By Robbie Butler
Last week this blog looked at Covid cases in the English Premier League and the reoccurrence of the postponement of fixtures. While this may all seem inevitable, a closer look at the 3 other top European leagues in Spain, Germany and Italy demonstrate it does not have to be this way.
The figure below presents data on the number of top flight fixtures scheduled and played on Saturday and Sunday, and vaccine uptake by players playing in the top flight of each of these leagues.
Last week this blog looked at Covid cases in the English Premier League and the reoccurrence of the postponement of fixtures. While this may all seem inevitable, a closer look at the 3 other top European leagues in Spain, Germany and Italy demonstrate it does not have to be this way.
The figure below presents data on the number of top flight fixtures scheduled and played on Saturday and Sunday, and vaccine uptake by players playing in the top flight of each of these leagues.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/59702363
The English Premier League has less than 70% of players double vaccinated. This compares poorly to the other three leagues, all of which exceed 90%. Is it any wonder then why no games were postponed in Europe, yet England's top division played less than half the scheduled fixtures?
Given the trajectory of the disease right now, it is difficult to see how this can improve in the short run. This will be a considerable blow to broadcasters of the league is suspended. Amazon Prime have just two allocated fixture dates all season, one of which is the 28th of December. What a blow this will be if the games are postponed.
Given the trajectory of the disease right now, it is difficult to see how this can improve in the short run. This will be a considerable blow to broadcasters of the league is suspended. Amazon Prime have just two allocated fixture dates all season, one of which is the 28th of December. What a blow this will be if the games are postponed.
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