The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed our way of life all over the world. Large gatherings of people are unthinkable now, and even meeting a friend or acquaintance is fraught with risk. Masks and hand sanitizers have become essential commodities, while people are encouraged to stay indoors and practice social distancing when they do venture outside.
One of the worst-hit parts of life has been sports, as most major sporting events were suspended, postponed, or canceled earlier this year. The likes of the Olympics and European Championships in football were all pushed back by a year, while Wimbledon did not take place at all, for the first time since the Second World War.
We are now seeing some sports and competitions make a tentative return, playing behind closed doors and with extremely strict hygiene and health restrictions in place. Players have had to stay put in bio-secure bubbles in order to resume playing, and it seems like this will be the way forward for the foreseeable future.
In the USA, most sports were in the offseason when the pandemic struck, and so while ongoing competitions were not impacted, there are now question marks over the start of the new season. The NFL is in the same boat, with owners and the league conducting meetings to try and arrive at health guidelines, financial arrangements, and the structure of the new season.
In this regard, we saw a number of NFL players take to Twitter recently in order to force the NFL to take its experts’ views on board when making any decision to start the new season. The hashtag #WeWantToPlay was used in these tweets, and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) also put its weight behind this movement.
This is an interesting moment in terms of the pandemic, as while many parts of the country have begun reopening, the virus has shown no signs of slowing down, and the infection numbers continue to rise. In this regard, it may make sense to stay home and safe as much as possible. Establishments such as casinos, for example, have suffered quite a bit due to the lack of customers since late March, but at the same time, customers and fans can play casino online for real money, at virtually no risk.
Thus, while the pandemic still rages across the country, it makes sense for the league to heed medical advice and safeguard players’, coaches’ and officials’ health and safety. The idea behind the coordinated Twitter blast was to put the message out in the public that while the players are ready to return to the field, they want to make sure that it is as safe as possible, and it is not just a question of money or laziness. The NFLPA was involved in creating these tweets to ensure that they were on factual grounds, and players were free to choose whether to tweet about this or not.
The overwhelming sense is one of the players asking the league to listen to them and respect their wishes as well. It is a scary time at the moment, and many players have vulnerable family members who they do not want to risk exposing. It is understandable that players want to look out for their and their family’s health and safety, and the NFL must take this into account when making plans to start the season.
The NFL is planning to start training camps on time, but there is still a lack of clarity on a number of factors, which makes it difficult for players to commit to start playing again. It remains to be seen as to how the NFL plans to begin playing again, and the hope is that it will take its players’ concerns on board.