UK government say restarting Premier League will lift the nation’s spirits. 73% of Britons disagree

UK government: Restarting Premier League will lift the nation’s spirits

The UK government has been accused of politicising the Premier League and it’s footballers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the early days of the crisis, health secretary Matt Hancock told footballers to take a wage cut:

Given the sacrifices that many people are making, including some of my colleagues in the NHS who have made the ultimate sacrifice of going into work and have caught the disease and have sadly died, I think the first thing that Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut and play their part.

‘I’m not proposing to do that, what I am proposing to do is work every hour that there is.’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says he is not proposing to follow footballers in taking a pay cut. @piersmorgan | @susannareid100 | #GMB pic.twitter.com/inoTl7vwdl

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) April 16, 2020

More recently, on May 6, Dominic Raab, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, chimed in on when the Premier League should restart it’s action.

Raab admitted that the government were backing a June restart for football, saying it would lift the spirits of the nation.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says he thinks the return of the Premier League would “lift the spirits of the nation” – and adds that the government is looking at sports being played behind closed doors when we move to the “second phase”.#COVID19 latest: https://t.co/LsLSE4WbTz pic.twitter.com/O6xjaHoOxe

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) May 5, 2020

 

YouGov poll: 73% of Britons disagree

YouGov have ran a poll among 2,098 Britons to see whether Dominic Raab’s statement rang true.

According to 73% of the public, resuming football will not boost their morale during the Covid-19 crisis.

Only 19% said that the restart of football would boost their morale, while 9% said they didn’t know.

Dominic Raab has said that resuming the Premier League will “lift the spirits of the nation”. This is only the case for 19% of Brits, however. 73% say it would not boost their moralehttps://t.co/x7jKP5Qc26 pic.twitter.com/VFE3MKAmFj

— YouGov (@YouGov) May 12, 2020

 

Footballers have started to speak out

In recent days, a small group of English Premier League footballers have begun voicing their concerns about returning to action.

Behind the scenes, the Daily Mail claim that footballers are about to tell their clubs that they won’t return to training because of their Covid-19 fears:

Sportsmail understands players have already privately expressed to their managers that they have major reservations about returning to work next week.

Premier League stars will tell clubs they will NOT return to training on Monday | @SamiMokbel81_DM https://t.co/xuBxwuZkX8 pic.twitter.com/5tbybuyA9p

— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) May 12, 2020

Publicly, however, only a handful of players have revealed their thoughts on returning to work.

On Sunday, after Brighton confirmed that they’ve recorded another positive Covid-19 result, Norwich’s Todd Cantwell reacted on social media, writing: “We are just people too [shrug emoji]”.

We are just people too 🤷🏼‍♂️ https://t.co/XMKH9FYhsJ

— Todd Cantwell (@ToddCantwell_10) May 10, 2020

On Monday night, while appearing on an Instagram live video, Tottenham defender Danny Rose, currently on loan at Newcastle, said:

The Government’s saying bring back football to boost the morale of the nation.

I don’t give a f— about the nation’s morale. People’s lives are at risk. Football shouldn’t be spoken about till numbers have dropped massively. It’s b——–.

Danny Rose on return to football:

"The governments saying bring back football to boost the morale of the nation, I don't give a f*ck about the nations morale. Peoples lives are at risk!"

"Football shouldn't be spoken about till numbers have dropped massively. It's bollocks." pic.twitter.com/bdWBbTiZFR

— The Spurs Web ⚪️ (@thespursweb) May 11, 2020

Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings is another player who has raised concerns about plans to restart the Premier League.

Player at the top of the league raises concerns about playing again:

Yeah he’s probably right, that’s sensible.

Player near the bottom raises the same concern:

Yeah well you just don’t want to be relegated 😂🤷🏽‍♂️

— Tyrone Mings (@OfficialTM_3) May 11, 2020

 

Also see: Best Netflix, Amazon & YouTube football documentaries & movies to watch during coronavirus isolation

9 best football documentaries to watch on ESPN+ during COVID-19 quarantine

from Football (soccer) greatest goals and highlights | 101 Great Goals - Feed https://ift.tt/35YTEbN