Following a five-year wait, the European Championship finally returned this month after previously being scheduled to take place in 2020. A few months prior to the original 2020 edition of this continental football showpiece, the COVID-19 pandemic had struck the globe, leading to mass quarantining and the prohibition of most forms of social interaction until further notice. Football overall faced the same restrictions, which then led to the abandonment of national and international competitions until a safe return could be organized. However, this postponement’s magnitude must not be undermined by any means; statistics show that nearly 3.5 billion people watch the sport meaning that the continued uncertainty plagued the minds of a very large set of society when they least needed it. This sport unifies individuals beyond any racial, religious, social, economic, or educational background; it provides an outlet to forget any problems for 90 minutes and focus on the drama on the pitch.
Needless to say, a return to action was much anticipated by the wider community to try and put the anguish of the pandemic aside for a few hours of relief a day. Furthermore, businessmen were just as supportive of the return of competition but for slightly different reasons.
Back in the early days of its rise, football was just a hobby. Even top-tier players had side jobs and did not commit to many days of training or any lifestyle changes at all. However, football today has evolved a great dependence on Sports Science, Sports Psychology, Biomechanics, Dietary Analysis, etc., to maximize performance levels beyond what was feasible even a decade ago. Football was born as a common person’s haven, yet it has grown to become a money-making machine where elite performance is key to sustaining investors’ normal rate of return. According to Forbes, Manchester United’s value has risen from $1.453 Billion in 2007 to $4.2 Billion in 2021: a 289% increase in the space of 14 years. Therefore, any slight dip in competitiveness may easily set the club back in the nine-figure region, and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly wreaked havoc on the finances of almost every firm on Earth, let alone those of football clubs.
According to Nick Wright and Adam Bate for Sky Sports in an article titled Counting the Cost: COVID’s Impact on Football’s Finances, Manchester United’s matchday revenue experienced the worst drop in the entire Premier League during the pandemic. The club generated 33.1 million British Pounds from matchday revenue alone in 2019, but it could only raise 4.5% of that amount during the period of October-December 2020. Football clubs are highly dependent on a business model which matchday revenue forms a critical part of. In essence, Premier League clubs will host 25 games on average per season at their home ground with stadium capacity ranging anywhere between 17,500 (Brentford) to 74,879 (Manchester United). Ticket prices for a Premier League game cost about 32 British Pounds on average; thus, when adding this revenue to the standard food, beverages, and club store purchases, any disruption of home games will severely decapacitate any club. Therefore, when all sporting events were suspended in March 2020, not even the worst pessimists could have expected the chaos set to ensue.
At the time, the postponements were thought to only last till April as the world expected the pandemic to culminate by then; however, it seems incredibly whimsical in hindsight. As of June 16, 2021, more than 173 million COVID-19 cases have been reported. Day by day, it became evident that the cases were only going to rise even with the severe quarantine measures placed after the early spread of the virus. Therefore, the worlds of football and business alike both awaited any decision concerning the potential continuation of sporting competitions; immense pressure was applied on the governing bodies of the Premier League, English Football League, UEFA, FIFA, and the remaining domestic European football associations until each took a certain route concerning the results of the 2019/20 season which was set to run from August 2019 to May 2020.
While most leagues favored a restart and continuation of the campaign where it was left (table standings wise), several leagues announced the cessation of their season and the declaration of a champion even when there were as many as 10 games left from 38 on a PPG basis (Points per game) such as Ligue 1 (the top domestic French league) and the Eredivisie (the top domestic Dutch league), and the lower divisions in England. The reasoning behind that was either due to fears concerning the transmission of the virus or due to the financial impossibility to continue paying player wages when no fans were attending. Nonetheless, the remaining European leagues decided to resume the season even with the economic hardships simply due to both the unfairness of ending a team’s hopes of a great season early and the high TV revenue the top divisions could amass from fans around the globe anxiously awaiting the return of a therapeutic pass-time during the continued dullness of social isolation.
Certain teams such as Liverpool were in pole position to win their first league title in 30 years despite their remarkable achievements in all other competitions, and the fans were living in constant fear every day of their hopes being ruined by the declaration of a null season. In addition, the discussions back then revolved around the effects of continuing the season late from June until August 2020 at the expense of the postponement of the 2020/21 campaign. As mentioned above, a football club’s season usually runs from August until May with several international windows in between where players represent their respective countries. As for the summer period, several international tournaments take place such as the World Cup, European Championships, Copa America…along with a period of rest for the players until preseason comes around in mid-July.
As such, the Premier League’s announcement of “Project Restart” as a plan to kick off the remainder of the 19/20 season faced some criticism from players and club staff members who were concerned with player safety as well as the true motive behind the restart. Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa and England defender) voiced his frustration at the governing bodies in an interview for the BBC where he stated that players are simply “commodities in the game,” and that “the motives are possibly 100% financially driven rather than integrity-driven…as players, we were the last people to be consulted about Project Restart and that is because of where we fall in football’s order of priority. That isn’t a problem.” Several other players such as Troy Deeney (Watford Captain) and N’Golo Kante (Chelsea midfielder) voiced their initial refusal of returning to training and competitive games over personal fears, yet they were forced to take back their positions due to the risk of missing crucial games that would still go ahead whether they liked it or not. Regardless, even the continental competitions were back on and set to culminate in August 2020 which further congested the fixture schedule. The only complete postponement took place for the European Championships, the quadrennial continental international team tournament, until June 2021.
Thus, the 2020/21 season was set to restart mid-September, a month later than usual with one month for rest and preseason while players usually had two. Surprisingly, the season was still set to culminate in May even when the beginning was pushed back a full month and with another month of rest eliminated. When you take into consideration that top competing sides must already play 2-3 games per week for most of a normal season, reducing that season by 4/5 weeks while keeping the exact same number of games will lead to a scheduling disaster. In addition, several teams were forced to shut down their operations for 10 days after COVID-19 outbreaks within their staff/squad such as Fulham, Newcastle United, and Manchester City during late 2020. In turn, this led to further postponements such as having to play up to four games in 10 days. It is important to remember that the reason the season finale could not be pushed back past May 2021 was due to the European Championships (or the Euros) which were postponed from June 2020 to June 2021.
So, after a grueling 2020/21 club campaign, players had two weeks to prepare for probably the most important tournament of their careers. After 15 testing months in the football community, fans were finally set to return to stadiums in half/full capacity and breathe life into a dull season. The tournament was also set to be the first Euro to include 12 different host nations to truly unite the continent after the 60-year anniversary of the tournament which debuted in 1960. Thus, on June 11th, the tournament finally kicked off in Rome with Italy facing Turkey in front of a crowd of 13,000. The hosts beat Turkey convincingly and most spectators were in high spirits after the spectacle. However, the next day was arguably the most shocking in the history of the sport.
June 12th had 3 fixtures set to be played with Wales to face Switzerland, Denmark to face Finland, and Belgium to face Russia. The first fixture played out an uneventful 1-1 draw while the second one was the true talking point of the day. Denmark was set to host its first Euro game ever and the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen was the chosen venue. 13,790 individuals spectated as Denmark took control of the game and was getting closer and closer to scoring. However, in the 41st minute of the first half, star midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field and the referee immediately halted play to call on the medical staff. It remained unclear to the fans whether he was dehydrated or experienced a more serious injury until both sets of teams started crying and holding each other as the medical team started performing CPR on the unconscious Eriksen. What was supposed to be a joyful return to stadiums and a homecoming for the Danish team turned into the most fearful moments most had ever witnessed. Eriksen’s teammates huddled around him while he was being shocked on the pitch to preserve his dignity from the cameras zooming in on his lifeless body. Thankfully, the player came back to consciousness after a 5-minute cardiac arrest and was seen awake as the staff could finally transport him to a nearby hospital for further testing. Fans in the stadium still awaited in fear of any updates and were expecting the game to be called off, yet they were asked to remain in their seats by the stadium announcers until news broke in. Eriksen had miraculously survived and even told his teammates he was fine only half an hour after the incident. However, there was still a game left to play.
Amidst the joyful news of Eriksen’s survival, UEFA released a statement saying the players had decided to continue the game where they left off and sure enough, the players had returned to warm up again. The Finland team formed a guard of honor to applaud the Danish players, and the game kicked off again. The Finnish guests took control of the game whilst being arguably the most inexperienced side of the tournament and went on to defeat a very distraught host 1-0. The Danes were applauded for their bravery in deciding to continue the crucial game, but there were many questions about the players’ mental states after seeing one of their own under the shadow of death. In the days after the game, the Danish camp began to reveal the background of their decision. Peter Schmeichel, Danish legendary Goalkeeper, and father of current Denmark Goalkeeper Kasper, stated in an interview for ITV’s “Good Morning Britain,” “I actually saw an official quote from UEFA yesterday saying that they were following the advice of the player, the players insisted on playing – I know that not to be the truth.” He went on to explain how the players were left with three options; either to play out the rest of the game directly, postpone the game till the next day, or simply forfeit the crucial game. The players were said to have chosen to play on, yet all the options they were presented with were cruel under the circumstances. This theme of footballing authorities demanding more from players than their bodies can handle has become more recurrent the more football developed as a business.
When one looks back at the Coronavirus era of football, it becomes evident that the players were thrown in the deep end at the expense of some viewership and sponsorship gain. When was playing 83 games in the space of 44 weeks (when you count all the club and international fixtures along with the Euros whilst considering the given player has reached the maximum stage of all tournaments) ever considered a normal occurrence in any year? This might not seem to be an issue of importance for most people and even those in the boardrooms who operate the sport, but the players have given their absolute maximum only to be treated like puppets according to Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos. The average player covers 11 kilometers per game, and when you put that into perspective with the daily training and the 83 games covered earlier, the players are expected to suffer as a result. Many games this season could have been removed for the sake of avoiding this ridiculous level of intensity. For example, the English League Cup cancellation had already been discussed long before the pandemic. Of the top five European leagues, only England still has such a competition. How necessary is a 6-round national cup competition when you already have a more extensive and inclusive version in the FA Cup?
The injury records of most teams this season can testify; Liverpool was the hardest hit out of the Premier League with their entire backline being ruled out of most games, and Real Madrid suffered an astonishing 51 injuries from August to May. What more does it take for the authorities to notice the dangers of their behavior? After all, they could not handle a player’s cardiac arrest with care. According to Cleveland Clinic, “research found evidence that high-intensity exercise can acutely increase the risk for sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death in individuals with underlying cardiac disease.” In Christian Eriksen’s case, the novel intensity of this campaign may have accelerated his underlying condition, but even if that were not the case, the regular injuries discussed above all indicate that this season was flawed from start to finish. According to Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand, “Coronavirus allows you to postpone a match for 48 hours. A cardiac arrest obviously does not.”
While the arguments above may not fix the damage inflicted over the course of the pandemic, the goal is to achieve minimal decency from those in charge of football competitions to finally treat players like humans with families rather than a commodity that must show up to bring in television rights. Had the medical staff in Copenhagen not intervened as quick as they did and saved Eriksen from an 88% chance of death, the authorities could have possibly played a role in the death of a father, husband, and son; is this really what would finally force chairpersons to change their approach to a football season?