It’s scary. You go home to your wives and kids... we need to make sure it’s safe
Wolves star Coady reveals concerns over Olympiakos tie
WOLVES captain Conor Coady has admitted it is ‘scary’ to be playing football during the coronavirus crisis.
Coady and his team-mates reluctantly travelled to Athens yesterday, after UEFA rejected Wolves’ request to postpone the fixture. Wolves made the appeal when they learned Evangelos Marinakis, who owns tonight’s Europa League last-16 opponents Olympiakos, had tested positive for coronavirus.
The Greek government had already ruled that the first-leg tie should take place behind closed doors and Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo believes football should be paused while governments take steps to try to control the spread of the disease. Some Wolves fans have still made the trip even though they will not be allowed into the ground and Coady said: ‘We all know that this virus is scary, but the most important thing is that they are safe.
‘You go home to your wives and kids after the game, so that’s the priority. We need to make sure it’s right when we’re going home but we read everything, we see everything. ‘We’ve seen the game postponed between Manchester City and Arsenal but, as players, there’s not a lot we can do. All we can do is train, prepare and listen to our manager.
‘We are professional footballers — we’ve got to prepare to play a game which is a really important one for this club. People have had a lot to say about whether it’s right or wrong but we’re professionals and we’re ready to go and compete as much as we can.’
With UEFA’s agreement, Wolves cancelled their pre-match media duties, while neither Nuno nor his players will speak to media after the game either on the advice of the club’s medical staff. The squad trained at their Compton base rather than at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium and they are not expected to leave their hotel between their arrival and their departure for the game.
Wolves officials have taken the same steps as they did prior to the meeting with Espanyol in Barcelona two weeks ago, with players given individual bottles of hand sanitiser, with face masks also available if required.
Olympiakos players and staff were tested for coronavirus after Marinakis, who also owns Nottingham Forest, revealed he had been diagnosed with it. The results came back negative.
Nuno said: ‘Having no people in the stands, it’s closed, and I think I’ve already made my point, I think it doesn’t make sense to play behind closed doors, but it’s reality and we have to prepare ourselves.
‘We are ready. We have all the insurance in terms of health situations. It’s just the fact that we love to compete in a normal situation. I think it will be better for the competition, for the tie.’
Coady also echoed his manager’s misgivings about playing matches with no fans in the stadium. Such measures have been introduced with growing frequency across Europe as the virus has spread, though influential figures like Pep Guardiola believe it would be better not to play at all.
Coady added: ‘The disappointing thing with this one is that there are no supporters in the ground. Football is nothing without supporters, that’s what makes everything, having supporters in the ground. That’s what we play for, to entertain supporters.’
Olympiakos boss Pedro Martins said: ‘There have been thousands of cases in Europe but this club has taken all measures necessary and we have all been tested and the results have been negative. There should be no doubt in the minds of anyone who is going to come.
‘After we were informed (of Marinakis’ diagnosis) the club did everything which was supposed to happen and we followed all the processes.
‘Not a single member of the squad has manifested any kind of symptoms and the previous weeks have been quite normal. We know this is a very robust club.’