Everton manager, Ancelotti, urges football to prepare for "general contraction"

Carlo Ancelotti, Everton boss, has urged the footballing world, including players and coaches, to prepare for a general contraction that will be caused by COVID-19 when games return.

This is coming as world footballing activities have been crippled by the pandemic; urging suggestions about pay cuts and other financial implications that will follow.

The Italian said: “I hear about cutting salaries, suspension of payments — they seem to me outdated, untimely solutions. Soon the economy will change and, at all levels, TV rights will be worth less.

“Footballers and coaches will earn less and tickets will cost less because people will have less money.

“Let’s get ready for a general contraction.”

Although there are suggestions that football may return by the start of May, Ancelotti rubbished the idea during an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport.

He insisted the only thing anyone should be thinking about right now is ensuring as many people stay alive as possible.

He added: “Today the priority is health, limiting the infection. Everything else is secondary.

"When you start again, when you finish, the dates, the promises, the hopes — believe me, I don’t care, at the moment it is the least of my thoughts.

“The Premier League has forced clubs to give everyone three weeks of vacation, players, coaches and staff.

“The initial idea was to start again in May but there is no question that we will succeed.

“What matters now is to fight the virus effectively.

“Then, of course, if it will be possible to continue the season, well, amen.”

Should football return in the coming months, Ancelotti believes that players will be happy to turn out at a moment’s notice and may not necessarily require a mini pre-season training as some suggested.

He added: “It makes me laugh people who insist on making speeches about preparation times.

“There are even those who talk about three weeks of training. They are bulls**t.

“It is a joke, that of preparation is a false myth.”

Source:The Sun