Sparta Prague captain Borek Dockal has written an open letter to the Czech government pointing out the disadvantage his side faces in European competition, The Daily Record reports.
Our Europa League opponents visit Celtic Park on Thursday having suffered heavy defeats to Lille and AC Milan in the opening two matches.
Those are the only two games they’ve played all month due to the government halting Czech football.
Dockal is one of three Europa League captains from the country, alongside Jan Boril of Slavia Prague and Slovan Liberec’s Jan Mikula, to pen a letter urging for a rethink in their approach to the game.
As quoted by The Daily Record, it says, in part: “Dear Mr. Prime Minister, in the current difficult situation let us address you directly and describe to you the difficult reality in which not only we, our clubs, but all professional football in the Czech Republic is living.
“In the current season, we’ve been following the strict hygiene rules of the Ligové Fotbalové protocol and the UEFA Return to Play protocol.
“We are tested before each match, we have often been forced to leave our loved ones and enter voluntary isolation to eliminate possible infection, all with the aim of not endangering teams in any way and minimising the possibility of the spread of Covid-19 in the football environment.”
“In the difficult current climate, we are, of course, fully aware that the negative epidemiological situation in the Czech Republic also requires extraordinary measures.
“However, we are convinced that in the case of the application of the above measures, the continuation of professional football competitions does not represent any material risk in terms of the spread of Covid-19 and the worsening of the epidemiological situation in the Czech Republic.
“It is necessary to emphasise that, from a sporting point of view, our clubs are fundamentally disadvantaged compared to their European rivals by the interruption of professional competition.”
Clearly, their lack of football will be a real hindrance to their fortunes in the Europa League. Celtic will undoubtedly be favourites to beat them this coming Thursday.
Their argument isn’t watertight, though. Both Slavia and Liberec have won group stage matches this season against good opposition in Bayer Leverkusen and Gent.
Sparta cannot blame all their problems on the Czech government’s decision.
However, we all witnessed how rusty Celtic were earlier this season when the Boli Bolingoli incident halted our fixtures. Even a short period of inactivity had a big impact on our performances.
As harsh as it is for Sparta, Neil Lennon’s team must capitalise on this on Thursday.
The Czech side look to be the whipping boys when it comes to Lille and Milan, so we must keep pace and hope for a positive result at home to the French side.
That’s our route to the last 32.
In other news, Craig Gordon is up for facing Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final after progressing with Hearts earlier this evening.
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