As the coronavirus pandemic has taken over Europe, with many countries in shutdown and several more taking precautionary measures to control the spread of the virus, everything has come to a standstill.
This has especially impacted European football, as most of the leagues across Europe have been suspended in the past three weeks.
The Premier League was one of the final leagues to be suspended as the threat of the virus was not deemed to be as serious as it was made to be. But, it was a serious concern and there were fears among a lot of people, politicians and many more, that the lack of action could lead to a large increase in cases of the virus.
Those fears were true, as some players and staff were reported to have cases of the virus and Callum Hudson-Odoi was one of the first, who was confirmed to be infected with coronavirus.
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, was soon confirmed to be infected, as more and more cases trickled. These cases finally were enough proof for the Premier League, to suspend the league, so as to not endanger the lives of any more of the players or the staff.
With the virus affecting all parts of the globe, many footballers used their reach on social media, to warn their fans about the dangers of this virus and spread awareness as to how to keep themselves safe.
For players such as Chelsea winger, Christian Pulisic, this break was a welcome piece of news. Pulisic has missed the last eight Premier League matches with an adductor injury and has not featured in a Premier League game for them since New Year’s Day.
Since Chelsea’s Cobham Training Ground has been closed, Pulisic has been in self-quarantine and he recently posted a video, showing him doing keepie-uppies in his garden, as he was working on his return to fitness. The video was accompanied by the caption ‘Stay home and stay safe my people! At least I have my ball.’
This video was among many others from various footballers, asking people to stay safe and to stay at home, as many people have been asked to self-quarantine.
This is a welcome break for most footballers and let’s hope they make full use of it to spend time with their families, while also keeping themselves in shape, so that they will be ready to play football, when the Premier League inevitably returns.