'How they expect people to come back from Covid and play within a couple of days is beyond me' - Crawley Town boss John Yems blasts EFL's decision as ridiculous

The EFL announced yesterday (Monday) its programme of games in the league and Carabao Cup will continue with fixtures to be played where it is safe to do so, and the set squad criteria can be fulfilled by clubs.

That means if Crawley Town have a squad of 14 players, including a goalkeeper, available, they should fulfil their fixture with Stevenage on Boxing Day (Sunday).

The Reds had 12 players with positive tests last week and their game with Oldham on Saturday was postponed.

With the 10-day isolation rules, it would mean the majority their last day of isolation would be Christmas Day. Yems believes the EFL should have called off all game over the festive period and start again on January 8.

He said: “I think it’s ridiculous. How they expect people to come back from Covid and play within a couple of days is beyond me.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s Crawley Town, Manchester United or whoever. It’s beyond me.

“The rules are if you have 14 players with one being a goalkeeper you can play a game.

“Those 14 players have nothing to do with fitness, it’s whether they are Covid free.

“Players could be returning [from isolation] and within a day and be playing. It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t become fair.

"My opinion is just let all wash out. It’s different for the Premier League. Those games generate around £100million a game as it’s shown all around the world.

"We are looking at footballers who can't be put up in hotels to stay away from people for weeks on end. These are boys who are going out, earning the same as everyone else. Would you go to work if you weren't feeling well? Would expect to play football if you weren’t fully recovered?

"I am not prepared to send people out on the pitch. It’s not fair on the fans who are paying to watch players who are not 100 per cent."

It’s still unclear whether the Boxing Day game will go ahead. Yems says he is not prepared to put players out who are still suffering from Covid effects despite them being out of isolation.

And he still eight or nine players on the injury list.

“Me and the club have not got a clue [if the game is going ahead] and that’s the frightening thing.

“But if you have got 15 fit players who are registered with the club you have to play the fixture.

"They wouldn’t let us do that last year when we wanted to play Bournemouth, but it suited Bournemouth because they couldn’t get a side out in the FA Cup.

"We had to play four games in a week last year and players we dropping like flies because we were playing players who wouldn’t be playing in a normal scenario because they still had symptoms of Covid but were testing negative.

“It’s ok for the EFL to sit there and tell everyone what to do, they aren’t brave enough to do anything themselves, they are just copying what the Premier League are doing.”

The club were meeting yesterday (Tuesday) to discuss the situation more and Yems said: "I have had more meetings than Desert Orchid about this."