By Sidney Wise
On Friday 13th March it was announced that the Women’s Super League and Championship had been suspended until the 3rd of April at the very least. However, we are now at the start of May and this begs the question, for how long will the suspension last and will teams have the finances required to restart the season or will both leagues need to be declared null and void.
There has been talk recently about Premier League football returning and it has been confirmed that the Bundesliga will return to action on the 15th of May. However, these are male football leagues and with the huge disparity in the money teams have in men’s football compared to women’s, due to the huge TV rights deals in men’s football, they will have the money required to return whilst it is unclear whether the women’s teams will.
For more information on the Bundesliga returning click here. Credit: ESPN FC
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For leagues to return as soon as possible it is clear that players will need to be tested for the virus both before and after the match. As previously mentioned, whilst clubs in the Premier League would have the financial power to carry this out it is unlikely that clubs in the Women’s Super League would. Furthermore, it is also unclear whether or not the FA or the Premier League themselves would be willing to cover the cost of testing the players.
It is difficult to believe that women’s football will be returning anytime soon with their being no key discussions on this issue yet, leading some to believe that women’s football is being ignored. Whenever there have been updates about impacts of coronavirus on football it is nearly always about the men’s game. One key example of this is with how the Arsenal Women’s team were treated after the men’s team boss Mikel Arteta was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus. Despite the women’s team using the same training facilities meaning they were also at risk, there was no coverage on how the women’s team had been affected. With coverage of the effects of coronavirus on women’s teams being at such a low level it is no surprise that there hasn’t yet been a serious discussion on when women’s football can return.
Due to the fact that there hasn’t been on discussion teams can afford to return means we must question if we have to wait for a vaccine to be developed before a safe return is possible. Trials have started in Oxford and researchers are hopeful that a vaccine may be ready by mid-June. However, there is still a possibility that these trials may not come out with the right outcome by mid-June and moreover, any potential vaccine will have to go through rigorous testing to make sure it is absolutely safe for the public to use. In addition to this, there is still the question of whether women’s teams in the WSL and the Championship have the financial power to hold out until mid-June. If not, then both leagues may simply have to be declared null and void.
For more information on a potential coronavirus vaccine click here. Credit: BBC News
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