Open-minded over restart but footballers have safety concerns, admits Nathan Redmond
Nathan Redmond has admitted that footballers are concerned over restart
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Southampton and England international Nathan Redmond has confessed that while he is open minded over a potential restart, there are safety concerns from footballers. The COVID-19 pandemic had forced a shutdown of football in Europe but things are slowly getting back to normal.
The return to normal has seen the Bundesliga play the first round of football in a major European league for more than two months with the German top tier following safety regulations. That has given hope to the La Liga, Premier League and Serie A with the other three leagues looking to resume action as soon as possible as well. All three have given a tentative date of around mid-June but the Premier League’s Project Restart has caused a few problems.
Many have concerns over a premature return with a larger concern over neutral venues but Southampton star Nathan Redmond has admitted that he’s open-minded over a restart. But the attacker also confessed that footballers are concerned over a restart with them scared for the safety of their families.
“I’m open-minded [about the restart] but at the same time I don’t want the game to be ruined. Whether that be adjusting how close you get to somebody if you go in to tackle them, adjusting how many fans are allowed to sit next to each other and how close, adjusting how you shake hands. I just don’t want the game to be so overruled by so many things that it’s not the same. Loads of footballers are going to be in a different headspace. Some are going to be fearful because they’ve got family, kids, who they don’t want to put in danger, which is completely understandable,” Redmond told the Guardian.
"Then there are some who want to get on with the game and maybe others are more curious to see what happens if we go back to normal in terms of a footballing environment. We’re not going to know until we take the first steps. I’m ready and willing to get back to training and playing whenever that is but under the right guidelines because there is something happening with Covid-19 that people never thought would happen in their lifetimes. I feel that if the players, staff and everybody involved in football are in danger … well, just to say, people’s health is the most important thing," he added.
