Klopp issues plea to Reds鈥 fans
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Liverpool鈥檚 first league title in 30 years should be celebrated 鈥渋n a safe way and in private settings,鈥 manager Juergen Klopp said yesterday.
Fans partied outside Anfield on Thursday night and gathered on the waterfront in Liverpool the next evening to celebrate the English Premier League championship despite the ongoing threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
鈥淲hen the time is right we will celebrate,鈥 Klopp told fans in a letter published by the Liverpool Echo.
鈥淏ut for now, please stay at home as much as possible,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淭his is not the time to be in the city center in big numbers or to go near football grounds.鈥
Liverpool clinched the title with Chelsea鈥檚 2-1 victory over second-place Manchester City on Thursday.
On Friday night, Merseyside Police issued a dispersal order for Liverpool city center. This allowed police to break up crowds that gathered on the Pier Head after part of the Liver Building caught fire amid the wild celebrations.
Videos that circulated on social media showed a firework hitting the distinctive building, which is partly owned by Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri.
Klopp told fans that he 鈥渄id not love鈥 what occurred at the Pier Head.
A joint statement on behalf of the club, the Liverpool City Council and Merseyside Police said several thousand people turned up at the Pier Head 鈥渁nd some chose to ignore the social distancing guidance and risk public safety. Our city is still in a public health crisis and this behavior is wholly unacceptable.鈥
More than 1,500 people have died after contracting COVID-19 in the Liverpool region since March.
鈥淲e have all done so much to fight COVID-19 and this effort cannot go to waste,鈥 Klopp wrote.
鈥淧lease 鈥 celebrate 鈥 but celebrate in a safe way and in private settings, whereby we do not risk spreading this awful disease further in our community.鈥
Klopp thanked fans for their support during a remarkable season in which Liverpool has established a 23-point lead over City with seven games left.
Liverpool visits City on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the English Football Association will make 124 positions redundant within the organization due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governing body said yesterday.
With soccer suspended for 100 days in England, the lack of revenue from international matches and domestic cup games hit the FA, which said it is planning for potential losses of around 300 million pounds (US$369.42 million).
鈥淎s a not-for-profit organization, this will hit us hard,鈥 FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said in a statement.
鈥淭he situation has worsened to a point where we now need to reduce the size of the FA in order to deal with the financial impact of the crisis.鈥
The FA Cup restarted over the weekend with the four quarterfinal ties in empty stadiums with Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City advancing to the semifinals.
United will meet Chelsea while Arsenal face City, with the games scheduled to be played at Wembley on July 18-19.
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