Coronavirus effect on football

Can't wait for us to be back on the pitch!

I watched a football match! It was live! I didn't know who was going to win!

It was not a great match to be honest, but I totally give it a pass for today. So glad to see live football.

This was my attitude, was a little odd at first but I soon ignored the lack of crowd, I kept switching between the Dortmund game and Leipzig. It's funny though looking at the comments on the report on BBC sport people saying ' if this is what the PL will be like they can keep it' or not proper football this 😂.. Shameless attempts from nobody's trying to stop it restarting.

Can't wait for us to be back on the pitch!

I want us to play the match against City first, win that and we're champions.

Jürgen Klopp says Liverpool will be mentally and physically ready for the resumption of the Premier League season and football will remain a “wonderful game” even when played at empty stadiums.

Liverpool are, at most, only two wins from claiming their first league title for 30 years and could return to training in small groups on Tuesday providing the Project Restart plan is approved on Monday. The first stage would see players tested for Covid-19 twice a week.

Several Premier League players, however, have voiced concerns over protocols for the next, higher-risk phase of training, and Project Restart rests on gaining their consent.

Those concerns are just one complication in the Premier League’s aim to restart on 12 or 19 June, with clubs wanting two weeks of contact training before returning to competitive action. Liverpool reopened Melwood for individual training on 7 May and, despite the uncertainty over the return date, Klopp has no doubts over his players’ preparation.

Asked on BBC’s Football Focus whether his players will be ready to start, the Liverpool manager said: “Yes. Look, football is a game where pretty much we have the same situation. We play against another team.

“We don’t have to be at our all-time best, we have to be at our best possible and that is exactly the same situation for the other teams. Whenever we will start we will have the same time for preparation and our job, as always, is to use the situation you are in. We will be in as good a shape as possible and that is what we have to use then.”

Liverpool will secure their coveted 19th championship in an empty stadium once the Premier League resumes but Klopp is philosophical about the prospect of playing without a crowd. “We all started playing football without supporters and we loved this game not because of the atmosphere in a stadium,” he added.

“Meanwhile, we are used to it and we know that’s the real football but now, if we can not play like this for a few months, hopefully only [a few months], that doesn’t mean the game is not still a wonderful game. I really hope that it works out in Germany and we can then start at some point in England as well.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/16/Jürgen-klopp-says-liverpool-will-be-ready-for-wonderful-game-to-return?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Great to see football back,it's a start,obviously not the same without the fans,but get the season finished,and see where we are.

I want us to play the match against City first, win that and we're champions.

We can

Bit of a strange one that Dortmund game, the no fans thing will certainly take some getting used to. Saw a lot of people on Twitter who were quick to slag the whole thing off and seemed completely against it

Thing was, the game had been bigged up all week like it was a world cup final due to the lack of football, I think people had some unrealistic expectations of what the return of football was going to be like

I certainly found it weird and a bit soulless myself, a large part of that would have been down to it being behind closed doors but I think (and hope) it would have also been down to the fact it's a game that I'm not really bothered about. Unless it's Liverpool, or a game that somehow affects Liverpool I find it hard to get excited about a football match. Don't even bother watching the higights on Match of the Day most of the time.

Sure I'll feel a lot different if & when Liverpool finally return behind closed doors. Until then these German games are a half decent watch

I actually thought it was a decent enough game after the first 10 minutes, I like the look of Dortmund, a lot of similarities with us, quick breaks and skillfull attacking players backed up by a solid defence, Shalke are a decent side but got completely dominated. I think the Bundesliga is far from decided, especially with Dortmuind vs Bayern coming up in about a weeks time, now that should be a good game, crowd or no crowd.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52698017

Uefa president Aleksander Cerefin says it has a "concrete plan" for finishing the European season "in August".

BBC Sport reported last month that the Champions League and Europa League are likely to be played in that month.

The quarter-finals and semi-finals are expected to be played over two legs.

The head of European football's governing body told BeIN Sports: "As things look now, I'm sure that we can finish the European season and this means Uefa competition."

Cerefin said the games will "have to be played without spectators" but hopes the "majority" of domestic leagues will complete the season.

The Premier League has nine rounds of fixtures remaining, while Paris St-Germain were awarded the Ligue 1 title after the French government cancelled the 2019-20 sporting season.

The German Bundesliga returned behind closed doors on 16 May and Spain's La Liga hopes to do the same in June after players returned to training.

Cerefin said leagues which do not complete the season "will still have to play qualifiers if they want to participate in Uefa competition" next season.

He added: "Only sporting reasons can be the formula for qualifying for the Champions League and Europa League."

Euro 2020, due to take place from 12 June to 12 July this summer, will now run from 11 June to 11 July next year after a decision to postpone in March.

Both semi-finals and the final are due to be held at London's Wembley Stadium with 11 other host cities: Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Glasgow, Munich, Rome and St Petersburg.

Cerefin said the idea is to "stay in the same cities" for the tournament in 2021 and Uefa has had "conversations with nine" of those host cities.

"With three cities, we have some issues. So we will discuss further, and in principle, we will do it in 12 cities. But if not, we are ready to do it in 10, nine or eight," he added.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52698017

Uefa president Aleksander Cerefin says it has a "concrete plan" for finishing the European season "in August".

BBC Sport reported last month that the Champions League and Europa League are likely to be played in that month.

The quarter-finals and semi-finals are expected to be played over two legs.

The head of European football's governing body told BeIN Sports: "As things look now, I'm sure that we can finish the European season and this means Uefa competition."

Cerefin said the games will "have to be played without spectators" but hopes the "majority" of domestic leagues will complete the season.

The Premier League has nine rounds of fixtures remaining, while Paris St-Germain were awarded the Ligue 1 title after the French government cancelled the 2019-20 sporting season.

The German Bundesliga returned behind closed doors on 16 May and Spain's La Liga hopes to do the same in June after players returned to training.

Cerefin said leagues which do not complete the season "will still have to play qualifiers if they want to participate in Uefa competition" next season.

He added: "Only sporting reasons can be the formula for qualifying for the Champions League and Europa League."

Euro 2020, due to take place from 12 June to 12 July this summer, will now run from 11 June to 11 July next year after a decision to postpone in March.

Both semi-finals and the final are due to be held at London's Wembley Stadium with 11 other host cities: Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Glasgow, Munich, Rome and St Petersburg.

Cerefin said the idea is to "stay in the same cities" for the tournament in 2021 and Uefa has had "conversations with nine" of those host cities.

"With three cities, we have some issues. So we will discuss further, and in principle, we will do it in 12 cities. But if not, we are ready to do it in 10, nine or eight," he added.

This will be a huge advantage to teams who finish their leagues as opposed to those who don't, for example PSG will be completely match unfit for their games as I assume they won't even be allowed to play friendlies.

It's because quite a few stadiums in this country are in large built up residential areas, a lot of grounds in germany aren't, the neutral venues suggested were more out of town so allowing more control

If they're that worried about crowds, all the police have to do is to establish and man a cordon of 1-2 miles around stadiums on matchday that is only open to local residents within the cordon, and that's the stadium issue sorted.

As for the rest of us, we're not cavemen. There's no real point going to the stadium unless you're planning to go into it. And as you can't do that anyway, you may as well stay at home. That way, you'll miss nothing.

I'm getting more and more worried we ain't getting this title, I'm now wanting PPG I think. 😔

In football, nothing beats a good old fashioned panic in May.

Get rid of the neutral venues nonsense, and I'm sure it will be much easier to find the least worst way to finish the season. We can absorb an increase in cases. We can deal with new positive tests. We can accommodate empty stadiums. We can live with training session atmospheres. But travelling to neutral venues hundreds of kilometres from home is not going to fly. That is the major road block left to resume the league. This is a league campaign that is run on a home and away basis. Coronavirus does not change that.

I'll only settle when that trophy is being held above Hendos head

No celebrations.
No handshakes.
No hugs.
No fans.

It'll feel like winning the title because someone else handed it to us. Bit like 1983 really.

No celebrations.

It'll feel like winning the title because someone else handed it to us

No it won’t, it will feel like winning the title because we’ve earned it. You don’t get to 25 points clear and within 6 points of securing it after 29 games for it to then feel like it’s been handed to us, regardless of the situation that is happening whilst the season finishes. The only thing that’s been handed to us is 3 points after 3 points time and time again this season because we’ve blown the Premier League away.

And of course there will be celebrations, just at a later date. You think the club is going to go 30 years not winning the league and then not have any sort of celebration when it’s safe to do so?!

No it won’t, it will feel like winning the title because we’ve earned it. You don’t get to 25 points clear and within 6 points of securing it after 29 games for it to then feel like it’s been handed to us, regardless of the situation that is happening whilst the season finishes. The only thing that’s been handed to us is 3 points after 3 points time and time again this season because we’ve blown the Premier League away.

And of course there will be celebrations, just at a later date. You think the club is going to go 30 years not winning the league and then not have any sort of celebration when it’s safe to do so?!

Exactly! We've earned it and we'll celebrate it when we can do so.

Posted at 9:249:24
Premier League matches could be shown free-to-air


Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told BBC Breakfast this morning that if the Premier League returns, some matches could be broadcast live on free-to-air TV.

"We would look to give that green light if we can because it would be a good thing to do if we can," he said.

"I’m also looking at increasing the number of matches that could be free-to-air so people wouldn’t be tempted to leave their homes to watch it which is clearly an important consideration.

"There is a rule at the moment that at 3pm you can’t show matches on [free-to-air] TV because people were watching it in the football stadiums.

"Clearly that’s not going to be the case anymore so some of those slots may be available for free to air, so we’re looking to see if we could do that as part of the wider broadcasting package."

I think if there's extra games to be shown on free to air it could be an opportunity to let the terrestrial channels bid for the games and put a substantial amount of the money made towards a package to help lower league teams.

PL clubs could take a bit to help cover the loss of gates (although I wouldn't be surprised if most or all were insured against this sort of thing), after that there should be a decent chunk left to help those lower league clubs facing trouble

I think if there's extra games to be shown on free to air it could be an opportunity to let the terrestrial channels bid for the games and put a substantial amount of the money made towards a package to help lower league teams.

Absolutely ridiculously sensible idea.  Will never happen!

Here's what the Premier League should do for BCD games!

Coronavirus football: FC Seoul apologises for 'sex dolls' in stands

It is a challenge for sports leagues across the world - if play can only resume in empty stadiums, how can the atmosphere be improved?

However, not many clubs will be rushing to follow the example of FC Seoul.

The top-flight South Korean side has apologised after fans accused them of using sex dolls in the stands.

FC Seoul insisted they were "premium mannequins" rather than sex dolls - but did admit they came from a supplier that produces sex toys.

And some of the dolls were holding signs advertising x-rated websites - despite pornography being banned in South Korea.

The mannequins' manufacturer told the BBC they had apologised to FC Seoul. But they also reiterated that the dolls were merely "premium mannequins".

On Sunday, FC Seoul played their first home match of the K League season.

The ground was empty - one of many measures designed to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak.

So before the match, a company called Dalcom offered to fill some of the empty seats, and the club agreed.

In total, there were 30 mannequins - 28 of them female, and two of them male.

However, fans watching online noticed that some of the mannequins looked more like sex dolls - and some were advertising x-rated websites - leading to the club apologising on Instagram and Facebook.

Dalcom said the adverts came from a sex toy company who placed orders with Dalcom, and wanted to take pictures of the mannequins before the game.

"They were supposed to take all the logos down before the game started," Dalcom director Cho Young-june told the BBC. "But there were several hairbands and logos left to be caught by public eye."

FC Seoul official Lee Ji-hoon told the BBC it didn't do a background check on Dalcom, and didn't realise they worked in the sex industry.

Mr Lee admitted he thought the dolls looked "very human" - but said it didn't even enter his mind that they could be sex toys.

I think if there's extra games to be shown on free to air it could be an opportunity to let the terrestrial channels bid for the games and put a substantial amount of the money made towards a package to help lower league teams.

Read somewhere that of all the games that will now be shown on TV, Sky are going to get about 32 of them, BT I think 8 and the remaining 5(?) will be split between BBC and Amazon Prime. Might be slightly out on the numbers but it was very much along those lines.

Things I don't want to see

- 3 games every day like it's some kind of fake World Cup
- neutral venues

Things I do want to see

- teams playing at their own grounds
- normal weekend / midweek programmes.

Things I don't want to see

- 3 games every day like it's some kind of fake World Cup
- neutral venues

Things I do want to see

- teams playing at their own grounds
- normal weekend / midweek programmes.

erm aren't there more than 3 games per day normally??? Why would you not want to watch all the games if possible?

erm aren't there more than 3 games per day normally??? Why would you not want to watch all the games if possible?

I think he means a weekend/midweek programme would be better (yes there would be more than 3 games a day on certain days) rather than 3 games every day for 7 days of the week.

Read somewhere that of all the games that will now be shown on TV, Sky are going to get about 32 of them, BT I think 8 and the remaining 5(?) will be split between BBC and Amazon Prime. Might be slightly out on the numbers but it was very much along those lines.

I thought that there would have been more than 5 remaining games available, just presumed that the remaining TV games would have still belonged to their broadcaster & at least all the 3PM KOs would be up for grabs?

erm aren't there more than 3 games per day normally??? Why would you not want to watch all the games if possible?

Because some Premier League games are F***ing sh*t and boring

Here's what the Premier League should do for BCD games!

Coronavirus football: FC Seoul apologises for 'sex dolls' in stands

It is a challenge for sports leagues across the world - if play can only resume in empty stadiums, how can the atmosphere be improved?

However, not many clubs will be rushing to follow the example of FC Seoul.

The top-flight South Korean side has apologised after fans accused them of using sex dolls in the stands.

FC Seoul insisted they were "premium mannequins" rather than sex dolls - but did admit they came from a supplier that produces sex toys.

And some of the dolls were holding signs advertising x-rated websites - despite pornography being banned in South Korea.

The mannequins' manufacturer told the BBC they had apologised to FC Seoul. But they also reiterated that the dolls were merely "premium mannequins".

On Sunday, FC Seoul played their first home match of the K League season.

The ground was empty - one of many measures designed to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak.

So before the match, a company called Dalcom offered to fill some of the empty seats, and the club agreed.

In total, there were 30 mannequins - 28 of them female, and two of them male.

However, fans watching online noticed that some of the mannequins looked more like sex dolls - and some were advertising x-rated websites - leading to the club apologising on Instagram and Facebook.

Dalcom said the adverts came from a sex toy company who placed orders with Dalcom, and wanted to take pictures of the mannequins before the game.

"They were supposed to take all the logos down before the game started," Dalcom director Cho Young-june told the BBC. "But there were several hairbands and logos left to be caught by public eye."

FC Seoul official Lee Ji-hoon told the BBC it didn't do a background check on Dalcom, and didn't realise they worked in the sex industry.

Mr Lee admitted he thought the dolls looked "very human" - but said it didn't even enter his mind that they could be sex toys.

Imagine the carnage if John Terry was let loose in there.