It may seem pointless to talk about football when thousands of lives are lost due to coronavirus, but at the time billions of euros are being played in the sport, it makes sense to have marathon discussions, consultations and (tel) conferences.
Virus allowed
In the latter of them, on Wednesday, UEFA matched them with the 55 Football Associations that make up its members, giving them the chance to complete their home events by the end of July. To facilitate the realization of this plan, the president, Alexander Schefferin, canceled the international friendly matches scheduled for early June. And the Nations League playoffs, which would normally take place a few days ago, could be in early September. It is recalled that through these matches will emerge the last four teams of the Euro, which has already been postponed for the summer of 2021.
As for the Champions League and Europa League, UEFA wants, virus-enabled, both to be completed in August, with all matches taking place without spectators. Definitely… uninteresting, but whichever team wins the title is not expected to be particularly spoiled. The new season will start with a clearly long delay, a fact that led the European Federation to indefinitely postpone the deadlines for the registration of clubs and players.
English conduct system
Of course there is also the issue of footballers' contracts. Many are completed on June 30, but if then the championships and Cups are in full swing, there will be confusion. That is why FIFA intends to extend their validity, with FIFPro emphasizing that this should apply to the contracts of all footballers and not only to those that each club wants. In addition, the World Footballers' Association opposed the possibility of more countries adopting the full-fledged. English system in the middle of Christmas. The main example mentioned is that of players who come from countries outside Europe and who will forget their homelands due to the workload!
La Liga is sending the teams a protocol that they must follow strictly to return to the stadium at a time when the league has been suspended since mid-March due to a coronation. It was a 19-page plan divided into three phases.
Individually and in groups
The first states that training on the pitch must be done individually. Then, as long as this is safe and no new outbreaks have occurred, training in a group of eight people and much later training all together with the ball.
The protocol states that all footballers, coaches, staff and their families should undergo a coronavirus test. These tests should take place 72 hours before the players and coaches return to the field, and 15 days of training must be completed before the games can be resumed.
Also, teams should be isolated either in the training center or in a hotel and only authorized personnel will be available. In the coming days the 19-page plan will be ready to be given to the clubs, typically waiting to see when there will be a pitch.
