The Premier League is set to hold a series of conference calls with managers and captains on Thursday and Friday to remind them to enforce the new, stricter Covid restrictions.
On Wednesday night, Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho breached restrictions by sharing an embrace with his Fulham counterpart Scott Parker before a 1-1 draw. Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola also questioned the ban on players celebrating in groups after his side’s win over Brighton.
The new guidance, issued last week, orders players not to hug, high-five or shake hands after scoring but Sheffield United, Everton and Manchester United players all broke those rules on Tuesday night.
The Premier League has said that it was already planning to talk to players and managers about the guidelines but the summits have been brought forward due to fierce scrutiny from Government.
Whitehall is privately questioning whether elite sport should be allowed to continue and yesterday the sports minister, Nigel Huddleston, warned players not to disregard the rules and told footballing authorities to “strictly” enforce the rules.
The Premier League’s director of football, Richard Garlick, and its chief medical advisor, Dr. Mark Gillett, will lead four calls every afternoon.
Parker announced that he would speak to his players, who celebrated in a group after Ivan Cavaleiro’s late equaliser at Spurs, saying:
“I feel like I’m probably going to. I didn’t notice and I’ve not seen it back. I do have sympathy for the players. We’re still playing football, these players are still getting judged, I’m getting judged, football clubs are getting judged. At the same time of course I understand the situation out there and protocols in play. Of course it’s a conversation I’ll have with the players.”
Modern players like Wayne Rooney honed their skills playing street football.