Premier League should start only when it's safe, asserts Ian Wright
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has lashed out at criticisms of the English Premier Leagueâs decision to start the season amidst the Coronavirus pandemic situation. Competitive football in England has been suspended for more than a month now, with the last match played on March 13.
Even though there were several talks held between the teams and the concerned association, no dates were fixed as when the English Premier League might restart with the 2019/20 season. With a lot of speculations doing rounds, Arsenal legend Ian Wright feels that the criticism is unnecessary because football should only start when it is safe and admitted that âlives come before everything.â The former footballer compared football with a 'punching bag' and people tend to go after it after hearing about several meetings the associations have held over the week.Â
"It seems like football is the punching bag. Lives come before anything, and the Premier League have always said, and they continue to say, [football will resume] when itâs safe to do so," said Ian Wright to BBC Radio 5 Live.
"When you hear people having a go at football because the Premier League are having meetings ... they have to have meetings because at some stage things have to start again. Just because football is a game ... it's still a business, just like other businesses are making plans to try and get themselves going again," added Wright.Â
The English Football League (EFL), which includes the Championship, League One and League Two are also in talks for a possible resumption very soon with matches being played behind closed doors. But they are yet to announce a date on when football would restart. Meanwhile, the rest of the Europan countries have also suspended their leagues for an indefinite period with no possible dates on when they might restart.Â