Until (yeah right!) the premier league start policing this, there will always be this assumption that teams are not being overly honest and are using a situation to their advantage when they have a lot of injuries and a lot of games to play.
It’s the PL that needs to be front and centre here, until then any suggestions teams are gaming the system will carry on.
The vagueness is unlreal. Like Leeds apparently have ‘5 cases amongst players and staff’, but somewhere else I read ‘7 cases’. No mention of who those players are - who the staff are - coaches, trainers, cooks? Who knows.
Agree that the information we receive as fans is flimsy, but you presume the PL is requesting thorough information to call off a game - bearing in mind clubs with strong cases have had their pleas rejected.
It surely isn't a case of a Chief Exec of a club phoning the PL and saying 'sorry lad, we can't play this weekend as we've had six more positive COVID tests. Nah, can't give you names, just trust us'.
The problem, as always, is perception. We can't see the discussions, so we can't trust it. Personally I think clubs should have to name players with COVID, as to me it's no different than someone being out with the flu or a twisted ankle or whatever. I think one of the key issues is vaccinated versus unvaccinated. Read the statement from the PL closely today and it becomes clear:
"The Board concluded that Leeds will not be able to fulfil their fixture this weekend due to the number of players with COVID-19, injuries and illness. The club’s training ground has also been closed after consultation with the UK Health Security Agency and the Premier League. Watford continue to have an insufficient number of players to field a team after their match against Crystal Palace last Saturday was postponed following a COVID-19 outbreak."
Leeds can't field a team because of players who actually have COVID (plus injuries and other illnesses). Watford, on the other hand, 'can't field a team'. Notice the difference? Heavily rumoured Watford have lots of unvaccinated players, so their issue is almost certainly that those players are isolating because they're a close contact, rather than because they actually have COVID. That to me is a disgrace, and IMO Watford should be made to play the game regardless. The idiocy of their players is what's leading to them not playing, rather than players actually testing positive.
