Coronavirus in sport

[Lineker]

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A group of world financiers, including a major U.S. company, are offering a lifeline in excess of £1 billion to English football as it tackles the monetary crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic, sources have told ESPN.

The Premier League and English Football League remain adamant that the 2019-20 campaign will be finished, but no resumption date has been agreed, with some clubs fearing they may go bust if the hiatus extends into the summer.

Sources have told ESPN a fund incorporating contributions from several investment banks have indicated they can provide an alternative: a working loan facility to help offset cash flow issues.

The proposal would see money distributed by football's governing bodies wherever it was most needed and then repaid at a negotiated rate of interest at a future date -- or perhaps converted into equity if all parties agreed.

Discussions have taken place between representatives of the fund and senior officials at a variety of sporting bodies including, but not limited to, football. No decision has yet been taken on whether to activate the fund, with negotiations said to be ongoing.

Contributors to the £1bn fund have been brought together by various parties, including several leading football agents.

One of them, Scott Smith, who founded agency RAPS Management, told ESPN: "We want this to work because it will help show that agents -- as well as players who have received an unfair press of late -- care passionately about the game and its future."

Sources have told ESPN there is support for use of the fund from lower levels of English football, with many clubs facing a huge financial battle due to a loss of matchday revenue.

Several top-flight sides have either agreed wage deferrals or are in discussions with players to do so. Tottenham and Liverpool were among the teams to be widely castigated for attempting to use the British government's furlough scheme to help offset losses -- both clubs later reversed their course of action -- and it is believed the Treasury are keen to prioritise other areas outside of sport in providing financial support.

Sources have told ESPN that football could resume in early June but matches would only take place behind closed doors and with plans to condense the end of the season into a few weeks, it may be months before supporters will be able to attend matches inside stadia.

Several chairman have expressed their concerns at being able to survive without fans inside stadiums, something which is also an issue for Premier League clubs but one in their case offset by the billions they receive in television broadcast income.

The EFL has already provided its own £50m fund to help clubs with their cash flow in addition to a £125m pledge from the Premier League. However, sources have told ESPN the £50m sum comprises reserves from the League's television deal while the £125m figure is made up of early solidarity payments -- monies annually distributed by the Premier League to help lower-league clubs.

By contrast, this new fund would make fresh money available -- a possibility also being explored by EFL chairman and former EFL CEO Shaun Harvey, who is believed to have examined similar funding arrangements.

British health secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this month that footballers had an obligation to take a pay cut. So far, Arsenal are the only club to have agreed to do so but wage deferrals are becoming common and Premier League players have also set up a collective initiative called "Players Together" which is raising money for the National Health Service.

[Colly]

 

[METALMAN]

As an oppressive regime that has spent the last thirty years putting finance ahead of culture, beauty or compassion, I can understand why the government of Singapore finds Man Utd so appealing.

[King Ellis]

Is Dave Bautista playing him in the movie adaptation?

[MalaCloudy Black]

“Care-Leh Dee”?

[Lineker]

Dutch season is over.

[Baddar]

The German FA want Bundesliga to resume on May 9th.

[Benjamin]

On 22/04/2020 at 06:41, How The Cloud Stole Christ said:

“Care-Leh Dee”?

Care Lady

[MalaCloudy Black]

1 minute ago, Benjamin said:

Care Lady

... oh.

[Baddar]

The Dutch Eredivisie season has been declared void. 

[FestiveJack]

22 minutes ago, Baddar said:

The Dutch Eredivisie season has been declared void. 

Harsh on the top two in the second tier who are well clear of their rivals - and it means Alan Pardew's ADO Den Haag stay up despite being as awful as an Alan Pardew team.

[Baddar]

pardewdance.gif

[Lineker]

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The Italian top flight edged closer to resuming behind closed doors on Sunday after the country’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, gave the go-ahead for professional sports teams to resume training in May.

As part of measures to ease the national lockdown during a televised address, Conte said individual training could start on 4 May, with players still respecting social distancing rules, and that team training could begin on 18 May.

Conte said the sports minister, Vincenzo Spadafora, would work “intensively” with scientists and league officials to ensure training was safe. Conte added that the next step would be to resume sporting events behind closed doors, but did not give a potential date.

“We will try to see if they can continue with the championships that are suspended,” Conte said. “We will only reach this conclusion if it can be guaranteed that it is safe. We don’t want our athletes to get sick.”

“I’m passionate for football,” Conte added. “Like many Italians, I initially found it strange that the championship could be interrupted or suspended, but I think even the most ardent fan understands there wasn’t an alternative.”

The Italian FA (FIGC) has already drawn up a medical protocol for training. Each club will form a core group of players and staff who will be tested and then isolated in a training camp. There are also plans to donate five Covid-19 test kits for each one used by clubs.

Italy was the first European country to be hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and Serie A has been suspended since 9 March. Eight-time defending champions Juventus are one point clear of Lazio at the top; every team has at least 12 games left to play.

In Spain, the outlook appears less positive after the health minister, Salvador Illa, said elite sports are unlikely to return until the summer. The league has also advised clubs that player testing has been put on hold because “the resumption of training sessions is going to be delayed”.

The La Liga president, Javier Tebas, has been bullish about the need to complete the current campaign to avoid significant financial losses. The league has proposed a strict four-phase protocol to resume training, with Tebas putting forward three potential restart dates: 29 May, 7 June and 28 June.

Top-flight football has been suspended in Spain since 10 March, with the national sports ministry setting out a plan for a return to action in closed stadiums. Illa was careful not to set any date for a return during Sunday’s coronavirus briefing, perhaps signalling a shift in government strategy.

“I cannot say now if professional football will be able to restart before the summer, it would be imprudent of me,” Illa said. The health minister added that La Liga’s plans to provide daily Covid-19 tests for players would require government approval.

“There is an order from the health ministry which is in place for all types of groups, including professional football,” he said. “They have to put whatever type of diagnostic tests they have at the disposition of the regional governments.”

The Spanish footballers’ association (AFE) has written to the government to express players’ concern over tests and a resumption of training. The AFE added that players believe “there are other groups that need the tests more at this time”, and that they want the government and not the league to make key decisions.

Rafa Ramos, president of the association of Spanish football club doctors, has said that footballs and playing surfaces will have to be sterilised if matches are to resume.

“All the material, even the pitches, will have to be sterilised before a match, at half-time and afterwards,” Ramos told El Pais. “It’s possible to be infected by the ball, but when you are struck by a sterilised ball it’s very hard to get infected.”

[Lineker]

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Teams will be able to make up to five substitutions under a Fifa proposal to help players cope with fixture congestion amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The substitutions will be allowed in a maximum of three in-play slots and at half-time to avoid unnecessary stoppages but are being proposed in recognition of the long layoff and anticipated high volume of matches if and when games resume.

The Fifa proposal is subject to the approval of the game’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board, and competitions such as the Premier League could then decide whether to implement it.

“When competitions resume, such competitions are likely to face a congested match calendar with a higher than normal frequency of matches played in consecutive weeks,” a Fifa spokesperson said.

“Safety of the players is one of Fifa’s main priorities. One concern in this regard is that the frequency of matches may increase the risk of potential injuries due to a player overload.

“In light of this and the unique challenge faced globally in delivering competitions according to the originally foreseen calendar, Fifa proposes a larger number of substitutions be temporarily allowed at the discretion of the relevant competition organiser.

“In competitions where less than five substitutions are currently allowed, each team would now be given the possibility to use up to five substitutions, with the possibility of an additional substitution remaining during extra time where relevant.”

The temporary dispensation would apply to competitions due to be completed or to start in 2020 or 2021. It would also cover national team matches up to and including 31 December 2021.

[The Buscher]

Little League World Series has been cancelled.

[gunnar hendershow]

I feel really bad for the kids who will never get to play in it because they'll be above the age limit next summer. 

[Lineker]

 

[Lineker]

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Germany’s plans to restart competitive football next Saturday suffered an early setback after the entire Dynamo Dresden team were placed in a two-week quarantine following two positive coronavirus tests among the players.

The Bundesliga 2 club announced on their website that tests taken on Friday had revealed two new positive cases and local health authorities had ordered the team into quarantine. Dresden were scheduled to play Hannover 96 next Sunday in their first game back following the stoppage caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

“After an intensive analysis of the situation, the health authority in Dresden … decided on Saturday that the entire second division squad, including the coaching and support team, must now go into a 14-day quarantine at home,” the club said. “Due to the quarantine measures, [we] will not be able to travel to Lower Saxony for the away game on matchday 26 as planned.”.

Dynamo’s sporting director, Ralf Minge, said: “In the past few weeks, we have made enormous efforts in terms of personnel and logistics in order to strictly implement all the prescribed medical and hygienic measures. We are in contact with the responsible health authority and the DFL (German Football League) to coordinate all further steps. The fact is that we can neither train nor participate in the game in the next 14 days.”

The Bundesliga announced this week that it would restart on 16 May after being given the green light by the government. The league has drawn up a detailed set of regulations and guidelines for training and matches in order to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus, including stringent testing. However, the question of how to respond to positive tests is out of the hands of the league as German law states any response to cases is a matter for the local health authority.

The league has been on hold since mid-March because of the coronavirus outbreak which has brought football to a standstill around the world and Germany*s progress is being closely watched by other leagues.

On Monday, the DFL said it had registered 10 positive cases in a blanket test of 1,724 players and staff at its 36 first and second division clubs.

[Baddar]

Ralf Minge eh

[Baddar]

No Elite sport will take place in England before June 1st.