Troy Deeney voices fears over football's return: 'I won't put my family at risk'
Watford’s Troy Deeney has said he will put his family’s health before football and has raised concerns about the Premier League’s plans to restart the campaign disrupted by Covid-19.
The 31-year-old club captain was part of a conference call this week with the Professional Footballers’ Association, Premier League officials and the government on safety measures surrounding Project Restart, which envisages a return to play in June. Those plans were given a boost on Thursday when the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, said the government was “opening the door” for football to return next month but Deeney said he was against a quick restart.
“I’m not even talking about football at the moment – I’m talking about my family’s health,” Deeney said on Instagram. “If I feel that I’m not looking after my family, then I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to put my family at risk.
“What are they going to do, take money off me? I’ve been broke before so it doesn’t bother me. They’re talking about not playing in front of fans until 2021. So if it’s not safe enough for fans to be inside a stadium why should it be safe for players to be in there?”
Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster believes it would be wrong for Premier League players to be tested for the coronavirus ahead of medical workers. “Footballers are not essential key workers, we shouldn’t have access to tests before front-line workers,” Foster told BBC Newsbeat. “I don’t know if we have to wear masks when we go back to training, I haven’t a clue. It is not going to be normal anymore, a completely different set of circumstances. How do you socially distance from a corner? Can a goalkeeper spit on their gloves?”
Tottenham’s Harry Kane said players were awaiting safety guidance from the league before deciding about a possible return to competitive action. “I think the majority of players are looking forward to playing again as soon as possible but we know we want it to be as safe as possible too,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Kane said he, along with the rest of the Spurs squad, had taken tests for coronavirus on Monday with no positive results. “We want to see how the Premier League gives us a plan and what that looks like,” the striker added. “I guess we just go from there. I am happy to start training in small groups if that is allowed and just trying to get back to some normality as soon as possible.”
The Norwich captain, Grant Hanley, outlined the “uncertainty” he believes hangs over the process. “Looking at the protocols for going back to training, I think that’s probably fair enough. But it’s just the next step after that, like where do we go from there? In terms of going back into contact training and games.”
Hanley added: “My missus is pregnant and she’s due at the start of July, so there’s obviously worries there for myself. Every team and player has got different views on it. Some lads have obviously got vulnerable family members.”
Expanding on the details he thinks are lacking, Hanley said: “How do we travel to games? Where do we stay? What are the hotels? How can we guarantee hotels are going to be safe for us to be in? Ultimately it’s putting your family at risk that is the main concern and that’s the worry I think all the teams will have at this minute.”