It would only be “fair” to award Liverpool the Premier League title if the season is not completed because of coronavirus, Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan says.
With football in England suspended until at least 30 April, Liverpool
have a 25-point lead over defending champions City and are two wins
from a first top-flight title in 30 years.
Asked if the Reds
should be given the trophy if the season is cut short, Gudogan told
German broadcaster ZDF: “For me, that would be OK, yes.”
“You have to be fair as a sportsperson,” the 29-year-old Germany international added.
Premier
League clubs are due to meet on 3 April, when it is almost certain the
current postponement until the end of April will be extended again. That
will take it past the official end of the EFL league season and towards
the last round of Premier League fixtures, which was supposed to be on
17 May.
Aleksander Ceferin, president of European football’s
governing body Uefa, said on Saturday the current football season could
be lost if it cannot be restarted by the end of June.
Gundogan
acknowledged football authorities faced a difficult decision because of
the impact that cancellation of the season would have at both ends of
the Premier League table.
“There are different opinions. For
clubs who have had a very good season, it obviously wouldn’t be nice if
it was cancelled now,” he said.
“On the other hand, for
clubs who aren’t doing as well and are maybe in the relegation places,
an abandonment would obviously suit them.”
Gundogan added
that he would be prepared to take a pay cut if English clubs went down
the route of Juventus and Borussia Dortmund in asking players to accept
reduced wages so that other staff can be paid.
“Of course I think it’s OK, that goes without saying, [but] there’s been no discussion in England yet,” he said.
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