Time to put an end to clubs’ cancel culture
IT’S UNLIKELY many football fans have heard of the NFL player Kendall Hinton. But don’t feel bad, going into their 2020 match with the New Orleans Saints, not many Denver Broncos fans had heard of their young wide receiver either. Which is unfortunate because hours later, he was the starting quarterback.
With all four of the Broncos’ passers either sidelined with Covid-19 or deemed close contacts, the hosts had no choice but to field Hinton in a position he had not played since leaving school. They had no choice because, in the NFL, there was no question of the game being postponed.
In a world where sport is entertainment, the NFL show must go on regardless of snowstorm, disease or pestilence. Tickets have been sold, travel and accommodation paid for, multi-billion dollar TV deals signed and advertising revenue banked so go play – even if the product (Hinton completed one pass and Denver lost 31-3) is not of the highest calibre.
It wasn’t ideal but in a month where some Premier League clubs appear to have forgotten their raison d’etre, it’s not hard to admire the NFL’s ‘to-hellwith-it’ can-do attitude.
What began as a legitimate spate of cancellations due to fears over the spread of omicron has descended into a farcical scenario of dubious cry-offs where Covid may be mentioned in evidence but is not necessarily the deciding factor.
We have Leicester playing Premier League opposition in the FA Cup but unwilling to field the same young players in a league game days later.
There’s Liverpool cancelling a tricky Carabao Cup match on Thursday but turning up for a far more winnable FA Cup tie three days later.
Or perhaps you prefer Arsenal, suffering two injuries and a suspension against Liverpool so no-showing for the derby with Tottenham with one Covid case, yet deciding they have enough players to be able to release Sead Kolasinac. Or,
my personal favourite, Burnley – who have seen four of their last six league outings postponed – petitioning for the next day’s game with Watford to be canned hours before their young players completed a Premier League 2 Under-23 fixture.
Wherever you look the rules are not so much being bent as reimagined entirely while others battle on – like Leeds facing West Ham with a bench of substitutes so young they probably got bored and asked to leave after an hour – and yet winning 3-2.
This week, at last, the Premier League realised the current situation is untenable and perhaps not exactly great for business and pledged to ‘update our guidance accordingly’.
It’s a start. Guidance is good but how about simply updating the rules, making it impossible for games to be called off except in extreme cases.
Nobody wants to see Kendall Hinton in goal for Norwich, least of all Kendall himself, but surely all of us – whether it’s Sky Sports, BT Sport or the humble long-forgotten ticket-holder – have seen enough to realise putting a team out and actually playing football is better than the current shambles.
After all, you might be understrength today but next week it may be the opposition’s turn. And, however hard some clubs seemingly try to avoid it, they will have to play all these games eventually.