In response to the Government’s new measures intending to stop the spread of the Omicron variant, the English Football League (EFL) has reportedly given new guidance to its clubs, consisting of all Championship, League One, and League Two professional football teams, advising that players should be segregated based on their vaccination status. The EFL has suggested this policy in order to prevent transmission and avoid the emergence of Covid outbreaks, which would have the potential of disrupting fixtures over the busy Christmas period. MailOnline has the story.
The 72 clubs across the Championship, League One and League Two are being instructed to think about how they split up their players when travelling to and from matches to try to reduce possible transmission, according to the Telegraph.
The report also claims that the EFL’s guidance is that goalkeepers within its divisions should not train together to lessen the chance of becoming a “close contact” should there be a positive Covid test and therefore reduce the likelihood of disruption.
The EFL have reportedly sent all of its members new guidance to consider until the end of next month in a bid to prevent matches being postponed over what is a typically jam-packed festive period. While the Premier League has also contacted all 20 top-flight clubs to re-impose their emergency Covid measures, and both football bodies strongly advise against Christmas parties this month.
EFL players have also been instructed to bear in mind contact “outside of their bubble”, social distancing while at work, including not all sitting down for meals at the same time.
The news comes after Tottenham’s Premier League clash against Brighton, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed due to the Covid outbreak within the camp. Spurs also saw Thursday’s European Conference League match against Rennes called off.
As Covid continues to take grip of English football, top-flight officials have sent a memo to all clubs informing them of the decision to revert back to emergency measures.
Teams have been forced to abide by a stringent set of protocols since the return of football in June 2020, including social distancing and the use of PPE at training grounds, but those have slowly relaxed in recent months thanks to increasing vaccination rates among players.
But the Premier League have told all 20 teams that the long-standing emergency measures are now back in place.
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