Former Tottenham, Arsenal and England defender Sol Campbell has appeared to share a conspiracy theory that coronavirus is a man-made disease.
The coronavirus pandemic has seen more than 30,000 people die in the UK alone and many thousands more all over the world.
Southend United manager Campbell has suggested that the virus, that originated in the Wuhan region of China, was made deliberately and designed to target certain people.
“Was this virus a natural mistake or a designed mistake...? I wonder does this virus deliberately attacks a certain blood type....?,” he tweeted alongside a screengrab of an article citing ONS data that shows black people are four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than other ethnic groups.
The social media post, which remains published as of Saturday, drew heavy criticism with many pointing out the viewpoint has no scientific evidence to support it.
Campbell isn’t the first sportsperson to have fallen foul of conspiracy theories in the wake of the pandemic.
Boxer Amir Khan last month pushed the widely-discredited suggestion that the virus is linked to 5G masts.
“It’s a man-made thing. It’s been put there for a reason – while they test 5G. It might be for population control – get rid of a lot of us,” he said on Instagram.
Campbell’s post comes just days before prime minister Boris Johnson is set to lay out his latest plans to guide the nation out of lockdown.
Johnson’s updated guidelines will have a direct impact on football with all four league divisions in England anxiously attempting to try and formulate a way back on to the field.
Campbell’s Southend sit 22ndin League One, 16 points adrift of safety, with any decision to end the campaign almost certain to seal their relegation.
Campbell though is philosophical and says the safety of fans, players and staff must be the primary concern.
“I think safety has to come before anything else,” he said recently. “I know other countries are looking to come back and Germany are close to playing again but their numbers have been lower than ours.
“I don’t think you can consider bringing back football here until it’s safe to do so but we have to be ready for every possible outcome.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen or what the authorities will decide to do but we have to be flexible in our thinking so we’re ready to go again whenever that may be.”
