Leeds United and coronavirus - second Hull City letter to EFL leaked

A second letter from Hull City to EFL chairman Rick Parry and the rest of the Championship clubs, detailing their concerns over restarting the season, has been leaked to the press.
By Graham Smyth
Published 23rd May 2020, 16:52 BST
Updated 23rd May 2020, 16:54 BST
OPPOSING SIDES - Leeds United want to play the final nine games but Hull City do not support a return to action and want the season to be declared null and voidOPPOSING SIDES - Leeds United want to play the final nine games but Hull City do not support a return to action and want the season to be declared null and void
OPPOSING SIDES - Leeds United want to play the final nine games but Hull City do not support a return to action and want the season to be declared null and void

The Telegraph report that Tigers vice chairman Ehab Allam, who stated the case for declaring the season null and void in a letter early last week, has written again to highlight what he believes are unnecessary legal and financial risks.Allam also takes issue with the coronavirus testing protocol that has been rolled out at Championship clubs, with players testing themselves ahead of a potential return to training on Monday. No contact will be permitted and training will initially only be carried out in small groups.

The EFL proposed this week that clubs vote to approve a way forward, should the season have to be curtailed, with tables decided on an unweighted points per game basis.

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Hull sit just above the drop zone and haven't won a league game since New Year's Day.

“Without any guarantee that all remaining fixtures will be played if the season recommences, Championship clubs are, in effect, being asked to agree to a game of pass the parcel in which they can achieve/miss out on promotion or avoid/suffer relegation, if the music were to stop at an indeterminable/arbitrary point in time," wrote Allam.

“I continue to strongly believe that Championship clubs are being exposed to entirely unnecessary legal and financial risks (and forced to overlook the health and safety concerns that exist) as a result of the inappropriate haste with which clubs are being encouraged to return to training by the EFL.

“I also retain serious concerns about the integrity of the competition (which in my opinion is more than simply upholding promotion and relegation at all costs) should some, but not all, of the remaining games of the 2019/20 season be played.”

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Allam also claims the testing regime could be undermined by players testing themselves for COVID-19.

Leeds United players were tested on Friday at Thorp Arch and while they had to swab themselves, the tests were handed straight to medical staff before being processed.

Allam wrote: “I am extremely concerned that one of the testing options available is for individual players to administer the tests themselves before then providing it to their club.

“This has the potential to fundamentally undermine a testing regime which you have stated is needed to underpin a safe return and, in the event that matches are ever played, expose the players and staff of other Championship clubs (who have adopted a more rigorous approach to testing via club medical personnel or third party agencies) to unnecessary and inappropriate risks.

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“It would clearly be inappropriate for players to carry out their own doping-control tests and yet the EFL has approved a process which allows players to test themselves for a virus that has serious/life-threatening consequences.”

Hull City released a statement earlier this week expressing their disappointment that the first letter had been leaked.

Related topics:Hull CityEFLTigersThe TelegraphHull