Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has said that football must not turn on itself when the coronavirus crisis ends.
There is presently much debate about how – and even if – the 2020-21 campaign should end, both on a European and domestic basis, with West Ham’s Lady Karren Brady notably calling for the campaign to be declared null and void.
Fowler, however, has said that the game will have to show a united front when the action does resume.
“There are no black-and-white decisions, only shades of what’s right and wrong. I even feel guilty for just thinking about sport during the current health crisis,” he said in his column for The Mirror.
“But conversations have to take place now about what the future will bring - and that includes how we eventually get back to playing and watching.
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“Voiding the season would lead to all kinds of legal challenges – and so would any attempt to rule that league tables should stand from the date the lockdown came.
“I hope that everyone accepts when a decision is made it has the best interests of football at heart.
“The last thing we need once the health crisis is over is for football to be plunged into a civil war that will take the game into the courts.
“We need to remember what’s really important.”
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Fowler has warned fans, however, not to expect to be able to cheer on their sides in a live environment for a long time to come.
“What I am sure of is that football cannot afford to wait for when it’s safe for fans to return to stadiums,” he said.
“Mass gatherings will be the last thing the government allows once lockdown measures begin to be lifted.
“So it’s increasingly likely games must be played behind closed doors.
“Is that ideal? Of course not. It goes against all my natural instincts. But it is the lesser of all the evils.
“Not least because I think watching football again will give millions of people something to look forward to in the months ahead.
“Sports, hobbies and pastimes help us to stay sane. For many, they are a way of life.
“We can’t visit our families or friends, go to the cinema, shopping centre, gym or the pub.
“So, once the authorities believe it’s safe for players and officials to cross the white line again, it will give all who love the world’s most popular game a massive lift.”