Town boss Paul Lambert says there’s a strong case for football to be stopped given the current prevalence of Covid-19 and believes continuing to play is “morally wrong”.

Lambert was among 11 players and staff, along with general manager of football operations Lee O’Neill and academy head of coaching and player development Bryan Klug, to test positive for the virus just before Christmas with the Blues having four games postponed due to that outbreak and those at other clubs.

Asked on BBC 5 Live Breakfast (2hrs 44mins 2secs) whether football should be stopped, Lambert said: “I think there’s a strong case for it. I’ve had it and I’m going by the symptoms, the way I felt. It was the worst ever, it really was.

“The NHS people and the care workers are doing an incredible job of putting themselves on the line, and footballers are asked to go and play a game. I just don’t get it. It’s not entertainment, it’s not the same game without fans. It’s not the same game.”

Do other people in football hold a similar view? “A lot of them I’ve spoken to because footballers are human beings as well, they’re human and morally, I think us playing football is wrong.

“I get it why people want us [to continue] as it keeps everybody right, but who’s protecting the players and the staff at every other club because they’re going to get it, and they have been getting it, as you’ve seen.

“It doesn’t matter how stringent the protocols are, the virus seeps in somewhere and it’s opening everything out.

“Now the new rules on whether we can celebrate or not celebrate, can we shake hands, can we not shake hands, everything’s coming on top of football at the minute and I think it’s a heavy weight to carry.”

Players are being called on not to celebrate goals due to the risks of spreading the virus but Lambert says that’s a natural aspect of the game.

“I’ve had it, I’m still recovering. I’ve never felt as bad as this for years and years, I can’t remember the last time I felt as bad as this, so it’s certainly real, that’s for sure,” he said.

“I just don’t get it, we’re asked to play football and celebrations are part of the game, it is an instinct thing, you run to your team-mate.

“If that’s the Government rules or what they’re laying down is that if someone scores a goal don’t go near them then everybody has to try and get that in their head. But it’s a difficult thing.

“The thing for me is that there are too many questions being asked about what’s right and what’s wrong.

“If the players do something wrong they get criticised, but they’re asked to play, which I don’t get because you’re stopping tennis, you’re stopping golf. They’re metres apart but you’re asking footballers to play when they’re inches apart, so I don’t get it. But this Covid thing is really, really incredible, what’s happened to the world.”

Is it possible to have more muted, socially-distanced celebrations? “You’re going to have to find it from somewhere. I’m pretty sure if you played football as a kid in the park and you scored a goal or your mate scored a goal, you’d run up to them and say ‘well done’. You’d have to get that instinct when your team-mate’s scored a goal you leave him be.

“As I said before, I was unfortunate, I had it and it was horrendous, it’s a horrendous virus.

“We’re making so many rules for football so it can get finished, we’re asking players to go into different tiers.

“I know they’re getting tested negative but you never know when this thing can get you. It can get you in the blink of an eye really and I think that’s the big thing - football still has to go and play and try and put entertainment on.

“It’s not entertainment any more, and this is my opinion, it’s not entertainment this is just trying to get a season finished and try and move on.”

Asked how he contracted the virus, Lambert explained: “It was a really strange one because one of the lads at the club got tested and it came back negative, [but] his flu test came back positive.

“We had a goal celebration and we thought he had it and he it turned out he never had it, it turned out one of the other lads had it.

“So we all got tested and all of a sudden I think about eight of us got it, including another member of staff, and I was nowhere near them. I was two metres apart from them in the dressing room.

“But you never know where you get it from. I don’t know, I really don’t. But what I do know is that I’ve never felt as bad as that in my life.

“When you’re in the shower, your hair is sore, your head’s sore, the headaches and pneumonia, everything was breaking down. So I’ve got a strong opinion on it, I just don’t see how football should be exempt.”

He added: “You’re asking players to go and play a game when everybody else can’t move [into] different tiers. For example, how can Ipswich go and travel to play Sunderland or Fleetwood or wherever?

“Everybody’s in the same boat where we are with this virus, nobody’s immune to getting it. How can you stop tennis and how can you stop other tiers of football playing and keep the bigger ones going?”

Photo: Matchday Images

Ipswichbusiness added 20:22 - Jan 14 Saxonblue74; according to Wikipedia, as of 13 January 2021 the UK had 125 deaths per 100,000 of population, the USA 116. The case fatality rate for the UK is 2.6% and the USA 1.7%.
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Saxonblue74 added 20:38 - Jan 14 You stick with your stats Ipswichbusiness, I prefer the common sense approach. More people in contact means higher transmission means increased fatalities. Do you have any figures to support how successful a gung-ho herd immunity approach would have been? And players are not the only people to consider, there are large numbers of coaching, physio, and support staff behind the scenes.

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Bert added 20:40 - Jan 14 Best to bow out Ipswichbusiness when you have lost the argument. Statistics are one thing, the realities pointed out by others are worth acknowledging even if you disagree.
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Daniel72 added 21:20 - Jan 14 People seem to criticise ipswichbusiness on account of it not being about the stats.. but that it's a uniquely dangerous killer virus etc.. in fact like a bad flu.. which always kills people.. lockdowns are gonna kill many more.. with a PCR test (non diagnostic tool) used to justify it.. also asymptomatic spread has not been proven.. what happened to common sense and good manners? When you are ill don't hang out with vulnerable people. Don't destroy the country.

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stiggytrunk1955 added 21:25 - Jan 14 morally give your wages to the nhs and leave because you donr earn a penny of it
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WonTheCupin78 added 22:29 - Jan 14 Agree with Lambert on this. They should call it quits on this season and use PPG to sort out promotion and relegation. More important things in life than football.
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Saxonblue74 added 22:34 - Jan 14 Daniel72, how are lockdowns going to kill 80k+ people in the uk in a matter of months? I'm really intrigued! And I'm afraid I have to disagree about asymptomatic people spreading the virus, it has absolutely been proven beyond doubt!
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Saxonblue74 added 22:41 - Jan 14 ....ah, but I remember now! You won't be able to answer questions about this ad it doesn't exist right? I think it was in one of your previous posts that you declared "there is no pandemic?!
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dirtydingusmagee added 22:55 - Jan 14 cant believe people are arguing a case for overpaid footballers who dont give a toss about others, against NHS staff ,underpaid ,overworked , who care for all. Football over life ? i know which camp im in . I havnt marked down anyone who have used this against Lambert and made irrelevent comments, not worth the effort. Good to see some see more to life than football .

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pegasus added 23:38 - Jan 14 Can't believe some of these posts. Lambert's right. This is an appalling disease. Read what he and O'Neill have to say about catching it, and suffering from it. Think about the mental toll on the players. Is it any surprise that there is 'dressing room unrest'? Fitness, heath and safety are the foundations of these guys' livelihoods. There hasn't anything like Covid-19 for four generations.

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Pencilpete added 23:38 - Jan 14 Is this why we stopped playing at the end of October then ??
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SteveDt added 00:09 - Jan 15 The Paul Lambert job retention scheme
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BrandonsBlues added 07:27 - Jan 15 Like so many things in this world and life the only reason football is still on is because it is all about the money.
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Europablue added 07:32 - Jan 15 People always like to frame this discussion in terms of the selfish people versus the virtuous who accept all restrictions without being critical. Saxonblue74 the stats are the science. Letting your emotions colour your decisions is going to end up hurting people. This lockdown is also killing people. It is legitimate to consider whether it can be justified to damage the mental health of millions and disrupt the edcuation of children and probably setting up problems for an entire generation that will have an effect for a lifetime. The worst affected are the less fortunate people. Stop football to save just one life whatever the age? That's just virtue signalling. As IpswichBusiness said, we'd have to ban cars, and you probably agree to end all human interaction for eternity if it just saved one life. Life only has a value if it is lived. It's totally against nature to value older life at the expense of younger life. Anyone with kids would rather die than see their kids die. Of course, we protect the vulnerable, but we don't entirely reorder society on the off chance that it actually protects people who lived a full life. Lambert may have had a horrible case of Corona, just like Boris, but they are fine now. I'm sorry that they suffered, but the fact that a few people are having a couple of weeks feeling awful is not going to sway my opinion. The people dying from the virus are of course a major concern. Get the vaccine out to all those vulnerable people as soon as possible. Just don't frame this debate like there are evil selfish people against the virtuous. There are just compassionate people on both sides of the argument who weigh the suffering caused by the virus and suffering caused by the reaction to the virus differently.

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dirtydingusmagee added 08:38 - Jan 15 Ipswichbusiness i used footballer as an example it could have been anyone , Fact is Football in grand scheme of things at present is not important ,this is an exceptional crisis.THE FIGURES YOU MENTION ARE LIVES .and for every one of those there are many more effected.The loss of a sport for a few months is a small sacrifice to pay.
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Northstandveteran added 09:03 - Jan 15 I totally disagree with your comments on mental health Europablue. I've been shielding since March and firmly believe that we will be crowned champions at the end of the season.
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Pezzer added 10:23 - Jan 15 2m apart IN the dressing room is not going to offer protection.
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Saxonblue74 added 10:31 - Jan 15 I have to step away now, before my next post gets me banned from this site!
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Razor added 10:58 - Jan 15 What a knob you are Lambert-----for some people football is all they have and gives them something to cling on to so it is your responsibility to carry on with all the help you are getting. You have now created a nice ready made excuse for your rubbish football and it is just so pathetic------thought our owner knew what was going on but obviously not and clearly doesnt care

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airliner added 11:08 - Jan 15 The headline should be, The style of football we are playing is morally wrong.
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BluedanW added 20:46 - Jan 15 I never realised we were playing football. Is that what you call it?
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BluedanW added 20:49 - Jan 15 He just wants the season to end early again like last year so his release clause cannot be triggered. So he earn another years salary for absolutely nothing. Pay the man off Evans. He doesn't give a damn about our football club. He even said in interview he doesn't care if he is sacked. He should want the season to end so he can turn this awful season around. The 3rd awful season he has stewarded

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Ipswichbusiness added 14:20 - Jan 16 Europablue; I start with the evidence and follow it to its conclusion. Unfortunately some do the opposite; they start with their preferred conclusion and then become “infuriated” when the evidence does not support them. I prefer reason to emotion. One other little point. I am 56 years old. According to the life expectancy calculator, on the Office for National Statistics website, I can expect to live to 84. According to the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, the average age of death from Covid is 82.4. Therefore we are spending a vast amount of money and time trying to buy some very elderly people a couple of years on this planet. Want to “save a life”? Get alcohol banned. It is quite possible to live a full and happy life without it yet the use/abuse of it kills thousands every year.

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