Spitting during game should be punished by yellow card, says FIFA's chief medic

Players should be given yellow cards if they spit during matches when football resumes because they risk spreading coronavirus, a Fifa council member said on Monday.

Momentum is building in England for football's return, as the government continues talks with the Premier League and several clubs, including West Ham, Arsenal and Brighton, resume training.

But medical experts, including Michel D’Hooghe, Fifa’s Medical Committee chairman, have warned that serious health concerns must be addressed before it can return safely and that spitting on the pitch, now an accepted part of the game, must be banned.

“This is a common practice in football and it is not very hygienic,” D’Hooge told The Telegraph. “So when we start football again I think we should have to avoid that at maximum. The question is whether that will be possible. Perhaps they can give a yellow card.  “It is unhygienic and a good way to spread the virus. This is one of the reasons why we have to be very careful before we start again. I am not pessimistic but I am rather sceptical at the moment.”

Scientists say that saliva could stay on the playing surface for hours, and that coronavirus could be passed on by players who may not be showing signs of the illness. 

Dr Ian Brierley, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, said: “If the person is infected but asymptomatic, or infected and symptomatic, the virus is present in the throat, and can be ejected into the environment by spitting.

“The globules of saliva carrying the virus could remain on the playing surface for hours until it dries out.

“There is also the risk that it becomes aerosolised, where the lighter spray from the spit can float around in the air for a while and potentially come into contact with people close by."

Dr Jane Greatorex, another Cambridge virologist, agreed that spitting was an issue, and said the disease could be passed on if someone has a “high viral load”.

To ensure that play can be resumed safely, Dr Greatorex said:  “All players, staff and officials should be tested for coronavirus on the morning of the match, and should only be allowed to enter the stadium or field of play if they have tested negative.

“There should be temperature checks and repeated, regular testing because there have been examples of low quality samples showing negative, when the person is in fact positive.”

Dr Brierley warned that other behaviours, beyond spitting, would have to change.

“Players may have to develop new celebrations so that they are not in close contact with each other. Pre-match handshakes, huddles at the start of a game and shirt swapping at the end of the match would also send out a poor message," he added.

Arsenal players were invited to return to their London Colney training ground on Monday 44 days after it was shut upon news of Mikel Arteta’s Covid-19 diagnosis.

“Players will travel alone, do their individual workout and return home,” the club said.