Pozzo family calls for caution when reopening football season
The famed Pozzo football family, owners of Udinese FC in Italy and Watford FC in England, normally keep a low international profile. Recently, however, the Pozzos have become quite vocal in their expressions of vehement opposition to what they consider a premature re-opening in both Serie A in Italy and the Premier League in UK, even as fans clamor for reopening.
The father and son, Giampaolo and Gino Pozzo, who own Udinese FC and Watford FC respectively, have repeatedly expressed their concern for their clubs’ athletes, medical staff, and supporters, echoing the safety concerns expressed by Watford FC Captain Troy Deeney recently on a video released on social media and those of other players.
Giampaolo Cautions Against Rapid Reopening of Serie A
After a football legacy consisting of some 35 years of club ownership, Giampaolo has more experience than any other club owner in Serie A, and he speaks from his decades of experience with regards to managing the crisis brought on by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Giampaolo’s attitude is decidedly more cautious than that of most of his Serie A peers who are anxious to get the football season, along with its associated contracts and income, up and running again as quickly as possible.
The senior Pozzo, who recently celebrated his 79th birthday, has been adamant in reiterating his opinion that the Serie A needs a full month of training before resuming season matches. He argues that the Serie A season may be finished safely by deciding the campaign using a play-off system, and expressed his opposition to playing out the remainder of the Italian season, in which clubs have between 12 and 13 fixtures remaining.
"At the minimum, we need a month to have a proper preparation like we do every year before starting the season,” Giampaolo told press. “Whereas we’re being super cautious about the virus, then we’re going to be totally careless about everything else?"
The Italian top-flight league has proposed reopening on June 13, a date Giampaolo considers premature and “impossible” without undue risk and without causing unnecessary injuries among players.
“We need to use common sense,” the senior Pozzo insisted. “I am not saying we shouldn’t finish the season, only that we should do it in safety. The fixture list that has been floated is not realistic – there is a risk of a series of injuries. We need to find different solutions. One of those could be play-offs.’
Giampaolo recently angered Serie A officials by penning a letter to Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora asking the Italian government to intercede on behalf of player safety, and slow down the league’s plans to reopen. He also requested that the responsibility of team physicians be lightened if any players and/or club members should contract the virus and develop COVID-19.
Supporting his argument, the senior Pozzo noted that his Udinese FC was quarantined after learning that three players with Fiorentina, the club that Udinese played against on March 8 - only a day before the suspension of the Serie A season - had tested positive for COVID-19. Fiorentina’s team physician was also infected and hospitalized with the virus, infecting nine of his own family members, according to Fiorentina’s sports director, Daniele Pradè. Some of those family members became serious ill and were hospitalized.
“Our physicians were frightened by that experience,” explained Giampaolo. “They said to themselves, ‘If something like that happens here, we would be responsible according to Italian law.’”
Meanwhile, at Vicarage Road…
Pozzo’s son Gino, who purchased the Watford FC in 2012 and led the club on a dramatic climb from the lower divisions to the prestigious Premier League, is also opposing what he considers the premature reopening of the Premier League in England, in agreement with his father in Italy. The younger Pozzo had also made the club’s stadium and facilities at Vicarage Road available to a neighboring hospital to help out the local community, with its many Watford FC supporters, during the pandemic.
In a recent Associate Press interview, Gino’s father expressed his concern that England was still a few weeks behind Italy, where the country has deemed it is not yet safe to resume public sporting events.
The Pozzos join Watford FC manager Nigel Pearson and Hornets captain Troy Deeney who recently voiced their opinions publicly against the Premier League’s proposed Project Restart, which would see Premier League football resume in England in June, roughly beginning either the 19th or 26th of that month.
“The conditions are not right yet,” the elder Pozzo stated. “The virus is still advancing rapidly there, at least compared to here. They’re a few (weeks) behind us.”
Meanwhile, Premier League leaders are voting on the feasibility of Project Restart this week, with proponents of the plan arguing that many jobs depend on the return of the Premier League.
Watford, currently number 17 at the Premier League table, is among the more outspoken football clubs in the League when it comes to expressing their concerns with regard to Project Restart. Watford executive Scott Duxbury, manager Nigel Pearson, and team captain Troy Deeney, have all expressed serious concerns that Project Restart may jeopardize players’ health and safety by opening the League too soon. The Pozzos, both father and son, have now added their voices to this chorus.
