LONDON • N'Golo Kante has been allowed to stay away from Chelsea's return to training due to his fears of catching the coronavirus.
The French World Cup winner missed Wednesday's group practice with the blessing of Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, who reportedly allowed him to train at home on compassionate leave.
Kante is said to be unconvinced it is safe to train with his teammates while the pandemic rages on in Britain, whose over 36,000 deaths up till yesterday make it the worst-hit country in Europe.
According to the Office of National Statistics, black people are over four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people - an alarming statistic as more than 25 per cent of English Premier League footballers are black.
As such, Watford captain Troy Deeney has decided against returning to training - especially as he has a child with breathing difficulties - and Kante is also not taking any chances with health scares running in his family. His older brother Niamh died of a heart attack shortly before the 2018 World Cup and the 29-year-old midfielder fainted at Chelsea's training ground in March 2018, missing his club's next game as a precaution.
Pundits believe if more players boycott training over Covid-19 concerns, it could potentially hurt the resumption of the league and the integrity of the competition.
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville told Sky Sports: "I know there are Premier League clubs with five or six players who don't want to return or are uncomfortable with certain things around stage two or three.
"We do have more problems and issues to resolve over the coming weeks."
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher added: "If players en masse said they did not want to be involved (in training), that would be a big problem", while his former Reds teammate, Jamie Redknapp, told Sky that "if you're going to lose three or four players... that's not a fair competition".
However United skipper Harry Maguire, who is white, told the club website he had never felt "so safe" upon his return to training at Carrington on Wednesday.
On the strict health measures the Premier League has put in place to minimise the risk of Covid-19, including safe distancing measures, limiting training to 30-minute slots and regular temperature checks, he said: "The safety, it seems really well organised.
"We all got tested (for Covid-19) before we came in, so everyone in the changing room has a negative test. We're in phase one, let's get through this phase without any troubles."
-
4
Blacks are over four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than whites.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who has insisted his players are under no pressure to train and can go home if they feel unsafe, also said he is preparing for a shorter break between seasons due to the disruption to the current term caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
Clubs are scheduled to meet next week when the top flight will decide on whether they can move to the next phase of training that involves contact such as tackling.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS