The manager of Arsenal football club, Mikel Arteta has urged the Premier League board to be fair ahead of its meeting over the outbreak of coronavirus in the league.
The Premier League is facing a serious battle with covid-19 as confirmed cases are steadily increasing across all the league clubs.
It has gotten so bad that on Thursday, the Premier League announced that five Premier League games scheduled for this weekend have been postponed due to a high number of covid-19 cases reported in the clubs.
Those five Premier League games were Southampton vs Brentford – Saturday, December 18, Watford v Crystal Palace – Saturday, December 18, West Ham United vs Norwich City – Saturday, December 18, and Everton vs Leicester City – Sunday, December 19.
Initially, only Aston Villa’s home game against Burnley and Leeds United vs Arsenal were safe to take place on Saturday but the Premier League announced less than three hours to the kick-off of the Aston Villa vs Burnley game that the match has been postponed.
Hence, only the Premier League game which involved Leeds United and Arsenal took place on Saturday. The league game ended 1-4 in favor of Arsenal.
Due to the incessant outbreak of coronavirus, the Premier League board and the 20 clubs in the league are scheduled to meet on Monday, December 20, to discuss how the league can go on amid the increasing number of covid-19 cases among players and coaching staff.
The board and representatives of the 20 clubs are expected to come up with strict regulations to help the league complete the 2021-2022 season before August which is the FIFA World Cup month.
Also, the Premier League board is expected to come up with new dates for the league games that have been postponed so far.
Ahead of the meeting, coach Mikel Arteta urged the league body to come up with decisions that will be fair for all the clubs in the league. The Spanish tactician added that he does not have a problem if the league body decides to go on with the season amid the fast-rising pandemic.
“They have to come forward and explain what we are to expect from them,” said coach Mikel Arteta.
“If everyone is healthy and authorities think we have to carry on, we will.
“We follow the guidance. If they say play as you can, we will play as we can. We want to all play under the same rules and all in the same way.
“Whatever they decide is better for the fairness of the competition.”
🗣"They have to come forward and explain what we expect from them."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 18, 2021
Mikel Arteta wants more transparency from clubs regarding Covid-19 pic.twitter.com/Mv2rPrg6CR
Based on the events in the Premier League, the league body might decide to start compelling the players in the league who are yet to be vaccinated to do so.
Despite a series of letters to clubs by Premier League chief Richard Masters urging players to receive the covid-19 vaccine, most players in the league are yet to do so which contributed to the outbreak of the pandemic in the league.
Recall that the Premier League had to suspend the league during the 2019-2020 season for three months due to the pandemic. Afterward, the league resumed behind closed doors.
All things being equal, the league body might be tempted to return to the era where spectators were not allowed into match venues if the body choose to continue with the 2021-2022 season amid the increasing number of covid-19 cases.
