RESTART IS ON!
Premier League boost after just six test positive
THE Premier League’s Project Restart has received a boost with just six members of staff across 19 clubs testing positive for coronavirus from 748 tests conducted during the opening round of screening.
The six positives were restricted to three clubs and the individuals concerned will now isolate for seven days to facilitate their recovery, with the rest of the players permitted to train in small groups from yesterday.
Norwich did not conduct their tests until yesterday because head coach Daniel Farke and several of the club’s German players did not return to England until Monday evening.
They will receive their results today with a view to resuming training tomorrow.
In an indication of potential Project Restart teething problems for with the testing procedure, however, Sportsmail has learned that staff at several clubs were sent away from their respective
PARDONING the pun, it was a very positive test result for the Premier League yesterday. Mainly because there were not a whole lot of positive tests.
Just six of 748 taken, spread across three clubs. So, at most, four at any one club.
That is still a significant number if the quartet are Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk, but Liverpool, or any rival, would have to be very unlucky to have a bank of their most important players removed by Covid-19 at the same time.
So, notwithstanding any future revelations about who and where the virus has struck, and with Norwich still to report, this was as good as the Premier League could have hoped for. A higher infection rate (0.8 per cent) than German football’s 10 positives across 1,724 tests (0.58 per cent) conducted across its top two tiers, but it was never going to be perfect.
Indeed, it could have been considerably worse given where this country is compared to Germany. Brighton have been conducting their own tests in recent weeks and initially had four positives in 13. So as the illness is subsiding in some parts of the country, football reflects this gradual withdrawal.
Certainly, there was little in yesterday’s news to suggest the game has made a huge mistake tentatively entertaining a return.
There are still issues and questions requiring answers. But from here, if football can monitor participants and ensure there is no spike as training resumes, it is far from unthinkable that season 2019-20 could be completed over this summer.
Of course, it will still be down to individuals whether they return. Danny Rose has again spoken out, saying footballers are being treated like lab rats. Troy Deeney says he will not return to training with Watford until receiving guidance on whether extra care will be taken with BAME players, who are believed to be at greater risk.
YET many of these concerns could just as readily be addressed by experts outside the game. The catch-all BAME vulnerability, for instance. Black and Asian people are not all one group in terms of genetic susceptibility.
Indeed, when hospital deaths up to May 5 were measured by ethnicity, those identifying as Asian fared better than whites and blacks.
Studies into how and why people are affected by coronavirus are in their infancy and perceived weaknesses may yet be explained by social conditions around skin colour rather than genetic make-up.
Ethnic minority groups experience higher levels and earlier onset of the chronic health conditions that cause coronavirus complications. This is because minority groups often suffer inequality in wealth, housing and employment, all potential contributory factors — but not ones likely to impact on Premier League footballers.
Deeney’s concerns are understandable and must be addressed, but it may be that the sectors of the BAME population disproportionately attacked by Covid-19 do not include wealthy, young professional footballers. Equally, it is disconcerting to hear stories of tests being unavailable with the scheme so new. Such an early failure is troubling. If football is to win the trust of those expected to plot a way through this crisis, logistical organisation must be beyond reproach.
The moment players feel unprotected, or that health and safety are not the priority, the deal is off.
The Bundesliga looked a safe space at the weekend and the Premier League must meet that standard and more.
Yet what is clear from here is that English football has a chance. It was Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, who condemned clusters of coronavirus infection in Germany last week. After Dynamo Dresden’s entire squad was placed in quarantine, Tebas said: ‘What happened in Germany cannot happen and, what’s more, it won’t happen in Spain.
‘It’s impossible for a club to have five positive cases at the same time. If it does happen it’s down to negligence or not adhering to the health protocols.’
Insufferably smug as ever, of course, but he has a point. Having less than one per cent of tests return positive, there really is no excuse for the virus to spiral unchecked in football.
If clubs, managers, coaches and players adhere to the guidelines, if the return is measured and steady, if behaviour away from the training ground is responsible, there is no reason why football cannot continue edging towards recovery.
Bundesliga matches were played behind closed doors at the weekend, without thousands of fans congregating outside. The public are well versed in protocols and procedures now. They queue for supermarkets, they keep respectful distances in the street.
Those who want football to return would surely not wish to shut the season down by disregarding safety issues. Increasingly, it seems likely clubs will play at their own grounds and, with clear messaging, supporters will not present a challenge to security.
So the testing remains the key, and yesterday was a promising start. Now it must be maintained — the safe environment, the clear instruction, the necessary reassurance. Fail in any of these objectives and football will not return and, more importantly, will not deserve to.