Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: Deeney speaks out over online abuse

Troy Deeney and his family have received abuse over his reluctance to return to training ahead of the Premier League's planned return. The Watford skipper's fears over the risks of contracting coronavirus have since been eased.
Troy Deeney and his family have received abuse over his reluctance to return to training ahead of the Premier League's planned return. The Watford skipper's fears over the risks of contracting coronavirus have since been eased. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LONDON • Watford captain Troy Deeney has revealed online trolls told him they hoped his baby son would get the coronavirus after he chose not to return to training at the Premier League club.

The striker has stayed away since Premier League clubs returned to non-contact sessions last week, owing to fears over potentially passing on the Covid-19 disease to his five-month-old son, who has had breathing difficulties.

But Deeney, who along with Chelsea's N'Golo Kante are among the higher-profile English top-flight players to give training a skip, has found himself in the firing line for publicly voicing his concerns.

"I saw some comments (on social media) in regards to my son, people saying, 'I hope your son gets corona'," he told CNN Sport.

"That's the hard part for me. If you respond to that, people then go, 'Ah, we've got him' and they keep doing it.

"In a time where it's all about mental health and everyone says 'speak up, speak out, please speak', (on-loan Newcastle defender) Danny Rose spoke out... and I spoke out and we just get absolutely hammered and battered for it.

"So people see that and go, 'Woah' and it's not just us that gets it, the missus gets direct messages and you'll be walking down the street and people will be like, 'Oh, I'm at work, you go back to work'."

Premier League clubs have voted unanimously for a return to contact training following government approval, with that step due to take place this week.

Deeney, however, revealed he was ready to return to training next week after discussions with Dr Jonathan Van-Tam, the British government's deputy chief medical officer, over statistics showing people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds are disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

Data has shown that black people are four times more likely to die from Covid-19 related causes than white people, a concern with more than 25 per cent of Premier League players black. But the 31-year-old has been reassured of the health and safety measures in place to limit the risk of Covid-19.

Deeney added: "He's (Dr Van-Tam) been doing very, very good research and there is a lot of goodwill on his part to tell me that I'm going to be looked after as best as they can."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 29, 2020, with the headline Coronavirus: Deeney speaks out over online abuse. Subscribe