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Hope mixed with worry as football reawakens


Bangladeshpost
Published : 24 Apr 2020 07:39 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 02:13 PM

Football is re-awakening amid the COVID-19 pandemic but the sense of hope at teams which have started training is mixed with worry over whether it might be too soon and the uncertainty of how to keep players safe, reports Reuters.

On hold since mid-March, many European leagues are hoping to start up again in the next two or three months, without spectators, and training has begun in Germany and Austria. Yet re-starting remains fraught with difficulties.

“There is a huge logistical  and medical/scientific question  about testing and protocols but  also a social one,” said Jonas  Baer-Hoffmann, secretary  general of the global players’ union FIFPRO. “We need guidance and protocols on how to return in a healthy and safe manner.  Football is a contact sport and we feel very high protection standards are required.”

There was also a moral question. “Are we sending the right message to society, and are we encouraging a healthy return to normal life, or are we sending a bad signal that football has different rules to the rest of the world?” he added.

On the other hand, the Swiss Football League said a successful re-start, under scientific supervision with a risk management concept, could allow football “to send a signal that it is possible to return to something closer  to normality”.