Wake up! It’s time to hit football’s Covidiots hard

IT’S time to get tough on the Covidiots who soil football’s image by flouting lockdown rules.

With games being called off, and clubs having to field under-strength teams because of outbreaks of the virus, it looks terrible when pictures emerge of Premier League players enjoying social gatherings in blatant breach of the regulations.

If clubs will not come down hard on the rule-breakers, the Premier League and FA need to step in and grasp the nettle.

And th e puni shments should be quite clear: Automatic three-match bans for breaking the Covid laws, and point deductions for repeat offenders.

In these unprecedented t i m e s , P r e mi e r L e a g u e footballers should be among the most grateful people on the planet.

They are still able to do the job they love, they get tested twice a week, they are in biosecure bubbles which are as safe as any workplace and they are getting paid handsomely.

No furlough, no redundancy, no worr ying about where the next pay-cheque is coming from, no worries about paying the next bill.

On top of that, they are not subject to the isolation and prolonged agony of separation currently inflicted on most of the country.

They are among friends in the changing room. Sure, their lives have changed , and playing behind closed doors is different, but they are privileged.

Frankly, at a time when thousands of people are dying and millions are not allowed to see their loved ones, players who break the rules are an insult to us all. I don’t want to point fingers at individuals or name names. We know who they are.

But these people are supposed to be role models. Earning millions of pounds every year doesn’t make them exempt from the basic rules of

public health. Trotting out an apology, or taking a club fine as a slap on the wrist, doesn’t make it all right.

Managers are not going to cut off their own noses to spite their faces and drop players who are pictured at parties or dinners outside their households or bubbles if they test negative for coronavirus.

So it’s time for the Premier League and the FA to act.

From now on, any player caught flouting Covid regulations should be automatically suspended for three games. If a bad tackle is deemed to merit that puni shment then surely dicing with a pandemic must be worth at least the same.

And if any player is caught a second time, his club should be deducted points. The Covidiots would soon think twice if they condemn their team-mates to relegation or cost them a place i n the Champions League.

Footballers have a responsibility – to themselves, their families, colleagues and fans who can’t attend games.

What must NHS workers, already stretched to the limit, think when they see footballers posting pictures of their happy little gatherings on social media?

Look at us, we’re breaking the rules!

Well, I hope you had a nice dinner, but people are dying – and if everyone did as they pleased, there would be no stopping this horrible virus.

As a volunteer coach at grass-roots level, I’ve had to cancel games because to comply with the laws boys were not allowed to travel out of Tier 4 areas – literally half a mile between one tier and another.

I’ve kids who don’t know when they will be allowed to train together or play football again.

When they see Premier League stars breaking the rules, my grass-roots kids ask why they can’t play.

If I bent or broke the rules, I would get hammered for it. Absolutely slaughtered on social media.

So why can’t these rolemodel professionals stay within the regulations?

Apart fr om elite sport, almost every aspect of our social lives has again been shut down: Cinemas, theatres, clubs, restaurants, pubs, cafes, concert halls, everything.

If players are going to ignore what’s right, dealing with the Covid law-breakers should be taken out of clubs’ hands and it’s over to you at the Premier League and FA.

Wake up – this pandemic is a national emergency.

Footballers should abide by Covid rules instead of posting pictures of their festive parties