SKY SPORTS: “ LIVERPOOL FC “

IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE GONE AHEAD

Liverpool council's director of public health Matthew Ashton has suggested the rise in coronavirus cases in the city may have been influenced by the decision to allow the Champions League match against Atletico Madrid at Anfield to take place.



SKY SPORTS

Friday 3rd April 2020



There were just 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Liverpool on Friday, March 20, but that number has swelled to 309 less than two weeks later.


MPs in Liverpool were among those questioning the wisdom of allowing 3,000 supporters from coronavirus-hit Madrid to travel for the last-16 second-leg fixture at Anfield on March 11.




Ashton, in place to coordinate Liverpool's response to the pandemic, said in the Guardian: "It was not the right decision to stage the match.


"People don't make bad decisions on purpose - perhaps the seriousness of the situation wasn't being understood across government at that time.


"Although we will never know, the Atletico Madrid game could have been one of the cultural events and gatherings that influenced the rise in Liverpool.


"It is definitely one to be included on the list for learning and for a future inquiry, so that organisations can learn and not make similar mistakes."




The day before the match, which Atletico won 3-2 after extra-time to prevail 4-2 on aggregate in front of 54,000 fans, La Liga had announced all fixtures in its top two divisions would have to be played behind closed doors.

Since then, all of the major European leagues have been shut down. La Liga has been indefinitely postponed while Premier League clubs will gather via conference call to consider whether they should follow suit.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Over here at the time, we were gobsmacked it went ahead and thousands from Madrid went to Liverpool.

reports of hundreds of people tested positive after visiting the cheltenham race meeting a weeks ago too . charlie austin has tweeted he got it from there too

herd immunity my arse

The only thing I will say lads is that all the people who went to that game and the festival went by their own choice

I don't think there's anything to be gained by blaming now, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

He's probably got a point, they shouldn't have been allowed to travel but currently the rate of infection is 1 per 1729 people in the UK as whole and 1 per 1787 in the city of Liverpool itself. Take Wales, Scotland and NI out of the equation and Liverpool may well have less infections than the rest of England, certainly less than London and Birmingham. Not sure if that is particularly significant but nevertheless a huge risk and it shouldn't have happened.

The only thing I will say lads is that all the people who went to that game and the festival went by their own choice

I don't think there's anything to be gained by blaming now, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

lots of hindsight and lots of guesses mate....and lots of ill thought out blame also..

The only thing I will say lads is that all the people who went to that game and the festival went by their own choice

I don't think there's anything to be gained by blaming now, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Yeah it's too late now to say we should have done this and we should have done that. Pretty similar to the Stereophonics concerts going ahead. Everyone who attended knew the risks and made their choice.

reports of hundreds of people tested positive after visiting the cheltenham race meeting a weeks ago too . charlie austin has tweeted he got it from there too

herd immunity my arse

Yes another bad decision and greed.

People are just selfish and that also applies to Cheltenham goers as well.

If the Leeds game went ahead who would have gone?

I have to say that people saying it is their choice are missing the point, it would be the point if they caught the virus, but anyone that they infect did not have that choice. That is why the infection spread as quick as it did! You don't need hindsight only common sense to know that the Liverpool game, Cheltenham, any concerts and anything with a large gathering should have been cancelled!