Simon Jordan says ‘football is asking to be shut down’ and accuses clubs of ‘not doing enough’ to stop coronavirus spread

Simon Jordan appears to have changed his mind about another COVID-19 break in football, saying England’s national sport is ‘asking to be shut down’ amid a sharp rise in cases.

Elite football has been allowed to continue despite the country being placed in a new national lockdown, but the game is facing increased pressure to halt all action following an increase in positive test results and a number of on and off the field incidents.

Last weekend’s FA Cup third-round was severely affected by the virus with games being postponed due to outbreaks at various clubs, while some teams were forced to field youth players, including Aston Villa and Derby.

And both the Premier League and English Football League fixture lists have since been further disrupted after more players and staff members returned positive COVID tests.

On Tuesday it was announced that Brentford’s next two games against Bristol City and Reading are postponed, while Derby players are set to return to training having returned negative tests after their Moor Farm training ground was closed eight days ago due to an outbreak.

Jordan was among those to call for football to continue, insisting last week that the show must go on in the FA Cup despite the rise of cases.

But, with positive results still on the rise and in particular Tottenham’s trip to Marine seeing hundreds of fans appear to ignore lockdown and social distancing guidelines to line the streets, the talkSPORT pundit admits the time may have come for the season to come to a halt.

“There is a case to be built here, and I don’t want to be the poster boy for it, that perhaps football needs to be stopped,” Jordan told talkSPORT host Jim White.

“Because we’ve got people running around the streets now who are not listening…

“And I hate the fear culture, I hate some of the doubling down that’s going on and the ridiculousness, and we’re not going to beat it, we’re not going to get around that.

“But we’ve been told that we are going to be locked down and the more we don’t comply with it, the longer this country is going to be in ruins.

“And if it means taking down the national sport to use it as a poster boy for a different kind of message… perhaps it might have to be sacrificed as a message for some people and the way they are behaving in society.

“To be honest, football is asking for a smack. It is asking for a right royal smack and it’s asking to be shut down.

“It’s not because I think it’s something that should happen, but football clubs aren’t really doing what they should be doing. They really aren’t doing the length and breadth of what they should be doing.

“The EFL hasn’t tested their players, they’ve hidden behind the fact the Premier League has done it. The only reason the EFL clubs were tested recently is because of the FA Cup and the Premier League clubs’ participation in it.

“Football clubs aren’t really making sure their players get it and understand it, and they aren’t making sure there is a consequence for the imbecile, moronic and arrogant players who are not paying attention to what is going on outside football.

“I hate having to wear a mask, I hate having to live life the way we have to live at this moment in time – I find it so debilitating.

“But footballers, whether it’s a minority or a significant portion, are not listening and I believe feel like they don’t have to listen.

“But it’s also a product of our responsibility – they are lauded and applauded and built up to such levels that they are beyond the realms of normal society, and then we expect them to abide by the rules of it.”