GARY NEVILLE has claimed that the football season shouldn’t return for another three or four months due to the current coronavirus pandemic.
The Manchester United legend – who has allowed NHS workers to stay in his hotels for free – insists the country’s focus should be on health, not the return of English football.
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Gary Neville has stated that football shouldn’t return for another three or four monthsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The top four tiers in England have been suspended until April 30 at the earliest, as sporting events around the glove continue to be halted due to Covid-19.
Premier League teams are expected to hold talks at the next club meeting on April 3, with the intention of still finishing the season.
But Neville insists that football shouldn’t be a focus at this this time, as he told CNN: “I think at this moment in time it’s inconceivable that football will return for the next three to four months because of the fact that we’ve just been put essentially on a lockdown.
“Football will not return because all the resources that are required to run a football stadium, which requires the police and the ambulance services, will not be available in the next few months.
“They’ll obviously be in hospitals and in the care homes looking after the sick and people who need it the most.
“Health comes first, of the fans, the players, the staff, the people who enter the stadiums.
“The most important thing is that we are about to embark on a huge crisis for our country.”
Neville previously stated that he believes players would be willing to play every 24 hours for nine days straight if it meant that they could finish the season.
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Speaking last week, he said: “At this moment in time the most important thing is they make decisive decisions.
“They’ve bought themselves some time to react. The last thing I’m worried about is sorting out fixtures.
“If footballers need to play every day for nine days they’d do it – would be a festival of football for two weeks where everything finished in two weeks. It could be spectacular – it could bring some joy back to the nation.”
Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs offer free hotel rooms for NHS staff after starting to plan for the coronavirus crisis three weeks ago
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
