As I write this piece, the global count of the novel corona virus is 4,168,427 infected persons with 1,452,626 recoveries and 285,445 deaths. This is how frightening the pandemic is. And for how long it’s going to be with us, only God knows.
We didn’t play in the midst of the WW1. We didn’t play in the midst of WW2. We didn’t play in the midst of the Spanish flu. Why do we want to play in the midst of the corona virus? Is it for the money or for the love of the game?
The number of cases in the United Kingdom stands at 223,060 with 32,065 deaths, Spain has 227,436 cases with 137,139 recoveries and 26,744 deaths. Italy has 219,814 cases with 106,587 recoveries and 30,739 deaths. The list goes on and on and on.
Although it has spared no one, one of the most affected sectors is sports and for that matter football.
LOSS OF REVENUE
The football world is losing billions of dollars and the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) recently released $150 million to help various member associations in these trying times.
In England, about $750 million might be lost in TV rights and in Spain, it’s between $600-650 million. The Italian Serie A will lose between $450-500 million and the German Bundesliga about $350-400 million.
This is just for television rights not to mention other sponsorship packages that might be lost for failure to complete the football season. These are huge monies that can’t be allowed to go waste and so something must be done.
With the premature ending, Ligue 1 will lose close to €200 while a lot of clubs may go into administration or may not have the financial muscle to sign players in the transfer market for the upcoming season. Huge blow, isn’t it?
In the other countries the clubs are loosing big monies and need to do something as quickly as possible although life must always be paramount. After all, life is more precious than gold.
Clubs and associations are still paying for administrative expenses, bills and player salaries while their contracts are running.
Players like Willian Borges Da Silva of Chelsea and Adam Lallana of Liverpool’s contracts end by June 30 and they may become free agents. Meanwihle they have not been working for the past two months and yet their clubs continue to pay them for no work done. It’s no ones fault though, and there is little both clubs can do about that.
According to FIFA, there are over 265 million players actively involved in football all over the world, representing 4% of the world population.
With over 2,028 professional football clubs and 211 national teams, it is hard to ignore the fact that football or soccer plays a pivotal role in the world economy.
The numbers are scary and makes it hard to ignore the fact that a lot of jobs are at stake once football is halted; as footballers, commentators, writers, pundits, hotel workers, food vendors etc all risks loosing their jobs in one way or the other.
The national leagues in Europe are set to start because of the financial implications should their leagues be cancelled as time is not in their favour.
CALENDAR FOR RESUMPTION OF LEAGUES
National associations have released their calendars as follows:
Germany – 16th May
Hungary – 23rd May
Czech – 25th May
Croatia – 30th May
Serbia – 30th May
Israel – 30th May
Portugal – 30th May
Poland – 30th May
Bulgaria – 5th June
Switzerland – 8th June
Turkey – 12th June
Iceland – 14th June
Sweden – 14th June
Spain- 26th June
Finland – 1st July
England- 12 June
All is almost set for the commencement of the league in those countries as time waits for no man and they are risk losing millions of dollars in sponsorship and television rights.
In France, the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe suspended all sporting activities until September and the decision has forced the Ligue 1 board to cancel the 2019-2020 Ligue 1 season. Paris Saint Germain have since been declared champions.
NEW LAWS FOR THE GAME
The Laws of The Game have not been speared either with some few changes planned causing some pundits and connoisseurs to raise eyebrows.
New rules when Football resumes:
🔴 5 substitutions allowed per game instead of the initial 3
🔵 23 players (squad) on match days instead of 18
🔴 Temperature check for everyone entering the stadium.
🔵 Teams travelling by bus will use two buses, no handshakes.
🔴 Yellow cards for spitting.
🔵 Change of kits at halftime.
As the famous commentator Stuart Hall in 1958 referred to soccer as “The Beautiful Game” and Pele also used it in 1977 to describe football, the game should be played without risking the health of the players.
After all, FIFA’s logo says it all: “My Game is Fair Play and for the Love, For The Game.”
Football started over 2,000 years ago around 1100 AD tracing back to ancient China, Greece, Rome and parts of Central America. Since then, it has developed and been enjoyed by millions. Soccer connoisseurs have also maintained that life first, before money or anything else.
The numbers of infected persons keeps rising and everybody is at risk yet footballers are being forced to go and play because money will be lost and economies might crumble. Who makes the money? Who makes the economy? Footballers have families and after all, life will still go on after Covid-19.
The Covid-19 pandemic may not be the only problem for the players because there are lots of competitions to be played between now and 2023. The European Championship has been postponed to 2021 instead of the initial date of June to July 2020.
AFFECTED COMPETITIONS
The European Women’s Championship will also take place around the same time. Then there are the South American Championship popularly known as the Copa America; the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Confederation of African Football Championship (AFCON) 2021 to be held in Cameroon in January 2021. Others are the newly formed FIFA Club World Cup and the European Under 21 Championship.
The various national leagues for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons will also be played and in the winter of 2022 we all head to Qatar for the FIFA World Cup. That brings in the issue of fixture pile up and congestion which will leave players with no proper rest till at least the summer of 2023.
As we prepare to re-start our football while the number of infected persons keeps rising, should the unforeseen happen, who will we blame? Football loving fans really miss the game but what do we gain by putting the lives of others at risk due to business considerations?
INFECTED PLAYERS
It is interesting to know that some players like Paulo Dybala and Daniel Rugani both of Juventus have tested positive for the virus.
The Spanish La Liga have confirmed that some players in the country’s two top divisions have tested positive for the virus including Atletico Madrid’s Renan Lodi following their initial testing for all players in order to start the league .
The Bundesliga has also confirmed at least ten players who tested positive last week in their top divisions. The English League has also confirmed positive cases as well.
Yet all these countries wants to start their leagues amid the storm and fans will not be allowed into the various stadia.
With Messi, Ronaldo, Salah and Co all at risk of being infected, we just sit, pray and hope for the best. “O jogo bonito” (Portuguese) The Beautiful Game, may not be the same again.
We didn’t play in the midst of the WW1. We didn’t play in the midst of WW2. We didn’t play in the midst of the Spanish flu. Why do we want to play in the midst of the corona virus? Is it for the money or for the love of the game?
Here in Ghana, we await the Ghana Football Association (GFA)’s position.
Mustapha Hadji / Ahotor Sport
