Spurs-fulham latest to go but ‘circuit break’ looks unlikely
The English Premier League does not appear to beg iving much consideration to a possible 'circuit break' in the competition despite a no ther match being postponed because of coronavirus.
Last night's fixture between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham was called off in the afternoon following a Covid-19 outbreak at Craven Cottage.
Fulham returned a number of positive test results on Tuesday and, after more came in yesterday, the Premier League decided to call the match off less than three hours before the scheduled 6pm kick-off.
The postponement came hot on the heels of Manchester City's fixture with Everton being called off on Monday due to a number of positive coronavirus tests at City.
City can reopen their training ground after no new cases were reported in Tuesday's round of testing – but more tests will take place this week to determine if Sunday's game with Chelsea can go ahead.
It is not just in the top-flight that matches are falling victim to the virus. Nine games across the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two on Tuesday were postponed, while Rotherham boss Paul Warne admitted his side only played their match with Barnsley to avoid a possible points deduction by the EFL.
The impact of the virus has, of course, been felt in Scotland, too. St Mirren and Kilmarnock were both recently handed 3-0 defeats for breaching coro - navirus protocols that led to postponements, although the clubs are appealing the SPFL punishment.
League Two Albion Rovers had weeks on the side lines without games last month because of an outbreak at the club, while League One Clyde were also hit, and the cases of the 'Aberdeen Eight' and Celtic's Boli Bolingoli early in the Premiership season were well documented.
All the un cert a in tys urrounding fixtures in recent days has led to calls in England for a two-week 'coolingoff ' period.
West Brom manager S am Allardyce says a circuit-break would be the "right thing" to cope with the outbreak. "I am 66 years old and the last thing I want to do is catch Covid,” Allardyce said. “I'm very concerned for myself and football in general. If that's what needs to be done we need to do it."
Peterborough chairman Darragh Macanthony, meanwhile, doesn’t see any reason why the Sky Bet League One and Two seasons couldn’t be extended until late May in the event of an enforced break.
But the Premier League seems resistant to the circuit-break idea, insisting that the competition will continue. In a statement announcing the postponement of last night’s Spurs-Fulham fixture, the league said :" With low numbers of positive tests across the overwhelming majority of clubs, the Premier League continues to have full confidence in its Covid-19 protocols and being able to continue to play our fixtures as scheduled.
"The League wishes those with Covid -19 a safe and speedy recovery and will rearrange the postponed fixture between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham in due course."