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Brendan Schwab, the executive director of the
World Players' Association, added that some players were being
asked to sign away rights that would normally give them legal
and financial protection should they fall ill.
"We have seen some research that athletes may be particularly
vulnerable to serious symptoms," said Schwab, whose union
represents around 85,000 athletes, including many who play in
the NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, rugby, European soccer and Australian
Rules football.
"The virus may get deep into the lungs, it is a virus that can
cause severe damage not only to the lungs but other organs and
athletes need to be at a very high level of health and fitness
in order to be able to preserve their careers."
Schwab said that while players were willing to take a calculated
risk to resume their sporting careers, since social distancing
rules cannot be adhered to in most sports, it would not be at
any cost.
"We are concerned that some sports bodies are trying to place
the economic and legal risk of contracting the disease on to
players and that is something which we think should not be
tolerated," he said.
Schwab said that if players signed away their rights, they could
be denied "the basic economic and legal protection which should
go along with being injured or otherwise ill in the ordinary
course of work."
He added that, by taking part in contact sports, the "players
themselves are being asked to do something which is inherently
risky and inherently contrary to all of the health information
that is being given.”
"Player health and safety should be not be something which is
negotiable because of the economic pressure sport is under at
the moment," he added.
Schwab said the widespread testing was a key to ensuring elite
sport could take place but athletes did not want it to be
carried out at the expense of the general public.
"The players are making it very clear that they don't want to
have a high level of testing if that is going to place the
public health effort in jeopardy," he said.
Sports competitions which restart early, such as Germany's
Bundesliga, had a special responsibility.
“We believe that those sports who want to try and go first, they
do try and set the very best practices," he said.
"We were very impressed by the comments of Bayern Munich and
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who was saying that, yes this is
a leadership example, we as players have to step up to the mark.
And, when it comes to health and safety, the leagues and the
governing bodies need to do the same."
(Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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