Stiliyan Petrov has accused football of putting “wealth before health” in trying to rush back to action.
Aston Villa legend Petrov says the Bundesliga is playing at a “low standard” because of the desperation to start again.
It comes as the Premier League announced that their first game back will be on June 17 and Petrov fears football bosses are more worried about money than the players.
Petrov, talking at an MIP Alumni Association discussion, said: “We talk about the pandemic but what we see is wealth before health.
"With Covid 19 we still manage to put the wealth before the health which we don't realise is a big issue.
"It's understandable, it's very understandable why football is pushing to get back.
"As much as we say that some players are right and some players are wrong, there are so many unanswered questions out there, so many ifs and buts.
"So many questions - can we restart and if we restart how good is it going to be? There's so many questions out there.
"But don't forget that if we are in their shoes because, as players, we used to go out there to train, the adrenalin, the dressing room environment, the build-up, the entertainment.
"The players, they are athletes, we do miss that. You can't blame that.”
Petrov says the Bundesliga has been poor so far and is concerned about the Premier League when it comes back.
He added: "As much as I don't enjoy the Bundesliga, I know the players feel great because they run, they play and they enjoy it.
"So as much as we talk about what is right and what is wrong, it is hard to pick.
"The discussion is great and a lot of people out there try to give the right advice and I hope in the future people will say they were right to talk about it.”
UEFA launched the UEFA MIP programme in 2015 and Petrov was talking with Jason Roberts, Gareth Farrelly and Emile Heskey.
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