Aston Villa will be donating food prepared for Saturday’s postponed Premier League fixture to homeless charities.
All professional football matches in England and Scotland have been postponed until at least the start of April due to the coronavirus outbreak.
getty images
Aston Villa were due to play Chelsea at Villa Park on Saturday
Preparations were already well underway for fixtures taking place this weekend – and Villa are ensuring food does not go to waste.
The club tweeted: “850 staff packed lunches and hot food for tomorrow’s postponed game is being donated to support homeless charities.”
Along with the tweet they posted a picture of several boxes containing paper bags of food and how charities can get in contact with them.
Dean Smith’s side were due to face fourth place Chelsea on Saturday before the game was postponed.
Getty Images – Getty
Dean Smith’s Aston Villa are sitting 19th in the league
They sit second from bottom in the Premier League and are two points off safety with a game in hand.
The decision to suspend football across England and Scotland has come after Mikel Arteta and Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for COVID-19.
A number of other individuals have also gone into self-isolation after reporting symptoms consistent with coronavirus.
Most other leagues around Europe have either been suspended or are being played behind closed doors while next week’s Champions League and Europa League games have been postponed.
Jamie O’Hara says Premier League matches should not be played behind closed doors due to coronavirus
England’s Wembley friendlies against Italy and Denmark later this month have also been cancelled.
A joint statement was released by various governing bodies in England on Friday about the postponement.
It read: “The FA, Premier League, EFL and Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship have collectively agreed to postpone the professional game in England until 3 April at the earliest.
“This action, which will be kept under constant review, has been taken due to the increasing numbers of clubs taking steps to isolate their players and staff because of the COVID-19 virus.
“The postponements include all matches in the Championship, League One and League Two, as well as all academy and youth team fixtures.
“In addition, clubs are being advised to suspend indefinitely all non-essential activities which include, but are not limited to, player appearances, training ground visits and fan meetings.
“Whilst the EFL board has continued to take the advice and guidance offered by the Government and its health advisors, emerging developments mean now is the time to implement football’s contingency plans in response to the crisis.
“A further update on these plans will be given post an EFL board meeting next week.
“This decision has not been taken lightly, but the EFL must prioritise the health and well-being of players, staff and supporters while also acknowledging the Government’s national efforts in tackling this outbreak.”
fbq('init', '752905198150451');
fbq('track', "PageView");
Source link
No comments:
Post a Comment