Shropshire Star

Matt Maher: Football must face up to fact it is not in control

From the moment professional football was halted by the coronavirus, there has been talk about a need to protect the sporting integrity of competitions.

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The phrase has been present in every official statement made so far during the crisis by the Premier League and EFL.

It is why, we are told, a number of top-flight clubs are opposed to playing out the remainder of the season at neutral venues. They fear being barred from playing home fixtures at their own ground, despite the fact supporters won’t be allowed in anyway, puts them at a disadvantage.

Maybe they are right. Perhaps arriving and playing in familiar surroundings, even though the seats are empty, will provide home teams with something of a psychological boost.

Yet in the grand scheme of things, it seems a fairly weak argument, certainly at least when based around notions of preserving integrity.

From the moment it was acknowledged the season would need to be completed without fans the integrity of the competition was damaged, the conditions of play already drastically altered from the first three-quarters of the campaign.

While Villa’s players, to pick just one example, might appreciate the familiarity of using their own changing room, surely the biggest advantage would be felt by a Chelsea team who no longer have to contend with the noise of 40,000 home supporters baying for victory?

In that context, does it really matter whether the match takes place at Villa Park, Molineux, Wembley or even St George’s Park, the latter a place with facilities which appear well suited to hosting ‘quarantined’ teams and staging several matches a day?

It is time the football authorities stopped talking about the need for integrity and admitted the chief driver in their desire to finish the season has always been money. There really should be no shame in that.

With the Covid-19 daily death toll still climbing well into the hundreds, there are many who no doubt find even the discussion of football’s return distasteful, even repulsive. Such a viewpoint is perfectly fair and understandable.

But we are not talking about football as a mere sport. Instead, this is an industry which employs tens of thousands of people and like any other major business it needs to try to plot a way through the crisis.

For several clubs in Leagues One and Two, this is very rapidly becoming a fight for survival. In that regard, there is absolutely nothing wrong with clubs and leagues talking through the options as they search for a solution which might lessen the long-term financial impact.

Right now the most sense remains in finding a way to complete the current season. Do that and Premier League clubs no longer have to worry about repaying a £762million chunk of their broadcast deal. At a time when nothing is normal, such an outcome would be about as close to it as you can possibly get.

The trouble for the Premier League, the EFL and the FA – as it has been from the start – is that they are not in control of events.

It is the virus which has been dictating proceedings and that will remain the case for the foreseeable future. Any plan will always be subject to change. Next week, when the government are scheduled to provide an update on any possible easing of the lockdown, looks significant in that regard.

All football’s leaders can do for now is work on scenarios, from the best case to the worst, seek solutions to the considerable logistical headaches and hope the situation in the country reaches a point, fairly soon, when the government is ready to give the go-ahead.