Crystal Palace have issued a statement saying Eberechi Eze made an “error of judgement” in attending a Queens Park Rangers match at the weekend and say they are “concerned” at photos of him not wearing a mask.
The summer signing has been a regular player for Roy Hodgson’s side after joining from the Championship outfit, scoring and assisting twice each in 15 Premier League appearances this season, including a goal in the recent win over Sheffield United.
But with Palace in FA Cup action on Friday night, losing 1-0 at Wolves, Eze then took the opportunity to watch former club QPR in action on the Saturday as they lost 2-0 to Fulham in the same competition.
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Elite sports teams allowed to continue training and playing as normal, but only in their own club bubbles, and Palace have expressed their disappointment at his misguided decision to take in the game at Loftus Road, in breach of Covid-19 protocols.
The full statement reads:
QPR have acknowledged they made a mistake in hosting Eberechi Eze in the directors’ box at Saturday’s FA Cup match against Fulham without our knowledge. Whilst we recognize Eberechi’s desire to support his former team mates, he accepts it was an error of judgement to attend the match.
We were also concerned to see pictures of Eberechi not wearing a mask at certain moments and are speaking to him about these apparent lapses, which will be dealt with internally.
There is no comment from Palace as to whether Eze’s error will result in him missing out on their upcoming match against Arsenal, but Hodgson recently said that further misdemeanours would face significant consequences at the club.
It is the latest in a string of examples of Premier League footballers having ignored guidelines, ranging from Spurs players gathering in the same household at Christmas, to the families of Palace’s Luka Milivojevic and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic similarly mixing in the same house at New Year.
