Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has accused the Premier League of showing bias towards his rivals and being unduly influenced by television companies after a request to postpone tonight’s game against Tottenham Hotspur was turned down.
Leicester’s match against Spurs tonight remains on despite Rodgers being without up to 11 players because of coronavirus-related issues and injuries. Rodgers believes the injuries have come as a consequence of the strain put on his squad.
Tottenham had their league game against Brighton postponed on Sunday following a Covid outbreak, while Manchester United had their match at Brentford called off on Monday.
But Norwich boss Dean Smith revealed on Tuesday that his club had struggled to even contact league officials regarding their Covid concerns ahead of their defeat against Aston Villa.
The Premier League board makes its decisions on postponements on a case-by-case basis and, while clubs must have 14 players available, it takes into account medical advice and whether the training ground has been accessible and if the outbreak is considered under control.
Asked whether he thought the Premier League had opened itself up to showing bias towards certain clubs, Rodgers replied: “I think you’re on the right lines. For the integrity of the competition, it’s important, but I’m pretty sure games will have been called off where teams have had less players unavailable than we have.”
On whether Spurs had been handed an advantage, despite their own problems, Rodgers said: “One hundred per cent, yeah.”
Rodgers believes that the fact a host of this week’s matches are being broadcast live on television has influenced decisions over whether games are postponed.
