Portsmouth and Charlton under fire from AFC Wimbledon over recent Covid cancellations as Dons call for stronger action from EFL

The Dons have fallen foul of the surging number of Covid cases in football with their recent scheduled meetings against Pompey and Charlton both called off because of positive tests in both respective camps.

As a result, the south London club have sent a ‘strongly-worded’ letter to the league’s governing body, expressing their dissatisfaction with these cancellations.

Danny Cowley’s side were due to travel to Plough Lane on December 18 with the aim of extending their unbeaten run in League One.

But with a number of positive cases of coronavirus within their ranks, they were unable to fulfil the fixture - despite the hosts’ ability to field a team.

Wimbledon’s Boxing Day clash with Charlton suffered the same fate – as did the Blues’ home game against Oxford.

Now the Dons have detailed how the postponements will put a greater strain on them due to pending fixture ‘chaos’.

And they have requested the EFL take stronger action on clubs who are forced to cancel upcoming fixtures.

The letter sent by the club reads: ‘We are writing to openly express our disappointment over the recent spate of matches that member clubs have been unable to fulfil.

‘We also want to take this opportunity to call on the EFL to undertake its due processes and implement the strongest-possible measures to ensure that - where a club is able to fulfil a fixture - it does so.

‘Further, where it is found that a club was unable to fulfil a fixture, they must be held to account for all decisions which led to that position.

‘We would also like to advocate for the reintroduction of 5 substitutions per match.

‘With a congested fixture calendar now a guarantee for all clubs, we would wish to have every tool available to us in order to manage our squad best.’

The letter continued: ‘AFC Wimbledon has one of the smallest playing budgets in the league and alongside this, one of the smallest first-team playing squads.

‘The club is a London club, where Coronavirus has been most rife. A State of Emergency has been declared by the Mayor of London.

‘Yet since the new Omicron variant became prevalent, only 11 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in our playing squad and first-team management (of which only three have been in our player and staff first-team bubble).

‘This is not by luck. This is down to hard work and spending resources our club ultimately does not have at its disposal.

‘This is the players sacrificing their ability to spend time with their loved ones. Christmas gatherings have been cancelled and everyone at the club has played their part; the players have to be truly commended for their commitment.

‘At significant cost, we have tested players twice weekly since the beginning of the season. In the weeks before the Red Zone protocols were brought into effect, we upped this to three tests per week.

‘We then moved to Red Zone protocols with daily testing in the week before the EFL’s announcement of such measures.

‘The club has isolated individuals and chosen not to select players for match-day squads. We have taken some very difficult decisions to manage our squad, which most likely led to a loss of on-field competitiveness.’

The Dons’ letter added: ‘If we can make all this work - on such limited resources - then so should the rest.

‘AFC Wimbledon understands that we are not alone in undertaking these measures and acknowledges some clubs may well have gone further.

‘However, we can’t help feeling the preventative measures taken by the club ultimately cost us a competitive edge on the pitch earlier in the season.

‘Yet now, when our measures are truly coming into their own, we have been hit financially with the postponement of our two-largest revenued fixtures of the season

‘It just doesn’t sit right that, having gone above and beyond our means to ensure matches can be fulfilled, we will now be at a disadvantage - trying to navigate a very congested second half of the season with a small squad.

‘Meanwhile, clubs with larger squads will have the upper hand, having been provided the opportunity to take a more relaxed approach knowing there will be no penalties for conduct that sits outside of the protocols.’

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