CASEY STONEY has apologised for what she calls an ‘error in judgement’ after giving her players permission to travel to Dubai.
And the Manchester United boss hopes the Covid crisis will not lead to football going into hiatus following Everton’s game with the Red Devils being called off.
Casey Stoney says Man Utd take protocols around Covid-19 very seriouslyCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The clash between the Toffees and the WSL’s league leaders is the third women’s top-flight game to be axed this week.
On their web site, Everton say this is due to injuries and five members of their squad getting coronavirus between Christmas and New Year.
And in their statement, the Red Devils said: “Manchester United received notification from The FA that our Women’s Super League game against Everton on Sunday will be postponed due to confirmed Covid-19 cases at Everton Women.
“The game will be rescheduled and a date will be communicated in due course.”
The furore surrounding WSL aces jetting to Dubai over the festive break arose during Stoney’s press conference.
Anybody deemed to be breaking club protocols or government guidelines, I take very seriously and I will deal with internally
Casey Stoney
The United boss confirmed players from her squad had travelled to the location visited by members of Man City’s and Arsenal’s WSL sides.
And the Red Devils chief stated she had given her squad members the go-ahead to travel abroad, but suggested that this was a mistake.
Stoney said: “I said before Christmas that I will always take my players’ wellbeing into consideration and I granted permission for my players to go home and see their families to have a break.
“On reflection, I do trust my players wholeheartedly to stick within government guidelines, everything we allowed them to do was within government guidelines, but I have to be honest and on reflection, it was a poor error in judgement from me. I am sincerely sorry for that.
“The buck starts with me and it stops with me so I am sorry for that.
“Everything was considered as a club in terms of the players’ needs. That’s why it was approved. I made a mistake and I take responsibility for it.
“Anybody deemed to be breaking club protocols or government guidelines, I take very seriously and I will deal with internally.”
The Covid-19 crisis is continuing to wreak havoc in sports.
Blackburn Rovers’ Women’s Championship clash with Charlton is one of the latest football fixtures to be axed due to coronavirus cases in the Addicks camp.
And Stoney says United are doing everything in their power to maintain health and safety at their Leigh Sports Village base.
The United gaffer added: “We’ve had six [positive tests] throughout this pandemic and not once has it spread because our protocols are strong.
Everton’s clash with United has been postponed due to injuries and Covid casesCredit: Rex Features
“We’re very strong in our environment, we try to educate our players to keep them safe.
“Obviously, the new (Covid-19) variant is different, and it’s rapidly changing, but we’ve managed to keep our environment safe, we had a fully fit squad to go into Sunday, we were prepared to go into Sunday.
“I want us to obviously, make sure that we protect our environments.”
Watch Vivianne Miedema hit her 50th WSL goal to become the league’s all-time record scorer
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
