The Virtual Terrace • Forfeiting Games

Yeah it was entirely predictable. There are going to be new variants and waves of existing variants for probably the next 10 years (Unless Omicron or the next one does turn out to be dominant among variants and as deadly as a cold). As with the Government and their policies, any restrictions to normal operations must be judged against 'can we keep doing this for the next 10 years with no/acceptable consequences?'. In the same way we simply can't have more lockdowns as the economy (and mental health) wouldn't sustain itself, we can't have swathes of games cancelled as the gate receipts and Sky money won't be replaced. Games have to be played at a sufficient level to fulfill the TV deals in RL, there can be no exception to that.

Your suggestion of removing any loop fixtures and having a reduced season with room for covid postponements here and there is the best suggestion I've heard. You can always fill gaps in a calendar with events if the covid picture next year is much different. Worst case scenario is overreaction to Omicron delays the start of the season, teams call games off all over the place, Sky pull out and the World Cup doesn't get played.