‘How many footballers should die?’ Gary Neville lashes out at Premier League

Neville criticised authorities for prioritising money over lives

skysports-gary-neville Football pundit Gary Neville | Reuters

Gary Neville has hit out at the Premier League for prioritising money over players’ lives. The former Manchester United star’s comments come as Premier League clubs are set to meet on Friday to discuss resuming the league in June. Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said that any decision to resume the league in June would be purely for economic reasons.

“The FIFA medical officer said that football should not take place before September. I think if it was a non-economic decision there would be no football for months," Neville said. "People are now assessing risk. How many people have to die playing football in the Premier League before it becomes unpalatable? One? One player? One member of staff goes into intensive care? What risk do we have to take? The discussion is purely economic."

As per the current scenario, a restart of the league would be behind closed doors after players and staff undergo extensive tests. Some clubs such as Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton have already started easing their way back into training with clubs intending to resume full training by May 18. Neville said that with huge financial factors at stake, the economic loss will cloud people’s minds including that of players. "Players themselves will want to go and play. Players at the lower levels will want to go play and 1,400 players are out of contract. Clubs have huge investment in this season. Think about what’s at stake for Leeds, it’s absolutely massive. There are big prizes up for grabs. There’s huge economic loss. It clouds people’s minds in terms of the risk that they’re willing to take," said Neville. 

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