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It would be \u201cinhumane\u201d for players like Watford forward Troy Deeney to face disciplinary action if they refuse to return to action amid the pandemic in order to protect their family, according to the head of the world players\u2019 union.<\/p>\n
Hornets skipper Deeney has said he will not return, citing concerns over his five-month-old son who has breathing difficulties, and over the Office of National Statistics data which shows black people and those from other ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from Covid-19 compared to white British people.<\/p>\n
FIFPRO general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann says Deeney\u2019s concerns are legitimate.<\/p>\n
\u201cTroy Deeney has been in the news \u2013 the idea that a player who has very legitimate concerns and wants to protect his family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf players are being pressured or being brought into the context of disciplinary action for that, we feel it is very much unacceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that someone may be potentially punished in such a pandemic for trying to protect a family member\u2019s health is inhumane and not acceptable to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no suggestion that Watford would seek to take action against Deeney. The forward said on the Talk the Talk YouTube show earlier this week: \u201cWe\u2019re due back in this week. I\u2019ve said I\u2019m not going.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin the meeting (with the Premier League concerning return-to-training protocols) I asked very simple questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Black, Asian and mixed ethnicities they are four times more likely to get the illness and twice as likely to have long-lasting illness \u2013 is there any additional screening? Heart stuff to see if anyone has a problem?<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that should be addressed. I can\u2019t get a haircut until mid-July but I can go and get in a box with 19 people and jump for a header? I don\u2019t know how that works. No one could answer the questions \u2013 not because they didn\u2019t want to, because they didn\u2019t have the information.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just said \u2018If you don\u2019t know the information, why would I put myself at risk?\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt only takes one person to get infected. I don\u2019t want to bring that home \u2013 my son is five months old and he\u2019s had breathing difficulties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to come home and put him in more danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baer-Hoffmann warned players across the world to avoid signing waivers before going back to training, describing them as \u201cgrossly inappropriate\u201d and potentially unenforceable from a legal standpoint.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn its prospect for me it\u2019s a very absurd idea, how a player may be asked to indemnify the club from the consequences of a protocol on such a disease which nobody knows the consequence of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody knows whether these protocols will be applied correctly in the club environment \u2013 people may be making mistakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put that burden on the athlete is grossly inappropriate. I find it questionable whether these waivers would have any legal base ultimately if they were tested, but we would certainly discourage players from signing anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that in seven countries \u2013 Colombia, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, Botswana and Egypt \u2013 member unions were having to deliver food packages to players in order for them to survive.<\/p>\n
He also said in North Macedonia the national players\u2019 union was funding the cost of one round of testing themselves before players return to training.<\/p>\n