THE number of footballers contacting the PFA for help with mental health problems has “spiked” since the game was forced into lockdown.
In the first three months of this year, 299 players contacted the Professional Footballers Association.
The PFA’s Michael Bennett has revealed the spate of calls for helpCredit: https://www.thepfa.com/
This compares to a total of 653 for the whole of 2019.
The game in England has been suspended since March 13 and shows no sign of returning anytime soon.
That has led to huge concern within the union over the wellbeing of footballers, many of whom are struggling to cope without any routine in their lives, have worries over their finances and are gambling as they have nothing else to do.
Michael Bennett, the PFA’s director of welfare, said: “When you’re used to a particular structure and you’re not able to follow that and you’re stuck in day in, day out — I’m concerned about players emotionally and mentally.
“It’s key for them to understand that when something doesn’t seem right that they seek the relevant support. We had an idea that the first week or two would be a bit of a honeymoon period, where people would be at home and spending time with the family.
“But we always thought the longer it went on that’s when it would hit home.”
MONEY WORRY
The Government’s decision to extend the lockdown by a further three weeks until May 7 has put paid to any plans for resuming training at the start of next month. Now teams are thought to be looking to resume training around the middle of May, with the hope of kickstarting the season in June.
But the longer the shutdown goes on, the more the financial stability of many clubs is threatened — and that has become a huge worry for players.
While any wage deferrals or pay cuts are unlikely to dramatically hit those on huge contracts in the Premier League, things are far less secure down in the EFL.
So the recommendation earlier this week from a combined EFL and PFA working group that players in Leagues One and Two agree a 25 per cent wage deferral for this month has led to an influx of calls to the PFA.
Bennett, speaking to the BBC, added: “As soon as we put that proposal forward, we made sure players were aware they could access support via our benevolent funds if they had any kind of financial hardship.
“In the first week or so we even had a number of players calling up because they’d been caught up in the panic buying, overspent money they didn’t really have and then had to struggle through.”
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Players filling the void in their lives caused by lockdown with gambling is now becoming a major concern for the PFA.
The union have been putting on video-conferencing support sessions to help.
Bennett said: “We’ve also put a questionnaire out asking about their mental health and how they’ve been coping and whether they want or need support.
“We’re getting a trickle of responses so we’ll continue to monitor the data and put in any additional support as and when it’s needed.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
