Footballers could be on the receiving end of a booking from referees for spitting in games due to the potential spread of coronavirus from saliva, says FIFA's Medical Committee chairman. As well as numerous health concerns with the potential return of football, spitting may be punishable by a yellow card and banned outright, as saliva which stays on the pitch for hours risks spreading Covid-19.
With football nearing a comeback and with clubs slowly returning to training, Michel D'Hooghe has warned that footballers will have to change their mannerisms on the pitch for health and safety reasons. “This is a common practice in football and it is not very hygienic,” D'Hooge told The Telegraph. “So when we start football again I think we should have to avoid that at maximum. The question is whether that will be possible. Perhaps they can give a yellow card. It is unhygienic and a good way to spread the virus. This is one of the reasons why we have to be very careful before we start again. I am not pessimistic but I am rather skeptical at the moment.”
Scientific experts say that coronavirus could be spread from player to player if spitting was allowed to continue as normal, especially given players could be asymptomatic whilst competing. Virologist at the University of Cambridge, Dr. Ian Brierley, added: “If the person is infected but asymptomatic, or infected and symptomatic, the virus is present in the throat, and can be ejected into the environment by spitting. Players may have to develop new celebrations so that they are not in close contact with each other. Pre-match handshakes, huddles at the start of a game and shirt swapping at the end of the match would also send out a poor message.”
Source: Daily Mail