Hold out two more games and the title is sealed. I reckon they'll be champions before the season is done entirely.
Football and the Coronavirus
- Thread starter Robbo
- Start date
Caporegime
You cannot expect teams to carry on playing when half their squad has the virus can you?
I think personally the Euro's will be scrapped and the season will continues in the summer. Best course of action for me. There is also more to the league than simply winning the title. You have the bottom 3 and champions league places.
Soldato
Don't forget the staff. Even if the game is played behind the closed door there will still be tens or even hundreds (at bigger grounds) of staff required to make it happen.
Soldato
meanwhile, the f1 race in ausralia this weekend is going ahead with over 100 thousand fans there from all over the world and already 8 f1 team members being tested for possibly having the virus....
No and I wouldn't expect teams to carry on playing if Dinosaurs invaded the pitch too but neither event is likely to happen.
In China they've have around 80000 cases with a population of near 1.4bn people - 0.006% of people have or had coronavirus. In Italy it's been much worse with 0.02% of people having or had coronavirus.
Soldato
TBF China imposed draconian measures on its population. Measures we haven't seen here. People are still travelling around the country, trains, tubes, buses. Maybe it won't be that bad but maybe it will.
Maybe it will be 20x worse and 0.1% of people are effected. I think it's highly unlikely that a significant number of players will contract the virus though.
We're no doubt going to end up seeing games behind closed doors and there might even be postponements but I'd be amazed if the League was cancelled. 90% of the football league would go bankrupt if this were to happen. Even just playing games behind closed doors is going to massively effect sides out of the PL financially.
Things like the CL, with potential for travel bans, is another matter but even then I think the most likely outcome would be delays and games played whenever they can be played.
Caporegime
They won't cancel the league. The only reasonable course of action if it can't be completed is to simply call it as it stands at whatever point they choose. Binning it entirely would be far worse and lead to very strong legal challenges from so many teams. You can't argue against your current league position being where you stop as strongly as you can against having the whole season wiped. Thats worth £100m+ to a lot of teams. Relegation teams, promotion teams, CL places etc.
On another note, football without a crown is ****. I never realised just how important it was for the enjoyment of the game on TV.
On another note, football without a crown is ****. I never realised just how important it was for the enjoyment of the game on TV.
Caporegime
La Liga suspended now too, one of the R. Madrid basketball players has tested positive and they share facilities.
Soldato
I think calling it as it stands is open to legal challenges far more than just null and void. Some teams at the bottom can say they have had more difficult fixtures already and had easier ones to come that could save them from relegation, goal difference could decide relegation. How do you work that out? Do you put a panel together and they decide the rest of the results? This is far more complicated than just calling the result. In the end it might come down to a majority vote of the PL teams.
Soldato
Postponement is the only viable option that I can see, especially for the relegation teams and promotion / play off spots in the Championship.
I really really hope the Euros go ahead but it's 50/50 at the moment I think.
I really really hope the Euros go ahead but it's 50/50 at the moment I think.
Soldato
I doubt even the Olympics will go ahead
You really think sides in the Championship that have a chance of being promoted and earning £100m+ would not challenge this? You think Leicester who stand to make an additional £60m+ from qualifying for the Cl wouldn't challenge this?
Throw in the fact that countless clubs throughout Europe wouldn't be able to survive financially if the Leagues were cancelled means they'll be finished one way or another. The Euros being moved to the summer of 2021 or possibly even at the same time as the Afcon is the most likely solution
If they stop it as baz said for many clubs it's also a massive financial loss, so to agree to it I'm guessing they would want compensating for it.
I can't see a them pausing it as it were as where do you then find weeks or months to suddenly play the remaining games?
I can't see a them pausing it as it were as where do you then find weeks or months to suddenly play the remaining games?
Soldato
I don't think this is what is likely. I just don't think you can call the season before it has been played as the same thing will happen, teams will challenge it because they get relegated when they could still have been safe. I think suspending the Euros and finishing the season is the most likely option if this kicks off but they will suspend the league when players start catching this.
Soldato
If the Gov says games behind closed doors then the teams out of the Prem are screwed anyway as they rely on the revenue of the gates. It depends on how long this things goes on for. It could be all over in a 3 weeks to a month. Still such early days.
I've not suggested ending the season before it's finished. I was making the counter point to your argument. For all those that would challenge a decision to end the season as things stand, you'll have just as many challenging the decision to cancel the season altogether. Utd, Wolves, Sheffield Utd and Leicester all stand a chance of earning £60m+ more next season from being in the CL + all the clubs challenging for promotion to the PL.
PL clubs wouldn't be screwed. Gate money accounts for less than a quarter of revenue (for some clubs considerably less than that in fact) and they'll only likely miss out on a handful of games each. For sides in lower leagues, who do rely on gate money, they'll be hit the most. The big danger if games aren't played is what happens with TV money. If games aren't played then I assume Sky et al aren't going to be paying their next installement and all clubs, not least PL clubs massively rely on tv money.