Former NIFL chief backs non-elite football ban
FORMER Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) chairman Brian Adams has made an impassioned plea for the Championship season not to be played for fear that someone involved could lose their life to the coronavirus.
The emotive comments come at a time when NIFL remain hopeful that a truncated Championship campaign will start at some stage in the near future.
Earlier this month, with Covid figures rising and games being postponed due to cases at clubs, the NIFL Board, supported by the Irish FA, took the decision to have a two week Irish Premiership match break, with players returning to training yesterday and top flight games set to go ahead on Saturday following the introduction of Covid testing.
Unlike the Premiership, which began in October, Championship sides were not granted Elite status by the IFA and have been left kicking their heels this term with no league fixtures.
Adams, previously the chairman of Ards, believes it should stay that way in the second tier on health grounds.
“I simply do not understand our thinking on this in the context of the pandemic,” states Adams, who was involved in the high level NIFL meetings last year on how to finish the 2019/20 season.
“What is the massive importance of finishing the season even with a limited number of matches against causing even one death?
“Life and death is more important than football.”
Adams, who has been replaced as NIFL chairman by Cliftonville chief Gerard Lawlor, believes there is no argument for Championship football to go ahead.
He admits: “We have over 95,000 cases of this killer virus in Northern Ireland and over 1600 deaths, and yet we want to play games. We are endangering our players, staff, helpers and directors because we want to complete leagues.
“I hold my hand up in that in the summer I would have thought that we needed to play, but not now.
“I have family working in the NHS and neighbours working in ICU. I see them stressed out, working enormous hours to save lives.
“I couldn’t attend a dear friend’s funeral due to Covid rules and it is heartbreaking. Now we see this virus spreading and in our beloved game.
“Fixtures are having to be postponed due to isolation requirements and this is without supporters inside the grounds.
“Recently, at a NIFL Championship Management meeting, I gave my feelings that the Championship should not commence due to this pandemic.
“Having again voiced my concerns, I was delighted that the Steel and Sons Committee agreed and unanimously decided to terminate their competitions. I am pleased to say the Ards board are also unanimously in agreement over these views.
“I do not want to upset the chairmen and managers of NIFL clubs, some of whom are close friends, but it is time to put football on the backburner and not have a player, official or football man die because of a football game due to the contraction of Covid.”
Senior football is set to reconvene this Saturday with testing, paid for by NIFL and the Irish FA, introduced for the first time in the Premiership.
The Belfast Telegraph understands the majority of the clubs in the top flight were keen for a return to action as quickly as possible.
Asked if he feels the Premiership should continue, Adams said:”if testing takes place, that’s a big help, but why are we hell bent on playing 38 games in a more and more limited time span? I’m sorry, but less contact means more safety. Lives come first.”