Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has questions about the Premier League Project Restart proposal with regard to player and staff safety. With the league set to return to training in in two weeks and and resume games in a month, Lampard still has reservations.
Chelsea Manager Frank Lampard Questions Player Safety In League Restart
Lampard’s Concerns
In an interview with BT Sport, the Blues’ boss said: “The health and safety of players and staff is huge. We play this contact sport we’re all desperate to see. It’s a form of escapism, to watch football, play and train. How are we not going to put the players at risk within that?”
Lampard raises valid concerns about player and staff safety, ones the Premier League undoubtedly has considered and discussed in their several video conference calls, the latest on May 1. He also commented on the fact that bringing football back means testing players, possibly at the expense of healthcare workers.
He added: “The other issue is testing. We will probably have a minimum of 70 or 80 staff at Cobham [Chelsea’s training facilities] if we’re going to restart training. It’s right that we test regularly, but when we’re looking around the world. I think it’s important for football to take its place. I don’t think it would sit well, not just with me, but with anybody, if we didn’t make sure that people who are in that frontline are getting tested.”
An abundance of daily testing for players doesn’t guarantee a shortage of tests when it comes to healthcare workers. However, public relations wise, it’s certainly a terrible look for the league and individual clubs.
Chelsea Anticipate League Return
Before the weekend, Chelsea recalled the players who traveled home at the beginning of the pandemic. American Christian Pulisic, Brazilian Willian, and other foreign Blues must make their way back to the UK and undergo quarantine in anticipation of the return of the league next month.
But Lampard has questions about the footballing side as well. “After that, we probably have the football integrity issues such as neutral venues and out-of-contract players, of which we have a couple of major ones, so there are many conversations and I think that’s very clear to see at the minute,” he said.
Like many, Lampard remains unconvinced about the return of the Premier League with so many unanswered questions and uncertainties remaining. Regardless of that, the league looks set to return soon.
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