Steve Parish Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace co-owner and chairman Steve Parish has come out in favour of continuing the Premier League for the meantime despite Covid-19 outbreaks causing multiple fixture postponements over the weekend.
Steve Parish said: “We are hopeful we can get through this period. We are aware of what is going on in wider society. It’s not entirely down to us in terms of what happens [with the league]. We haven’t had the level of postponements yet that would give us real cause [to pause the league]. We would rather get games over with that we can, while we can. I would be against that right [pausing of the league] now but obviously we have to see how things develop.”
Parish also spoke about the number of Premier League players who had been double-jabbed with the Covid-19 vaccine and dispelled the idea that a low takeup rate with players was to blame for fixture postponements.
Steve Parish added: “We would like all players to be vaccinated. I’m vaccinated, my kids are vaccinated. We obviously think it’s the right thing to do for individuals and in society to get us back to normality. Players are no different to people in society in that age group – some people have their own views and concerns. We have a very high vaccination rate – I think – in the Premier League for the age group that players are compared to rest of society. But there are players who have concerns – medical issues which mean they can’t get vaccinated in the same way, or just individual or family concerns. We have to work through those and do our best.”
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira praised his team this week for their response to the rapid rise of positive tests around the country. The Eagles are yet to be disrupted by a batch of cases, and their manager said the club were following the strictest-possible protocols to ensure they were unaffected.
Patrick Viera said: “We are trying to make everybody aware of it and we are communicating. The job being done by the club doctor and his team has been good so far. Knowing that the cases are rising, we need to be more focused and vigilant than we were before.”
