Coronavirus: Football Discussion Thread

[moomba]

The very purpose of social distancing is to to avoid the droplets than hang in the air for a short period after an infected person breathes, talks, coughs etc. It is to avoid taking on viral load. There is an entirely different scale of risk between playing football in the open air and in a closed environmental setting when there really is no escape from the virus.

Contact tracing studies show that 0.03% of infections took place in an outside setting so I suggest if fans feel that football is depraved then they focus on other occupations, and employers.

Do you think maybe a few droplets might pass between people in a full contact sport.

The fact that they're advising people to turn their heads away when tackled should tell you everything you need to know about how safe it is.

 

[hcblue]

The very purpose of social distancing is to to avoid the droplets than hang in the air for a short period after an infected person breathes, talks, coughs etc. It is to avoid taking on viral load. There is an entirely different scale of risk between playing football in the open air and in a closed environmental setting when there really is no escape from the virus.

Contact tracing studies show that 0.03% of infections took place in an outside setting so I suggest if fans feel that football is depraved then they focus on other occupations, and employers.

Perhaps that is because it isn't generally too difficult to socially distance outside - there are big open spaces. But things will change if you then add in a contact sport with exertion and the corresponding increase in breathing rates, collisions causing air to be expelled etc, etc, etc

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Football is a luxury, just like theatre and cinema. If not one minute of the PL is played, it will not affect the economy, in a general sense.
People have to start going back to work, in some sectors. I can see that. I'm lucky enough not to have to do it. If I were still in teaching, I would downright refuse, because I've had classes with up to fifty students packed together like sardines at times.
I take my hat off to Danny Rose, by the way, for publicly saying what needed to said.

 

[mosssideblue]

If you follow the logic of people in this topic then football is not feasible in this country whilst we have coronavirus. Tell that to the people on the tube and buses going to work for the first time today. I am really surprised that so many people have taken this position, perhaps they will change their mind when their 6 year old goes to primary school in a few weeks time.

There are at the moment 2 people in 1000 who have the virus. Footballers are getting regularly tested. They are actually in a very privileged position. Not for the first time I wish I was a footballer. I face traveling every day on the Manchester to Leeds line. Wish I was traveling to work in a jaguar car and playing football in the open air.

The different worlds are starker than ever

 

[marco]

Marco,

Maybe you'd like to produce the "correct" figures then. They are not "wrong" because of anything-they are fact and published daily. Without anything else to go on they are correct. Until we know the actual number of people who have or have had the virus then this is the only measure we can rely on

''Until we know the actual number of people who have or have had the virus''
thank you

 

[exiled-blue]

Why are we not seeing the same clamour to get other sports back up and running.

Cricketers could easily play and social distance and have a cloth in pocket to wipe ball after someone else touched it. But yet the authorities there don't appear as desperate to get started.

I'm sure all professional sport would like to restart, but it appears only ones desperate enough to not care or ignore what's going on in the country are football authorities. And PL ones at that

 

[Marvin]

What's your factual basis for that statement seeing as we have no clear cut evidence of how many asymptomatic carriers there are who will not have been tested but can still pass on the disease? I've seen estimates from various sources that range from 5% to 50% of those infected exhibiting no symptoms at all.

Sir Patrick Vallance said in a recent briefing that 136,000 were currently infected plus or minus a confidence interval. 136,000 is 2 in 1000 (approximately).

 

[lancs blue]

Sir Patrick Vallance said in a recent briefing that 136,000 were currently infected plus or minus a confidence interval. 136,000 is 2 in 1000 (approximately).

Surely those are just known (i.e. positively tested) infections, there will be many more that are asymptomatic and untested.

 

[Marvin]

Why are we not seeing the same clamour to get other sports back up and running.

Cricketers could easily play and social distance and have a cloth in pocket to wipe ball after someone else touched it. But yet the authorities there don't appear as desperate to get started.

I'm sure all professional sport would like to restart, but it appears only ones desperate enough to not care or ignore what's going on in the country are football authorities. And PL ones at that

There are other sports opening. Football stands to lose an extraordinary amount if it does not re-open. The BBC claimed that even if thy re-open, the PL will lose £340m from the broadcasting deal.

If one league opens,like the Bundesliga it might put great pressure on other leagues to respond. Players after all will eventually move to the highest bidder and the financial basis of all of football is now in doubt. They want to try and stabilise it. Some fans call it greed as is football is not an industry like any other.

 

[babyape]

I see Matthew Syed has put his 2 penneth in.... Not read the article admittedly, as it's subscription... But the headline...

Is it fair to put lives at risk for football? On balance, yes