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Football's restart is a battle of 'money vs. health,' says former Premier League club doctor

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The world’s richest football league will be back on our screens on June 17.
The world’s richest football league will return to our screens on June 17.
Following weeks of negotiations with clubs, players and the UK government, the Premier League confirmed the resumption of the 2019/2020 season on Thursday.
The decision was met with excitement by fans across the world, but for many there is a sense of trepidation.
Earlier in the week, just hours after the Premier League announced that its clubs had unanimously agreed to resume contact training, the UK government issued figures showing a further 412 people had died of Covid-19.
The total number of coronavirus deaths in the UK now stands at 37,919, but the true death toll is believed to be much higher.
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Just before the Premier League season’s resumption was confirmed, Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government, said at the daily coronavirus briefing that the number of new cases is around 8,000 per day.
«That is not a low number,» Vallance said.
Several high-profile players, including Troy Deeney, Sergio Aguero and N’Golo Kante, have all expressed fears about returning to action when there is still so much uncertainty and so much about the virus that remains unknown.
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Dr. Ralph Rogers, who has worked in the Premier League, told CNN Sport that those players have cause for concern.
«I can imagine as a player, I would be very wary about coming back,» says Dr. Rogers. «Especially because there’s so much about this coronavirus [we don’t know] and people are dying. I completely understand that.
«What we know about this virus is that we should be doing social distancing. You can’t even go into Waitrose [supermarket] without being six feet apart, so unless they’re changing the rules of football it might be a little bit premature,» added Dr. Rogers.
«The virus is indiscriminate, it will attack anybody.»
Despite the still rapidly rising death toll — new data shows the UK has the second-highest death rate per million in the world — the Premier League, given the green light under government guidelines, continues to press ahead with plans to provisionally restart the season next month.
But the league’s return is in line with a gradual re-opening for the rest of the UK economy; Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced earlier this week that all non-essential shops would be reopening from the middle of June.
Dr. Rogers says it’s a case of «money vs. health» — and at the moment, it would appear money is winning.
«It’s bigger than just football,» says Dr. Rogers. «We’ve got to follow the virus. That’s what it’s all about. The virus will dictate to us what we do in society and unless they change the rules in football, not tackling, not heading the ball together… it’s a contact sport and people get very close to each other.
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Troy Deeney has expressed concerns about returning to training.
«So there is a big chance, a big opportunity for this virus to spread through football and if it wasn’t for the amount of money in football, I don’t know that we would be having this conversation, which is, I think, really the underlying issue to this whole thing.
«We all want football because it’s so interesting for society. It’s nice, it’s that little layer to how we live, it’s entertainment. But at what cost?»
The Premier League was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNN.

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