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May 12 (Reuters) – The Premier League should not restart the season until the number of new new coronavirus cases has decreased significantly as lives are at risk, Newcastle United defender Danny Rose said on Monday.
Premier League clubs have been in talks to end the season, which has nine remaining rounds, and the possibility of restarting next month received a boost when the government said elite sport could return after June 1.
“The government says ‘bring football back because it’s going to boost the morale of the nation,'” Rose, 29, said in a live Instagram video, adding that she didn’t care more about the morale of the country than her own health.
“People’s lives are at risk. You shouldn’t even talk about soccer until the numbers have dropped massively … Yesterday I heard the announcement, there will be no soccer until June 1 or something, I don’t even pay attention to anything of that “.
Britain has recorded more than 223,000 cases and more than 32,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the highest number in Europe.
Deputy Director of the Professional Footballers Association, Bobby Barnes, said black players were concerned about the restart after a British government study said black people are nearly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as whites. .
“I think I will be tested on Friday, so we will have to wait and see,” added Rose, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur until the end of the season.
“It saddens me that people get sick and are affected. Football should be the last thing to be solved.”
Discussions continue between the Premier League and the government over the details of how a resumed season would be conducted, and the clubs hope they can avoid playing in neutral venues.
Last week, clubs were told that any return to complete the season would have to be with games played behind closed doors and in neutral venues, to limit the risk of fans showing up off the field.
But that idea had been rejected by some of the clubs facing the threat of relegation, such as Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion, who expressed concern over the fairness of playing in neutral venues.
The league must provide UEFA’s governing body with details of UEFA’s plans by May 25. (Report by Rohith Nair in Bangalore Edition by Robert Birsel)
