Comparing Indonesian Case In All England With West Ham United Club, How The Fate Is Different?

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Photo: PBSI)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian team was forced to withdraw from All England in 2021 because of a plane with an anonymous passenger who tested positive for COVID-19. According to British government regulations, if you are on the same plane as a person who is positive for COVID-19, you are required to undergo isolation for 10 days.

Now, we compare it to football, especially with the English Premier League competition. There have been several positive cases of COVID-19 that have appeared in the highest level of Queen Elizabeth's country football competition, one of the most comparable is the case of West Ham United.

Coach David Moyes and two of his players; Issa Diop and Josh Cullen were diagnosed positive for COVID-19 while warming up ahead of the match against Hull City in the Carabao Cup last September. They were immediately asked to go home and undergo independent isolation. Meanwhile, no other players were isolated.

This happened just 70 minutes before kick-off and it is certain that Moyes, Diop, and Cullen were close to the other players and coaching staff at the time. But, reported by the Daily Mail, the match was not canceled. Even West Ham wasn't disqualified.

Isn't this case similar to the Indonesian team at All England? They are said to be in close contact with people who have tested positive for COVID-19, but all were isolated (except for four who were not emailed by the NHS National Health Service) and forced to withdraw from the tournament.

Okay, maybe the West Ham case happened last year. Six months ago. But in fact, the health protocol applied by the UK for professional athletes is still the same. On March 15, the Premier League issued an official press release regarding health protocol. See below:

"The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 8 March and Sunday 14 March, in two rounds of testing, 2,664 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19.

From these, there are two new positive tests. Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for 10 days.

The Premier League provides this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency.

No specific details regarding clubs or individuals will be provided by the League and the results will be published weekly. "

That was the statement. Obviously, isolation is only for positive cases.

Football, which has clearly made physical contact, clashed with legs, tug of t-shirts, and saliva are still allowed to continue, on the same day, in a normal way. In fact, West Ham players have had close contact with positive cases of COVID-19: Moyes, Diop, and Cullen.

Isn't this riskier compared to the Indonesian team at All England who was in the same plane with a 'mysterious' passenger who tested positive for COVID-19? Moreover, as reported by Badminton Talk, Indonesian athletes who competed were already in the "semi-bubble" of the All England tournament and all went through strict health protocols with periodic PCR tests.