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Premier League bosses are determined to go ahead with the matches despite calls from various clubs to introduce a two-week lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Several clubs have suffered outbreaks within their bubbles, which is causing chaos within the league with fears that an increase in positive cases will send the problem out of control.
However, with teams already faced with a packed match roster, the option to postpone and rearrange the two-week games will prove extremely difficult heading into this summer’s reshuffled Euro 2020.
Premier League bosses have no intention of suspending the season, despite announcing on Tuesday that a record number of positive tests were returned, with 18 detected in the week between Monday, December 21 and Sunday, December 27.
It’s the most positive results in the league since the project restart. The previous highest was when 16 tested positive in November.
As Sportsmail revealed, the government has held talks with soccer authorities amid growing numbers of positive tests as a new strain of the virus hits the country.
Government officials offered Premier League clubs reassurance that top flight could continue, given constant testing by players and staff, while the success of Project Restart helped show that action can continue safely enough.
However, talks about a schedule break come after at least five City players tested positive for the virus, forcing them to postpone their trip to Everton earlier this week and putting Sunday’s game in jeopardy. with Chelsea.
All players and city staff have been retested and the club is ready to announce the full extent of positive cases within their camp on Wednesday afternoon.
If the number of positives has increased, it will only strengthen the season’s suspension requests, leading to a significant backlog of matches for City and other clubs well into the new year.
Gary Neville believes that a two-week shutdown to curb an increase in positive Covid-19 cases among players and coaches would not solve the problem, and Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is of the same opinion.
West Brom manager Sam Allardyce spoke in favor of a fifteen-day hiatus to try to stop the spread of the virus after 18 positive cases in the top flight, but Sky Sports expert Neville disagrees.
Neville tweeted: ‘Soccer has proven over the last 6 months that it can function safely. It was okay to be cautious and concerned during the first crash when the virus was new and unknown.
In my opinion, it shouldn’t stop now. This virus will not disappear in 2-4 weeks !! ‘
Since then, it has emerged that Wednesday night’s game between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham is in doubt after a series of positive cases at the west London club.
Informal talks have been held about a two-week hiatus in the Premier League season, but Solskjaer is concerned about the repercussions.
It’s not something I’ve given much thought to. I think our players have been very good at following the protocols and the rules, ” Solskjaer said after United’s 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
‘That is part of the job here, that we, as clubs, follow the given protocols. I don’t see the benefit of having a circuit break, whatever it’s called.
‘Because when are we going to play the games? We all know that this year is very difficult, but I don’t think stopping the games is going to be a big change. “
However, the two-week shutdown received the backing of Baggies’ new boss, Allardyce.
“Everyone’s safety is more important than anything else,” he said. ‘When I listen to the news, the variant virus spreads faster than the original virus [so] We can only do the right thing, which is to have a circuit break.
‘I am 66 years old and the last thing I want to do is catch Covid. I am very worried about myself and about football in general.
‘If that’s the thing to do, we have to do it. We had a positive one this week and it seems to be moving forward no matter how hard we try. ‘
Meanwhile, a dispute is brewing over the postponement of City’s game at Goodison Park on Monday, the second Premier League game to be canceled due to Covid this season.
Everton reportedly “ feel disrespected ” by City and the Premier League after they were left out of the consultation process that led to the match being canceled just five hours before kick-off.
They have demanded the ‘full disclosure’ of the information that led to the decision with The Athletic reporting that Everton had no say in the matter.
The Premier League rules specify that a match must take place if the two teams can summon at least 14 players from their team roster.
But Monday night’s game was postponed for fear that the new strain of the virus would spread among players and officials if it had continued. Everton expected 2,000 spectators at the match.
City players Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus were already isolating themselves before three other anonymous players showed positive results in the hours leading up to the game against Everton.
The players underwent the first of three tests in the City Soccer Academy parking lot on Tuesday with additional tests on Wednesday.
The full scope of the outbreak has now become clear with more rounds of testing planned ahead of Sunday’s planned trip to Chelsea.
The game at Stamford Bridge remains in serious doubt with any postponement escalating a logistical nightmare for City amid an already congested match schedule in 2021.
Guardiola’s team is already two games away from some top-flight teams and will compete in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League in the new year.
The City outbreak started in a similar way to Newcastle United earlier this month with two players initially contracting the virus.
But those numbers in Newcastle soon rose to double digits after the same reassessment process that City has embarked on revealed more cases.
City sources fear that the mutant variant of Covid-19 that players are believed to have signed up for in London ahead of the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with Arsenal last week is more virulent than the original strain.
Covid has also taken firm control further down the pyramid with seven of the 12 matches scheduled in League One on Tuesday night postponed.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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