DOCTORS from four Premier League clubs have told football chiefs the proposed season restart is NOT safe in a 100-point letter.
Medics put together a long letter to PL medical advisor Mark Gillett and director of football Richard Garlick listing 100 questions and potential problems.
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Doctors from four Premier League clubs have sent a letter to chiefs laying out 100 concerns over a potential return
Tottenham are back in training, along with Arsenal
The letter – split into ten different sections – revealed multiple Covid-19 concerns they believe have not yet been addressed.
The concerns include:
- “Approving guidelines that still carry risk of death.”
- “Liability, insurance and testing for players, staff and their families.”
- “Possible transmission via sweat and goalkeeper gloves.”
- “Suspicions that some clubs are already ignoring guidelines.”
- “Increased risk for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups.”
- “Ability of emergency services to attend training ground incidents.”
Premier League club doctors were invited to get down in writing any concerns they over a potential return to training this month – with some teams, such as Arsenal and Tottenham, already back at work.
The medics sent their fears to the Premier League Doctors Group (PLDG), before they were collated and sent on to Gillett and Garlick.
For now, any Premier League clubs back in training are doing so in small groups while observing social distancing.
RETURN DATE PUSHED BACK?
The plan for a return, still pending an official decision, is to have matches restart on June 12.
Teams want at least four weeks of training in a bid to get players back to match fitness and therefore lower the chance of injury.
That means clubs are hoping to be back in training by May 18 – just under two weeks from now.
The letter from club medics could yet push that proposed date back – with Germany’s top two flights already seeing their return delayed by a week.
Despite that delay, Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs are back in training – with a number of players across the two leagues testing positive for the virus.
The remainder of the English top flight looks likely to be played behind closed doors and in neutral stadiums across the country this summer.
To counteract fears of injuries to players, PFA chief Gordon Taylor has suggested games could be SHORTER – and with more substitutions allowed in games.
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Taylor said: “We don’t know the future… what we do know is what propositions have been put forward and ideas.
“More subs, games possibly not being full 45 minutes each way, neutral stadiums… there’s lots of things put forward.
“We’re trying to wait to see what proposals are and have the courtesy to let the managers and coaches and players assimilate all those and come to a considered view.”
Martin Keown questions whether players want Premier League to return after Sergio Agüero admits they are ‘scared for their families’
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
