“It has to be fair for everyone” – Chelsea star hits out at Premier League for postponing Arsenal game

Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso was not a happy man after the Premier League postponed Arsenal's game against Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal were scheduled to play Spurs on Sunday. However, the Gunners submitted a late bid to postpone the game, which was subsequently accepted by the Premier League.

Arsenal reasoned that they had fewer than 13 first-team outfield players ready to play the match. According to PL rules, any team must have at least 13 first-team outfield players and one goalkeeper ready for action. In case they do not, they are eligible to apply for a postponement with the final decision resting on PL.

Several games have been postponed over the last few weeks but the problem has risen with the Premier League's arbitrary decision-making process.

Several appeals by other clubs like Chelsea, Spurs and others have been turned down when in fact these clubs had more absentees than Arsenal currently do.

Marcos Alonso expressed his dissatisfaction with the process and said (which were relayed by Metro):

“We had some games with a lot of players out, some games with only four defenders, but we still had to play. It has to be fair for everyone to have the same treatment from the Premier League, not just some games yes, some games no.”

Premier League's new decision has not been implemented well

The decision to allow teams to apply for a postponement this season was first introduced to help them deal with Covid-19 absentees. The Covid-inflicted teams often missed players in chunks due to the high transmission rates of the disease.

However, in a rather surprising move, the PL also allowed teams to add injuries, suspension and national duties to the list of missing players while taking count of their squad.

This means teams who might not necessarily be adversely affected by Covid, can still apply for postponement if they feel they are not perfectly equipped to play a match.

Case in point is Arsenal's delay. They have Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyhang and Mohamed Elneny on AFCON duty. Granit Xhaka got himself sent off and is thus suspended.

Arsenal also have around five players injured on football duty. The club also loaned out two first-team players, including Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Their only Covid-19 case in fact is Martin Odegaard.

Arsenal being unable to field the minimum number of players has technically allowed the club to take advantage of a vague rule structured by the PL. This seems a self-inflicted problem by the club and for their game to be postponed is a rather poor reflection on the Premier League.