Premier League stars could hold the key to whether the football season restarts – and they could end up vetoing the whole thing.
Clubs will talk to their players in the next 48 hours to gauge opinions about whether they are prepared to carry on under the current Project Restart proposals.
The Professional Footballers’ Association and League Managers’ Association are also to be consulted and it is the outcome of these talks which may decide whether the Premier League feel they can push on.
Mirror Sport understands player welfare was a big topic of discussion in last Friday’s Premier League meeting and there is a growing feeling that it will evolve into the biggest issue.
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Players have major health concerns for themselves, the knock-on effect for their families and also there are likely to be major question marks as to whether they would even be covered by insurance should they get coronavirus.
Football clubs are unlikely to be covered and player contracts do not have any clauses for a force majeure which has left them exposed but the bigger worry is that if a family player becomes infected.
Medics are not convinced players – despite being generally positive in public – are sure about resuming games and the likes of Sergio Aguero and Glenn Murray have already spoken up.
Aguero said: “The majority of players are scared because they have family, they have children, they have babies, parents.
“It does scare me but I have just been here with my girlfriend, I haven’t had contact with other people and they say that to contract the disease is very rare and difficult but they say that there are people who have it, and they don’t have symptoms and they can infect you.
“That’s why I’ve stayed at home. You can be infected and you don’t know anything about it.”
Players will now be consulted through captains, PFA reps and the clubs and the outcome will be fed back with the Premier League likely to meet again on Friday, 24 hours after the Government’s latest lockdown update.
That meeting is only likely to go ahead if the Government eases lockdown measures and there is a growing feeling that the whole restart may hinge on whether the players give the go-ahead as their feelings are at last likely to be heard.
