Personal agendas must be put aside
WHEN it’s on your doorstep and has reached the point where this virus is so deadly, then it puts things into a clearer perspective. We can play football again when everybody has moved on beyond this crisis — and then get back to enjoying that. But it definitely is the right move to call it off. Britain, in general, has been one of the last countries to make that call — but the biggest thing here is health and safety. That’s paramount for everything. You then go further down the line and football is about the fans. To compromise on any health issues — or play closed-door matches — goes against why we all play this game and love it so much. Suspending fixtures is the right decision. It now gives everybody a situation where we can sit and look at what the best way forward is, what structure going forward is the best to be played out.
Not just domestically but across all of international football and every other competition.
As a club, we will follow the guidelines from now on to be ready for the next game — whenever that is.
No, we don’t know what is going to happen next. These conversations will have been going on for days and there will be a process that we will now follow. The main thing is that we, as a country, can get over this virus and then move forward.
Once you’re at the other end of that and looking back, then it will definitely be the right decision — and the safest one.
It’s something that was talked about more frequently among the players over the last day or so, in terms of what has happened in different leagues and what measures they are all taking. It’s natural to then speculate what will happen in the future. The course and the spread of this virus has been so rapid that it was inevitable there was going to be a shutdown. We are now at that point. Closed-doors games? It’s not right that fans won’t be there cheering on their team. They have also paid their money, so there’s the whole financial aspect of it. Everybody’s personal agendas have to be put aside for what is best for the whole country — and the whole world — in this pandemic. This process will go on until everything is cleared. There cannot be any short-term measures. As players, we just have to keep prepared for a restart. You do not want to be caught cold when the training and the fixtures return.