This is not a good look for football and it’s a tough reminder that players need to make the same sacrifices as everyone else
WHEN a manager starts accusing people of being ‘unprofessional’, it is probably best to be absolutely certain none of your players are ‘unprofessional’.
It is not Jose Mourinho’s fault a few of his players are bona fide Covidiots but maybe now he realises the sort of challenges the authorities are up against.
Again, Mourinho cannot go around and enforce the regulations in each and every one of his players’ households but bleating about a game being called off at late notice during a raging, deadly pandemic while your men are brazenly flouting clear rules is not a good look.
Presumably, when Mourinho aimed his unjustifiable, unedifying barbs at the Premier League, he did not know that Giovani Lo Celso, Erik Lamela and Sergio Reguilon had joined Manuel Lanzini and their families for a lovely, strictly illegal, Christmas party.
Presumably, when Mourinho compared the postponement of the Fulham game to his time coaching in a Portuguese Under-13 league, he was unaware three of his stars had shown a 13-year-old’s inability to obey a simple command.
Just under a fortnight ago in the United States, Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins was fined $40,000 and stripped of his captaincy after being seen in a strip club without a mask.
He has now been released by the team.
No-one would expect anything so stringent at Spurs or at any other club whose players have breached protocols but it seems the message is not getting across to some.
West Ham are currently deep-cleaning their training complex, which should be a reminder to Lanzini of his indiscretion.
A club statement said Lanzini had been reminded of his responsibilities. He has apologised.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace and Fulham are looking into claims Luka Milivojevic and Aleksandar Mitrovic broke Covid rules at a London New Year party.
After their match with Spurs was cancelled, Fulham’s scheduled trip to Burnley today has also been aborted.
This latest rash of Covid breaches follows sporadic contraventions over the past nine months. But it would be harsh to single out professional footballers for severe criticism or punishment when we all know of people who knowingly go against well-publicised restrictions.
It takes some discipline to abide by every letter of the regulations. But, like it or not, footballers are the same as people in TV, in show business, in politics, in any high-profile, widely visible position.
Whether they or we like it or not, they will be used as examples.
And the photographs of the Premier League footballers and their families at Christmas is a
So many would’ve loved that sort of
Christmas but stuck by the rules
bad example. In normal life, it would be a wonderful picture. It is what Christmas is all about.
Alas, there will be so many out there who would have loved that sort of Christmas but stuck by the rules.
There were those out there, lonely and miserable, who would have loved company. You can hear it now. Footballers think they are above the law.
That is NOT true – the majority do not think that way.
The percentage of footballers who have broken the rules is probably little different from the percentage of the general population who have broken the rules. But even though they have fought and played their way to their luxuries, they are seen as privileged and to abuse privilege is a crime.
Overall, the Premier League and all tiers of professional football can be very proud of their response to the pandemic.
Imagine the scale of life’s drudgery if there was no football to enjoy.
But footballers’ sacrifices have to be the same as everybody else’s sacrifices.
And after this latest episode, that’s something each and every one of them should be reminded of this morning.