FIFA expert against May restart

WORLD football’s top medical expert last night slammed Europe’s major leagues for targeting a mid-May resumption of fixtures, urging them not to put financial considerations before lives.

Michel d’Hooghe, head of FIFA’s medical committee, said the dangers of Covid-19 meant there was no justification for such an early restart — even behind closed doors.

English Premier League clubs are determined to finish the season in order to avoid a reported £762million in lost broadcasting revenue. Last week, Spanish League boss Javier Tebas, who is part of a working group set up by UEFA, said there was a growing consensus among the big leagues for a mid-May restart.

But d’Hooghe said that was foolhardy. He told The Mail on

Sunday: ‘That is absolutely too early. If you start games in midMay, you have to begin training two or three weeks earlier.

‘I don’t have the future in my hands but in my opinion that’s not a good idea. It’s definitely a health risk with the information we have today.

‘The coronavirus will not have disappeared by May even if it may have flattened out slightly in some countries more than others.

‘I can’t say when football should realistically start again. It’s an incredibly difficult question because no one knows when the coronavirus peak will be reached.

‘But, even if clubs start playing behind closed doors, they will need to have trained for at least two weeks. That means people coming together in dressing rooms and showers, etc. and that is precisely what we have to avoid for the moment. Could that endanger lives? With what I know as of today, it is certainly a risk.’

D’Hooghe added: ‘You have to strike a balance between medical and economic factors.

‘You have the choice. What do you prefer, health or money? This, at the moment, is the most acute question.’