The manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Antonio Conte has mocked the meeting the Premier League board had with clubs’ managers on Thursday, December 23. According to the Italian tactician, the meeting was a waste of time.
On Thursday, the Premier League board met with clubs’ managers to discuss issues related to the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting became necessary since the pandemic has forced the league body to postpone a series of league games.
The meeting came less than three days after the Premier League board in conjunction with the 20 clubs in the league chose to continue with the 2021-2022 season amid the increasing number of covid-19 cases in the league.
Antonio Conte participated in Thursday’s meeting with the league body which he said was like discussing with a brick wall.
In an interview on Friday ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, December 26, Antonio Conte was asked if the meeting was a waste of time and he said: “I think so.”
“Yesterday it was [like talking to] a wall and for this reason, I also prefer to not go into it”, the former Inter Milan and Chelsea coach said.
“If I have to be honest, it was a meeting that we tried to speak and some coaches tried to speak, to ask about solutions but I think everything was decided.
“Because when you have a wall in front of you, you can speak and ask what you want but every decision was taken.”
🗣 "I think that everything was decided. And I think yesterday was a wall, and for this reason also I don't want to go into the discussion."
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 24, 2021
Antonio Conte says he felt as though Thursday's meeting with the Premier League was a 'waste of time'.
In the same vein, the coach of Norwich City, Dean Smith echoed the sentiments of coach Antonio Conte. He stressed that the Premier League board had already decided on all the issues that were tabled for discussion.
“We went into a meeting yesterday where the decisions had already been made, so I think we had already missed the boat in terms of decision making”, coach Smith said.
“They decided the season would continue as was and we have got to fulfill fixtures now, so we have to cope as best we can.”
Meanwhile, the Premier League has postponed the Boxing Day game between Burnley and Everton due to rising cases of the virus at Everton.
The league body confirmed that the game had to be postponed because some of the players on Everton’s fit list could not train due to the virus.
“They [the Premier League board] concluded that the club will not be able to fulfill their fixture this weekend as a result of an insufficient number of players available to play due to Covid-19 cases and injuries,” the Premier League statement said.
“The board this morning was able to make its decision in advance of Boxing Day to give clarity to clubs and their fans. We apologize for the inconvenience and disruption caused to those supporters’ festive plans.”
Based on this development, three Premier League fixtures for this year’s Boxing Day have been postponed so far. The postponed Premier League Boxing Day fixtures are:
- Liverpool vs Leeds
- Wolves vs Watford
- Burnley vs Everton
