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Original poster

How is 'organised sport' still allowed to go ahead

128 replies

Everleigh2021 · 09/01/2021 14:51

Hundreds of sports men/women and associated colleagues are mixing today

just watching the Newcastle v Gloucester game. Obviously no masks, they are close together, as is the game of Rugby. Medics wearing masks but inches from players, referees up close talking. someone has to clean the changing areas after them and drive them to and fro

I'm actually disgusted .... and i'm sure it all came to a halt back in March. They all travel the country, one end to the other then go home to their families. I can't get my head round it, how is this in any way safe? do their kids go to school?

OP posts:
Original poster
Everleigh2021 · 09/01/2021 18:42

@yankeedoodledandee oh, yes,i know that, but i was surprised to hear he was playing as i thought he wasn't allowed to play just yet

OP posts:
haloalkane · 09/01/2021 18:50

It's allowed?! Blooming hell. This would surely be the first thing to stop. How can not all kids be allowed in school but organised sport is allowed?

User158340 · 09/01/2021 18:53

Because patriarchy. Men have to have their hobby.

Raccooons · 09/01/2021 18:54

@Ruled

I can't get over this being allowed and yet schools closed.
It is nowhere near the same.

Elite sports, for example the FA Premier League football, have SO MUCH MONEY so they can afford to test people every few days. Any coaches, any members of the squad, anyone present at the games, have all been tested.

If positive they are isolated. Close contacts are informed and tested. There have been a few outbreaks in some squads, but nothing major.

You just cannot compare this to millions of children being in school, untested, and often unknowingly acting as vectors of transmission to their families.

ChelseaCat · 09/01/2021 18:54

“Disgusted”

🙄🙄🙄

Raccooons · 09/01/2021 18:55

@haloalkane

It's allowed?! Blooming hell. This would surely be the first thing to stop. How can not all kids be allowed in school but organised sport is allowed?
Because organised sport teams have lots of money available to them. They can afford to pay for very thorough testing.
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 09/01/2021 18:55

@User158340

Because patriarchy. Men have to have their hobby.
It's not all men you know.

Watching the test cricket last summer was the one and only good thing about working from home for me!

Raccooons · 09/01/2021 18:56

@User158340

Because patriarchy. Men have to have their hobby.
Elite sport isn't a hobby... It's a profession.
Floralnomad · 09/01/2021 18:56

I’ve not read the whole thread so don’t know if this has already been mentioned . I was watching the news the other night and a premier ship manager ( British but not sure who he was) said that he thought it made more sense to vaccinate the players and then the money that is being spent on the twice , at least, weekly testing could go back into the system . Do I assume from this that the NHS is footing the bill for testing these people twice a week ? Obviously they will not , I hope , get vaccinated before their proper turn in the queue . Getting back to the thread I agree that it’s ridiculous that these sports can carry on yet riding schools are going bust because they’ve been stopped from doing even private lessons during this latest lockdown .

NovemberR · 09/01/2021 18:57

Life is so limited for my Y11 teenage son right now that I'm grateful he can still follow his football team, thanks.

User158340 · 09/01/2021 18:58

@alienspiderbee

Initially, when fixtures started back up, it was said that the measures they had in place ensured that this was safe. Seemed reasonable initially.

But the number of sportspeople testing positive and games having to be postponed is evidence that these measures aren't working and it's not safe.

Something like 1 in 30 or 1 in 50 people have the virus in the country. There's over 100 football clubs classed as 'elite' so that's over 100 dressing rooms with 20-30 players and all the staff and a training ground/club offices.

it's just too widespread in the community at this point for these bubbles to all work.

Raccooons · 09/01/2021 18:58

@Everleigh2021

but they go home to wives and kids....are they in one of these magical bubbles too?

tests are only going to work in the present....do they get tested just before the game? or two days prior?

In elite football they are tested twice per week. And I believe they're tested even more if a close contact (eg team mate) has been identified as positive for covid.
Raccooons · 09/01/2021 19:00

@Floralnomad

I’ve not read the whole thread so don’t know if this has already been mentioned . I was watching the news the other night and a premier ship manager ( British but not sure who he was) said that he thought it made more sense to vaccinate the players and then the money that is being spent on the twice , at least, weekly testing could go back into the system . Do I assume from this that the NHS is footing the bill for testing these people twice a week ? Obviously they will not , I hope , get vaccinated before their proper turn in the queue . Getting back to the thread I agree that it’s ridiculous that these sports can carry on yet riding schools are going bust because they’ve been stopped from doing even private lessons during this latest lockdown .
Absolutely not, the FA are paying for the bill when it comes to testing.
FreshFreesias · 09/01/2021 19:00

Leave off, OP.
Sport is essential to health and to want to ban it is insane.

MotheringShites · 09/01/2021 19:01

God forbid anyone should have any tiny bit of joy or pleasure in their miserable, imprisoned lives.

I swear some of you will not be happy until we’re all locked in a box.

Floralnomad · 09/01/2021 19:04

@Raccooons good , it was about 2am when I was watching it and the fact that he thinks they should get the vaccine early just made me take notice as I couldn’t quite believe anyone would be stupid enough to say it .

FleetwoodRaincoat · 09/01/2021 19:06

I don't see it's much different to working in an office without masks on. The Premier League certainly are tested constantly and given an area of the stadium where no one who hasn't been tested is allowed to go.

They should be a very low risk in those circumstances.

Watermelon999 · 09/01/2021 19:09

@FuzzyPuffling

Well they make my mental health worse so that balanced out nicely! :)
I think they make dh mental health worse too as they always lose and then he’s grumpy.

I agree it should stop in full lockdown along with the other nonessential shops like costa and garden centres, and footballers should absolutely not get vaccinated as a priority even if they pay for it.

RugbyWAG · 09/01/2021 19:12

Name changed for blindingly obvious reasons.

But I’ll bite. My DH is a professional rugby player.

They have an incredibly rigorous testing programme (minimum twice weekly PCR, additional as needed) and strictly follow a carefully planned COVID protocol. They are also strongly discouraged from mixing and socialising outside work. Where there have been outbreaks in professional teams, they have been quickly identified and contained. There have also been some pretty hefty punishments handed out for breaks in protocol (see the Barbarians debacle...)

Personally, we as a family have decided to effectively isolate other than DH going to work to minimise the risk to him and his teammates. No support bubbles, nothing. I know lots of others have decided the same.

Professional sport is important is important on a population level for its entertainment value, and also it’s incredibly important that these teams survive in terms of the community around them - youth sport, international competition etc etc. TV revenue matters - so games need to be played. I would worry far more about those close by breaking and bending rules on a day to day basis, rather than professional sport which affects an absolutely minute number of people and will have an utterly negligible effect on spread.

Original poster
Everleigh2021 · 09/01/2021 19:13

elite sport...the national league played today

non contract players. do they have other jobs to go to?

i have 8 year old twins who go to school with kids from one of those players. He's a butcher!

OP posts:
Original poster
Everleigh2021 · 09/01/2021 19:16

@RugbyWAG oh i do worry!!

its good to know they are responsible and take precautions like you mention then. Hope all sport does

OP posts:
Yohoheaveho · 09/01/2021 19:20

@User158340

Because patriarchy. Men have to have their hobby.
I suppose also the people most likely to riot/take part in civil disobedience are men. Not saying women wouldnt/cant but generally men pose more of a threat
JayAlfredPrufrock · 09/01/2021 19:26

Hasn’t done team of amateur footballers just qualified for something? One is a Binman.

Well done them but really?

yankeedoodledandee · 09/01/2021 19:46

Because patriarchy. Men have to have their hobby.

Women watch and take part in sport too Confused

Football is not the only sport that is still going.

yankeedoodledandee · 09/01/2021 19:48

Something like 1 in 30 or 1 in 50 people have the virus in the country.

I believe you are referring to the London estimate figure. Not the whole country.

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