Premier League could finish abroad say Neville and Carragher
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have once again delved into the complexities of how football could restart, by exploring the option of concluding the Premier League overseas.
Pressure is now mounting on the English game to make a call regarding what remains of the campaign, after the likes of Ligue 1 took the strong decision to bring an immediate end to their top two professional leagues.
The return of the Premier League is appearing more and more difficult in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the best course of action appearing to group teams together in a select location to play out the season under lock and key.
Gary Neville feels the only option is for the Premier League to conclude the season overseas
Neville spoke with fellow pundit Jamie Carragher (centre) on Sky Sports’ The Football Show
Speaking on Friday morning on Sky Sports’ The Football Show, Neville and Carragher assessed the viable options while weighing up the fairness and morality of proceedings.
For Manchester United legend Neville, he feels select areas within Europe have the capacity to host the final run-in of fixtures.
‘If the Premier League is serious about delivering the matches that remain in the most-safe environment they would move it to somewhere that is three or four hours away that is safe from coronavirus and somewhere that has proven it can handle it,’ said Neville.
‘There are some hotspots in Europe that could handle the PL finishing. I’m not sure they can deliver what they want to do in this country with the amount of logistical issues.
‘My view on this matter a few weeks ago was if the PL wanted to deliver a message to the nation, as part of a package, they could have bought £4m worth of tests to deliver the PL and then give £20m to the NHS to buy tests and surround it in a package that was acceptable to the nation. I think it will be difficult.’
Fellow pundit and former rival Carragher was in agreement with Neville, and considered the prospect of a World Cup scenario where teams – thoroughly and regularly tested – would play in close proximity.
‘You can’t have squads of players worried about the situation and their family,’ said Carragher.
‘It has to reach a point where there is no way a player can pick up the infection for football to resume and maybe the only way you do it is in some sort of World Cup tournament.
‘Using neutral venues, some sort of training camp and the safety of players and staff is the most important thing. That has to come first and foremost.
Carragher has also questioned the voting system, given the severity of the current situation
Teams are hoping to soon return to training in order to regain match fitness but there are concerns such as players not being able to use toilets and other shared communal areas
‘Me and Gary have not long come out of the game and we’d be thinking exactly the same with your wife and kids at home. Safety is the most important thing at these Premier League meetings.’
The duo then went on to examine the constant confusion which is caused by teams voting on different outcomes. Conflicts of interest look set to continue to derail a possible Premier League restart, which Carragher feels is counter-productive.
‘The interesting thing for me is that the Premier League vote so many different times over the season and majority of 14 or something is needed to get something through. This is completely different now we know how serious it is,’ Carragher added.
‘What if one club doesn’t vote for it but the rest of them do, does that change everything? It’ll be interesting to see how it works. Because if someone has a major problem with the season going forward whether it’s worry for the players, neutral venues, then there’s so much to look at whether you need a unanimous vote for it to go through. That’s a big worry for the Premier League going forward. The virus will decide.’
Just this week the French government made the bold call of cancelling the Ligue 1 season
Regardless of the eventual outcome, players will still be needed to commit on an individual level and expose themselves to an element of risk in order to finish the season – something will Neville believes will require a sign-off procedure.
‘The reality is we have to get back to normal life in the future but there’s questions about safety and timing,’ Neville added.
‘I’m not sure what they’re [teams] voting on because surely there’s a medical professional giving them an opinion on the safety and surely when that verdict is delivered you vote on that. It’s negligence if you don’t vote on their opinion.
‘The only people who could make this happen is the players. They’d have to sign a disclaimer like a jet-ski. If you hurt yourself then you’re liable not the people who have let you use the jet-ski.
‘Players are going to have to sign one of those before they play football. I said a few weeks ago when I started to delve into the medical side of it that players are scared about their safety and economic situation.’
