What if your star player has Covid-19?

Football & Sports Lawyers

A third player at Brighton & Hove Albion has been tested positive with Coronavirus.  Whilst the Premiership clubs will get together to work out proposals for a re-start the question remains what happens if one or more of the players in the starting 11 develops the disease.  Can they lawfully postpone the game or must they allowed to play behind closed doors.

The Times today reports:

The latest coronavirus case at Brighton has prompted Paul Barber, the club’s chief executive, to seek clarity on what would happen should a player test positive once competitive matches are under way. It is understood that the player is a senior member of the Brighton squad.

“If you lose an important player to the virus that could be a significant loss, but if it’s several players that would be an imperial loss, so what happens then?” Barber told The Times.

I suppose one way to reply to that statement is that with social distancing being in place now for several weeks how can a football player armed with all the information be test positive?  Has the player breached the Government Guidelines on social distancing?  If that is the case then one could argue tough on the club.

Be good to know your views.

Full report see below:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/positive-coronavirus-test-for-third-brighton-hove-albion-player-raises-further-questions-over-premier-leagues-project-restart-lrr3jdq36