Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger has joined the calls insisting that health must come first when deciding what happens with the Premier League season.
England’s top-flight has followed its European counterparts in suspending all games until the Coronavirus outbreak can be brought under control.
The Premier League is currently on hiatus until the end of April, with the governing body hoping by that point it will be safe for fixtures to return.
It is looking increasingly likely that won’t happen, though, with Covid-19 continuing to spread across the UK and the country yet to hit the peak in that regard.
One possible solution is that games are played behind closed doors, and Rüdiger believes it will get to the point when fans will be crying out for that to happen.
“Many clubs are financially dependent on whether things go on, but this also applies to many other sectors,” he told Kicker.
“Sometimes even more dramatically, for example, when I think of gastronomy or tourism. Two weeks ago, ghost games were still unthinkable for many fans.
“Of course, this is less fun for everyone. As I said: I love running into a full stadium.
“But I assume that within a few weeks the longing for football will be so huge that in the end everyone, including the fans, would accept ghost games.
“It just must not happen that the supporters meet like in Paris at the PSG match against Borussia Dortmund in thousands in front of the stadium.”
Should it be decided that football cannot continue at any point, there have been widespread calls for this season to be deemed null and void.
That would, of course, be a blow to numerous teams across the leagues, particularly the likes of Liverpool, who are currently top of the Premier League and close to securing their first title in 30 years.
Chelsea would also suffer given they’re currently sitting fourth and in line to qualify for the Champions League.
Rüdiger isn’t interested in any arguments of that nature, though, insisting health is the priority over where the likes of Chelsea or Liverpool finish.
“If this happens, only a neutral body can decide. You don’t need to question the players or clubs,” he added.
“Here everyone would only look at which decision that would see them come away with the best for themselves, but not what is really fairer now.
“I have to tell you clearly: should the situation worsen; this is definitely an unimportant question. Because then we have completely different problems.
“And even if you ignore the most important topic, health, for a very short time: the existence of all possible football clubs then has a much higher priority than the awarding of titles and Champions League qualifications.”
