West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna has slammed the Premier League and English authorities for their delay tactics with coronavirus and claimed ‘it’s as if they were waiting for someone to die before taking action’.
There have been numerous cases to hit the Premier League such as Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi. The league only decided to suspend matches after these two were announced as testing positive for the covid-19 virus.
Ogbonna said he found it astonishing that the UK government were allowing football to go ahead with large crowds in attendance in the wake of the pandemic.
‘I am happy and relieved that everything has now been suspended, including the minor leagues. It was almost as if they wanted to ignore such a serious problem,’ Ogbonna told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
‘It’s not just football, but this problem is ingrained in the English mentality. They still don’t realise the danger of a virus that can be passed on in seconds if you don’t behave in the right way.
‘It’s completely unacceptable that the Arsenal game against us was allowed to go ahead. They had just played against Olympiacos, whose President tested positive for Coronavirus.
‘It’s almost as if they were waiting for someone to die before taking action.’
The Italian international warned that the UK is still not dealing with the coronavirus outbreak correctly.
He added: ‘I haven’t been tested or checked over in any way. That is another testament to an attitude that is at the very least superficial.’
