but rejects call for break

Manchester United left with just seven first team players after explosion of cases

Manchester United were due to meet Brighton at Old Trafford. Photo: Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Paul MacInnes
Thu Dec 16 2021 - 19:26

The Premier League was forced on Thursday to postpone six matches because of Covid but insisted it was determined to continue with the season despite calls for a ‘firebreak’ suspension.

As cases continued to spread across football – and postponements piled up in the EFL – Brentford’s Thomas Frank said this weekend’s fixtures should be suspended to “break the chains” of infection. Organisers, meanwhile, doubled down on emergency regulations and a new focus on changing the minds of vaccine-refusing players.

It is understood that a combination of Covid and fitness issues had left United with only seven players from their first-team squad available for selection for Brighton on Saturday, a situation worse than that which had seen their match against Brentford called off on Monday night.

The explosion of cases at Old Trafford came alongside a worsening picture at Leicester which forced their game at home to Tottenham on Thursday to be called off. Shortly before 7pm GMT the league announced that four weekend fixtures would not go ahead: Southampton v Brentford, Watford v Crystal Palace, West Ham v Norwich and Everton v Leicester.

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On Wednesday Watford confirmed a rash of positive tests just a few hours before they had been due to step out at Burnley. The Premier League has come in for criticism over late decisions and a lack of clarity over its rules, but in announcing the United and Brighton postponement it insisted it was determined to play on.

“While recognising a number of clubs are experiencing Covid-19 outbreaks, it is the league’s intention to continue its current fixture schedule where safely possible,” it said. “The health and wellbeing of all concerned remains our priority.”

Some fixtures have continued despite Covid cases this week, including Chelsea’s home match against Everton and Norwich’s defeat against Aston Villa on Tuesday. With players now taking daily lateral flow tests, a new round of data will be available before the next round of matches begins this weekend, the crowded Christmas schedule coming up close behind.

Brentford are expected to play their match against Southampton on Saturday but Frank told reporters he thought it should be called off.

“We think we should postpone the full round of Premier League games this weekend,” the manager said. “Covid cases are going through the roof at all Premier League clubs; everyone is dealing with it and having problems.

“To postpone this round and also the Carabao Cup round [next Tuesday and Wednesday] would give everyone a week at least, or four or five days to clean and do everything at the training ground so everything is clean and you break the chain.”

The Leeds United manager, Marcelo Bielsa, also expressed uncertainty over playing on, saying there were concerns over sporting integrity. “I would not like to come up against a team that is depleted due to Covid”, he said, “I would not like to take advantage of that.”

Both United and Leicester have shut their training grounds this week, with Leicester saying they had done so as “a circuit breaker to help reduce the risk of further infection”. On Thursday Brighton announced that they too would be limiting access, with training suspended over the weekend despite the United postponement.

While the pressure on league competition was undoubtedly growing, the Premier League continued to stick by medical protocols, introduced a week ago, in the hope they will slow the spread. On Thursday the EFL also detailed new regulations, ones which fall in line with those in the top flight, as they confirmed that four fixtures, including Sheffield Wednesday’s League One clash with Accrington Stanley, had been postponed.

New ‘RED’ protocols will limit physical contact and time spent indoors at EFL training grounds. Players will for the first time also be expected to test themselves daily, using NHS lateral flow tests subject to availability. The EFL also spelled out their criteria for a match suspension, with clubs expected to play if they have 14 players and a goalkeeper available.

At the same time, the EFL also chose to release figures about vaccination amongst its players including the revelation that a quarter of players not only remain unvaccinated but are refusing to get a jab. This compares to 59 per cent of players who are double-jabbed, with 19 per cent either single-jabbed or willing to take the vaccine.

The figures were released as ongoing concern amongst clubs over unvaccinated players have risen up the agenda, given the role they may play in spreading the disease. Ahead of Liverpool’s match against Newcastle, Jurgen Klopp used his programme notes to reveal his Liverpool squad would soon be receiving their booster doses and called for others to get jabbed too.

“We have a very high take up of the vaccine at our club and have done for a long time”, he wrote. “I have no issue telling you I received my booster jab as soon as I was eligible and again that will be the case for many if not nearly all within our ranks in the coming days and weeks.

“If I come across friends or people I care about in my life away from football and they tell me they haven’t had a jab yet, I do my best to encourage them to listen to expert. It’s never a case of ‘listen to me’ - it’s always a case of ‘listen to those who know’.

Ignore those who pretend to know. Ignore lies and misinformation. Listen to people who know best. If you do that, you end up wanting the vaccine and the booster.” – Guardian

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