Reporter Han Bing reported that as many as 103 players in the Premier League had tested positive for nucleic acid in the latest week, setting a new record for the number of infections since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic for two consecutive weeks; in the past 18 days, the Premier League has postponed 15 games due to the outbreak of the epidemic in the team, and only 6 games have been postponed in the entire winter last year! La Liga has just finished vacation, 31 players have reported positive nucleic acid tests, and 13 of the 20 teams have confirmed cases. As the Premier League discusses whether to postpone the entire league round, Wales has resumed empty stadiums for sporting matches, Scotland has limited the number of spectators to less than 500, and Germany and France have also begun to limit the number of spectators (5,000)...
Not just the Premier League, but all of Europe. The blow from the Omiljunn mutation virus has only just begun, and there are already fears of a postponement of the game and the recurrence of huge economic losses caused by the empty stadium. But unfortunately, given that the Ami kerong mutation virus is much faster than the spread of the Delta mutation virus, the postponement of the five major league games on a wide scale, the restriction of spectators and even empty fields on the pitch can be expected to be an inevitable result. The Premier League has postponed 15 games, but what about La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1?
Hopes of regaining full matchday earnings from the start of this season and gradually normalizing the European football industry are being rapidly destroyed by this latest mutant virus.
The Premier League's crisis meeting last Monday decided not to postpone the entire league round for broadcast fees and matchday revenue. But it wasn't just the Premier League that was swept away by the Omiljung mutation virus, but the entire European continent.
The first to bear the brunt was La Liga, where 31 new players tested positive on Monday in Real Madrid (10), Betis (6), Cadiz (5), Celta, Elche (4) and Barca (2). In the previously reported cases of infection, Athletic Bilbao had 4 more, Celta 5, Betis and Osasuna 2, and Levante and Valencia 1. Both Vallecano and Real Sociedad have seen widespread outbreaks of infection within the squad, with 12 in the former and 10 in the latter.
La Liga's soaring number of player infections in December, especially around the end-of-year holiday, has made the professional league feel the seriousness of the situation. The professional league has revised the agreement on covid-19 prevention, and the number of nucleic acid tests per day for 42 teams in La Liga and La Liga will increase to 60. All clubs must undergo nucleic acid testing every time they enter the training base (training, training, training, treatment, etc.) and must be carried out every morning before the training camp. Teams travelling to the away field must also undergo a nucleic acid test before departure. Players returning from holidays, returning to the team at the end of international match days, joining new signings, and even after more than 3 consecutive days of leave or rehabilitation, must undergo nucleic acid testing to return to the team.
For the first 15 days of January 2022, the League will also conduct weekly serum antibody tests to avoid possible infections. It is also recommended to avoid the use of enclosed spaces such as locker rooms as much as possible, and players will change their clothes in the environment outside the locker room to participate in training. Last year's famous La Liga team Fuen Labrada was infected en masse in the locker room, with the total number of infections exceeding 40.
Last week, The West B Lugo also broke out an in-team infection of more than 20 people, and the game could only be postponed. The professional league stipulates that the locker room can only accommodate a maximum of 7 people at the same time, and must wear an FFP2 mask and maintain ventilation. It is recommended that players concentrate on showering in hotels or homes, rather than in changing rooms, centralized dining at the end of training, it is recommended that up to 4 people share a table, and that the diners are fixed to facilitate the identification of close contacts.
La Liga wants each team to postpone only one game per season due to an epidemic within the team, while La Liga is two games and cannot postpone the game during the last 8 rounds of the season. Obviously, in terms of the strictness of the epidemic prevention measures, La Liga reacts faster and more strictly than the Premier League. Because La Liga can no longer withstand the blow of another widespread postponement. Moreover, not only the United Kingdom and Spain, but also Germany, France and the Netherlands have been hit to a similar extent, and the European football economy has once again faced a heavy blow without matchday income after a year.
The Premier League and La Liga do not postpone the game as much as possible in order not to violate the broadcast contract, resulting in the deduction of the broadcaster. But the Aumechjong mutation virus swept across Europe, and the biggest threat to the European football economy is not the postponement of the game, but the restriction of spectators after the tightening of epidemic prevention measures in various countries, or even empty stadiums. Because that would mean a cliff-like drop in matchday revenue, especially for the big four leagues outside the Premier League, not to mention the other top european leagues and sub-leagues that are more dependent on matchday income.
Latvia began approaching the "lockdown" of epidemic prevention measures as early as mid-October, prohibiting gatherings and cultural and sports activities. The Netherlands resumed raising the threshold for epidemic prevention as early as November 12, and all football matches were empty for at least three weeks. But at least for now, the Dutch league is still empty, as the epidemic continues to worsen.
In early December, Germany also made a decision to limit the number of spectators due to the fierce rebound of the epidemic. The capacity of the outdoor stadium is capped at 15,000 people, and indoors is 0.5 million people, while fans must wear masks and receive full doses of vaccination. In Saxony, the most important state of the epidemic, Red Bull Leipzig can only play empty games. Bayern just celebrated the outbreak of the epidemic in October with a first allianz stadium attendance of 75,000, and in early December the Bavarian state government decided to empty the game against Barca, and Bayern also had two Bundesliga home games before the end of the year.
On Monday night, the French government also announced that the maximum number of spectators for football matches in France will also be only 5,000, and it must also be a full dose of vaccination. Because just last Saturday, the number of new infections in France reached 104,600 in a single day, setting a record again. France's stadium restriction ban is also 3 weeks, but the media is generally pessimistic, because of the Precedent of Germany, France is very likely to continue to extend the restriction order, or even directly introduce the ban on empty venues.
The Olmikron mutation virus has swept across Europe, and for the five major league clubs that have generally resumed spectator attendance this season, the re-restriction of spectator numbers is a major blow to the recovery of football's economy. After all, almost all clubs have borrowed from the government or private equity funds to fill the financial deficit, hoping to get the football economy back on track when matchday revenues recover. But if the pandemic continues to worsen, the lack of matchday revenue will create a vicious circle: sponsors and broadcasters will deduct fees, and clubs will be saddled with additional loans collateralized by matchday income.
Last season's empty matches cost the whole of Europe billions of euros, and now the schedule is not halfway through, the epidemic situation in Europe has worsened unprecedentedly, and the major leagues can successfully complete the matches instead of cutting off, and the future will be the highest goal. As for the near future resumption of matchday income, it is already an unrealistic fantasy.