🌡 Hot Take: International football should be cancelled until 2021 | OneFootball

With the population continuing to battle second waves of coronavirus, economies and healthcare facilities are under more strain than ever.

Life, however, must continue in some capacity and elite level sports have taken measures to ensure this possibility.

Bubbles have been formed, regular testing has been enforced and fans remain away from stadiums to prevent chance of infection.

But there is only so much you can do when fighting an invisible, highly contagious threat – which is why playing any international football this year is ridiculous.

Positive cases have soared again in Europe after six months of precaution, leading to more remote working and minimising contact with others.

We understand footballers have a job to do just like everybody else. But asking thousands of players to travel across the continent with different people, away from their personal bubbles, is simply irresponsible.

When asked about how the international calendar could be affected, Uefa committee member Lars-Christer Olsson admitted in May that fixtures would be affected for “two or three years”.

Which is a perfectly reasonable time frame to earmark. Until a vaccine is created, living with the virus will become inevitable.

But just because there was a decrease in cases over the summer – when lockdowns were enforced – doesn’t mean the schedule shouldn’t have been adapted.

There have been two international breaks already since the 2020/21 season started two months ago.

The most recent of which have included a series of FRIENDLIES for some reason, because somebody decided we needed more football being played.

Does that feel responsible? It doesn’t to us. And then your mind wanders to ulterior motives like sponsorships and TV deals being prioritised over health.

Football is already showing signs of complacency with positive testing.

Only those testing positive for the virus are being made to self-isolate, as opposed to coaching staff and teammates they were in contact with.

On October 8, England U-19 v Scotland U-19 was abandoned at half-time after a positive test emerged for one of the coaching staff.

How many of those players will be made to self-isolate, if any?

In Ligue 1, 13 of the 20 teams have recorded positive cases since the start of the season.

In Serie A, 17 of the 20 teams have recorded positive cases since the start of the season.

Coronavirus is still a considerable problem within football and measures are being taken to minimise those risks.

Why international fixtures have been sanctioned makes no sense. Travel, increased contact and more chances of infection make no sense.

International football should have been banned for the rest of this year, and it still should be.