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On the Ball: Welcome to EPL's warped world, where clubs try not to play football
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Rules designed to protect clubs have instead been abused and exploited.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Richard Jolly
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The purpose of the sport of football is to not play football. Supporters celebrate when their team's games are called off and complain when they go ahead.
Or so the last few weeks would suggest, anyway.
Welcome to the warped world of the English Premier League, a division with more postponements than home wins since Dec 12. It has become a dystopian division, suffering an existential crisis where many of its members seem to spend more time trying to call off matches than play them.
While the four main leagues on the European mainland have had a solitary postponement because clubs had insufficient players available, the richest of them all has had 21 in six weeks. A supposed role model has become a laughing stock. The fixture list has become a farce. The Premier League has been too pathetically weak to prevent a ludicrous cancellation culture.
Welcome to the warped world of the English Premier League, a division with more postponements than home wins since Dec 12. It has become a dystopian division, suffering an existential crisis where many of its members seem to spend more time trying to call off matches than play them.
While the four main leagues on the European mainland have had a solitary postponement because clubs had insufficient players available, the richest of them all has had 21 in six weeks. A supposed role model has become a laughing stock. The fixture list has become a farce. The Premier League has been too pathetically weak to prevent a ludicrous cancellation culture.
