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Fifa medical chief wants yellow cards for spitting

Fifa's medical committee chairman Michel D'Hooghe has said football should not be played until at least the start of September to limit the spread of Covid-19 and, when it does resume, yellow cards should be handed out for spitting.

"If there is one moment where absolute priority should be given to medical matters, then it is this one. This is not a matter of money but of life and death," D'Hooghe told Sky Sports News on Tuesday.

"This is the most dramatic situation we have lived in since the Second World War. We should not underestimate it, we must be realistic."

The comments of the veteran Belgian football administrator come as the Bundesliga moves towards a possible restart next month, while the English Premier League is hoping games could be played behind closed doors from June.

D'Hooghe said it was too early for players to be coming into contact with one another, at least while social distancing regulations are in place.

"Football can only be possible if contact is possible again. Football remains a contact sport and contact is one of the first things everyone says that you should avoid," added D'Hooghe, a doctor who was formerly a member of Fifa's powerful executive committee.

"It's still about social distancing. Testing is an important point but you have to repeat them (tests). If one of the players becomes positive, you have to put the whole group into quarantine. Is that a solution for a normal competition?

"The solution will only be there the day there is an adequate vaccination programme."

D'Hooghe also said players who spit must be cautioned.

"(Spitting) is a common practice in football but it's not very hygienic," he told the Daily Telegraph. - REUTERS

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