What is the criteria for a game to be called off due to Covid-19? Why is there so much confusion?

Some fixtures have gone ahead, even when a club might be missing a number of players, while others in similar circumstances have been postponed.

There have been instances where a game has been played when as many as five or six players are absent and self-isolating, while other games have been scrapped despite only one player going down with coronavirus.

So what are the rules? Are there any? And what is the criteria for a game being postponed?

It’s clear there are a lot of inconsistencies. There are no hard and fast rules, each game is judged on a case-by-case basis.

The main frustration stems from the EFL not releasing clear guidance at the start of the season, something we’ve still yet to see from the governing body of 72 clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two.

In recent days, several Blackpool fans have brought up the postponement of the Seasiders’ Boxing Day game against Rochdale.

The decision, which was announced on Christmas Day, came after Dale informed the EFL they were unable to fulfil the fixture after one player had tested positive for Covid.

On the face of it, this seems a little unfair on Blackpool, who had two players themselves self-isolating. But I’m led to believe a further nine Rochdale players had to self-isolate, which might go some way to explaining their decision.

Nevertheless, Blackpool’s hierarchy were certainly disgruntled with Rochdale’s decision. They were ready to play, even with Chris Maxwell and Matty Virtue absent.

It’s my understanding there were concerns raised over a potential breach of guidance, something that continues to be investigated by the EFL. This is, however, denied by Rochdale.

As we've seen, the EFL will investigate the circumstances behind every postponement to determine if any Covid guidance has been breached.

This is helpful, but I wouldn’t expect to see a decision or potential sanction, if any wrongdoing has been proven, to be handed down until at least two or three months after the postponement.

The only club to have been sanctioned so far is Grimsby Town, who were given a suspended fine for a breach.

It was found former Blackpool boss Ian Holloway, in charge of Grimsby at the time, had been playing darts with his players at the club’s training ground. Players had also been car-sharing to and from training sessions, the investigation found.

The outbreak at Blundell Park caused three matches to be called off back in September, yet the club didn’t discover their punishment until January.

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley has made it abundantly clear in his interviews this season that his players minimise their contact as much as possible. They arrive to training in their own kit, train, then drive home with lunch provided by the club in takeaway boxes. When team meetings take place, all players are socially distanced.

There’s no doubt Blackpool are taking this seriously and rightfully so. Are other clubs following suit though? There’s no doubt some clubs are more stringent than others.

There’s a lot of ‘whataboutery’ from supporters, asking why their games have either gone ahead or been cancelled while others haven’t. While the frustration is understandable when no clear guidelines have been given, it must be stressed that no two postponements are the same.

As for those Blackpool fans questioning the difference between the Rochdale postponement in December and why the midweek game against Wigan Athletic went ahead, despite the Seasiders being without six players due to Covid, there’s one main reason.

Back in December, players weren’t being routinely tested. Now they are. Until the first week of January, some clubs hadn’t done any testing since November, with cost playing a major factor in that.

It was only at the beginning of 2021 where mandatory, twice-weekly testing was introduced thanks to funding from the PFA. Why this wasn’t introduced at the start of the season though is a major bone of contention for managers and club executives.

So prior to Tuesday night’s game at the DW Stadium, a further round of testing took place on Monday, with the test results taking 24 hours to come back. Had Blackpool returned any further positives, chances are the game would have been called off.

As for the FA Cup, this is a different competition with different rules. The FA has stipulated that if you have 14 available players, then cup ties should go ahead.

Blackpool had more than 14 players available for their recent trip to Brighton, so the game had to go ahead. Pool, nevertheless, still had to include three youngsters to fill their nine-man substitutes’ bench.

That brings us to this weekend, where the chances of Blackpool’s game against Burton Albion going ahead remains up in the air.

This comes after Burton postponed their midweek game against Shrewsbury Town after eight players tested positive for Covid.

The Brewers were due to be tested again today, with results expected back on Thursday. If further positives are returned, Saturday’s game could be in doubt.

Since returning their initial positive tests, Burton boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink revealed they had to close down the stadium and the training ground and have everything deep cleaned.

Hasselbaink, whose side are bottom of League One, is still concerned about a lack of preparation time should the game go ahead.

“The players who are infected can’t do anything; the ones who aren’t can only do a bit of fitness work,” Hasselbaink said.

"We can do nothing as a group and if we come back after Wednesday, we only have two days and if the game goes ahead, they will be open for injuries as they have not trained and still have to then put that amount of stress on their bodies.

“But we will see what they say on Wednesday and take it from there.

“We have eight people affected and eight in our squad that is a lot of people. The danger is of it escalating, which is why everyone needs to be away from each other to stop it going any further.”

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