Wayne Rooney has criticized England’s football authorities over how long they took to suspend matches in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The players in England are treated like Guinea pigs
Wayne Rooney said that “football players in England treated like experimental pigs” before the 2019-20 campaign was delayed. With the coronavirus causing significant glitches in the sports calendar around the world. Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 were all called the halt of their respective domestic seasons in Italy, Spain, and France after the rise of Covid-19 cases. Still, the Premier League and EFL had to go through as planned before it’s announced on Thursday about two positive tests. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi were diagnosed with coronavirus, which prompted a ‘club emergency meeting’ on Friday.
The “delay phase”
The Premier League and EFL decided to postpone all fixtures until April 4 and 3rd, respectively. It is now possible that Euro 2020 can be delayed for a year to give enough time to complete the club football season. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson turned to the nation on Wednesday to chart plans to move into the “delay phase” of the coronavirus epidemic: now, the number of confirmed cases in the country is 1140, and the death toll has risen to 21. Captain of Derby County Wayne Rooney has expressed a conviction that the football authorities were unable to act fast enough to ensure the safety of the players, and also insisted that he was happy to play until September to end this season.
It’s just a sport!
“After the emergency meeting, the right decision has finally made,” Rooney wrote in his column for The Times. “Until then, it been almost felt that football players in England were treated like guinea pigs.” The rest of the sports – tennis, Formula 1, rugby, golf, soccer in other countries – closed, and we were told to continue. “People were worried. Fortunately, football made the right call in the end. I had to postpone the season. Some people will not be happy, but I think, in this case, football should come in second place. It’s a sport. It’s just a sport.
“If people’s lives are at stake, then this should happen first – regardless of whether you are going to win the league title, whether you are trying to get into Europe or whether you will be excommunicated or promoted.” We are happy to play until September if the season lasts until then if it should be so. It is our job. As long as we know that we are safe, and this is a safe environment for the audience, we will play. “The next World Cup is in November and December 2022, so that we could use this situation as an opportunity and say that we’ll finish the 2019-20 season later this year, then get ready for 2022, having the next two seasons starting in winter.