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PLAYER CONCERNS: Watford FC captain will not put family at risk for football to return

 Published on: 16th May 2020   |   By: Geraint Roberts   |   Category: Watford FC

Troy Deeney is the latest Premier League footballer to have admitted his personal concerns over Project Restart after a potential return was announced for June 19.

The Watford captain has said he will put the health of his family above all else including football and is among many footballers who have shared the opinion.

The UK government has confirmed its stance for the Premier League to return behind closed doors next month with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden CBE MP tweeting: “The government is opening the door for competitive football to return safely in June.

“This should include widening access for fans to view live coverage and ensure finances’s from the game’s resumption supports the wider football family.”

Troy Deeney followed Newcastle’s Danny Rose and Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings among others in expressing their concerns over the potential restart.

On Instagram, he said: “I’m not even talking about football at the moment, I’m talking about my family’s health. If I feel that I’m not looking after my family, then I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to put my family at risk.

“What are they going to do, take money off me? I’ve been broke before so it doesn’t bother me.

“They’re talking about not playing in front of fans until 2021, so if it’s not safe enough for fans to be inside a stadium why should it be safe for players to be in there?”

Hornet’s goalkeeper Ben Foster also expressed his doubts, saying footballers should not be receiving coronavirus tests before front-line workers.

He spoke to BBC Newsbeat: “Footballers are not essential key workers, we shouldn’t have access to tests before front-line workers.

“I don’t know if we have to wear masks when we go back to training, I haven’t a clue. It is not going to be normal anymore, a completely different set of circumstances. How do you socially distance from a corner? Can a goalkeeper spit on their gloves?”

Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Bundesliga is returning this weekend (Saturday, May 16) with a full set of fixtures, whilst the Italian and Spanish top divisions are also planning for a possible return next month.

Picture courtesy of Watford FC 

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