Up to 50 players could oppose the restart of the Premier League, according to a report in the Mirror.
As the Premier League begin to discuss their ‘Project Restart’, it has emerged that up to 50 players from clubs across the league could reject the proposal for the return of the season because of health concerns resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Manchester City star forward Sergio Aguero has already voiced his concerns regarding the intended ‘Project Restart’, while one club suggested that they expected ‘two or three’ players from every club to reject the restart of the top-flight.
According to the report, the number of players opposing the restart of football due to underlying health issues because of the coronavirus is increasing.
Players are suggesting that they fear transmitting the deadly virus to their family members, while one Premier League player said he would refuse a restart because of the fear of passing on the virus to his six-week-old baby and family.
Speaking about the emerging fears of players, as cited in the Mirror, Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said:
“The players have a really reasonable and fair number of questions to ask about their own personal safety and that of their families. We as their employers have got to be able to answer those questions.”
“We have a player whose partner has a serious medical condition – we need to understand if he doesn’t want to play or refuses to play where we stand on that.”
“We also need to understand what the players’ feelings are on whatever protocol we agree.”
“There are so many pieces of this jigsaw that are yet to really be put in front of us in order to form a complete picture that it is very difficult to answer that question.”
“What we do know is we are going to face these situations. For our club, we’ve certainly got one already.”
“We’ve also got players with young babies and players that live in close proximity to elderly parents. We’ve got all these issues.”
While it has emerged that Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has admitted that he would accept it if his players didn’t want to play.
Considering the fears of players across the country, a restart to the Premier League in its full capacity remains difficult at the moment as the PL aims to adhere to their intended timeline of ‘Project Restart’.
Do you think that the Premier League should refrain from considering a resumption of action at this moment in time?
It’s also worth considering that if it’s not safe for a return to action to take place before a timeframe that won’t cross too much over into next season, hopes of ending the current campaign could be shattered.