Wayne Rooney has had his say on the Premier League’s hiatus.
Derby County’s Wayne Rooney wonders why three players at Leicester City needing to self-isolate wasn’t enough to make the Premier League snap into action.
In the Times, Rooney says that it was only when the global health issue hit Arsenal – who he describes as a bigger club – that the authorities got involved.
Rooney said: “It felt baffling that with the three Leicester players having symptoms we were still planning to go ahead with games. Then on Thursday night it came out that Arteta had the virus and all of a sudden the Premier League announced an emergency meeting the next morning. What was the difference? Is it that Arteta was a bigger name?
“It felt typical of the way things are done in football. That Leicester aren’t a big enough team to cause any chaos, it’s fine, we carry on. Then as soon as one of the bigger clubs — Arsenal — are affected, we finally make a decision. It felt like we were trying to limp along, keep football going, instead of getting everyone prepared for what’s going to come.”
Rooney hits at the heart of what many fans may be thinking about why it took so long for the Premier League to act, when other leagues were already shut down.
Some of it comes from the government, which Rooney also touched on in his column, but he is more well-placed to talk about the inner workings of elite football.
It’s very poor really, that the Premier League can leave players – including England’s all-time top scorer – feeling that only the big clubs are being looked after.
The powers that be have to do better in the weeks to come.
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