The English Premier League Is Stopping Pre-Match Handshakes Due To Coronavirus Concerns
The Premier League fair-play handshake will not take place between players and match officials from this weekend until further notice based on medical advice.
Coronavirus is spread via droplets from the nose and mouth and can be transmitted on to the hands and passed on via a handshake.
Clubs and match officials will still perform the rest of the traditional walk-out protocol ahead of each fixture.
On entering the field of play, the two teams will continue to line up, accompanied by the Premier League music, then players from the home team will walk past their opposition without shaking their hands.
So last week I blogged about Serie A playing certain games in certain areas behind closed doors. They even canceled Juve-Inter this past weekend of coronavirus fears. Well now ALL of Serie A will be playing behind closed doors for the time being. The worst part is, This is only the beginning of the coronavirus/sports relationship. At this rate, I assume they'll be doing the same over here pretty soon.
It was only a matter of time until other leagues around the world started taking precautions regarding the virus. The EPL is now scrapping pre-game handshakes.
Kind of an odd move considering that soccer are constantly touching each other during the game already. Not to mention, there's a shit ton of running in soccer so these players are already sucking in the same air. I'm not quite sure what stopping handshakes will do. They'll be all over each other all match regardless. Instead, they'll still carry out the opening without the handshakes. So the teams will still walk out and greet each other, as is custom in professional soccer.
Now apparently, they've been discussing closing off games to the public, like Serie A. Personally, I think that's the best option considering the players come in contact with each other. Making sure there aren't 20,000-40,000 fans in a giant melting pot of coronavirus.
The only thing left to do is wait for the end of this whole coronavirus ordeal. Then we can get back to normally scheduled programming across all leagues.
PS - It would suuuuuuuck for Liverpool and their fans should the season be canceled and they don't receive the trophy despite having one of the best EPL sides of all time. They've been waiting for so so long to win the premier league that even my heart would break a little bit for them.