Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham has joined the ranks of his teammate Willian, Tottenham Hotspur captain Hary Kane and Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero to debate if the return of English Premier League will be safe for the players amid the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everyone can see what’s going on in the world,’ said Abraham as quoted on the official website of Chelsea, when asked to reflect on the decision on whether and when to resume.
“Everyone wants to come back to football. I love football. It was my first full season at Chelsea, I was having a great season and I would love it to continue,” he added.
However, Abraham also stated that apart from his eagerness to return to the football field, the most important thing at the moment would be to ensure that everyone was healthy. He said that if everything else was opening up then football should return, but if it was not safe then the Premier League should wait.
“The most important thing for me is for everyone to be well and safe, and for things to start opening up. Then by all means football can always come back. If it’s safe to do so then let’s do it but if it’s not then we will wait.
“My dad has asthma so if I was to return to the Premier League and, God forbid, I do catch this disease and bring it home then it’s the worst thing possible. The last thing I need is to catch the virus myself or be in contact with anyone with the virus.
‘If the Premier League does come back, I don’t know what I’d do, but the hotel could be an option, to self-isolate away from my family. I’ve got my dad’s full support for going back – he’s one of my biggest fans,” the 22-year-old said.
Abraham’s comments come at a time when the Premier League and the club officials have pumped up their preparation to make sure the league returns in June.
Earlier, Chelsea midfielder Willian had said that the Premier League players were “uncomfortable” about returning to the field.
Players like Aguero, Sterling, Kane, Troy Deeney and Dany Rose had all questioned Premier League’s urgency to resume the competition, even though the fight against coronavirus continued with the same intensity in the United Kingdom, unlike in Spain and Italy.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom government gave the Premier League a green light last week to resume the 2019-20 season in June. After the government’s green light, the club representatives in a meeting tried to chalk out a plan to resume the season.
The meeting saw the clubs discussing the plans laid under ‘Project Restart’ which was initiated with aims to see Premier League making a return by June.