Crystal Palace of England dazzler, Eberechi Eze has come under official investigation over his decision to attend last weekend’s English FA Cup match of his former club, Queens Park Rangers against Fulham, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although many observers would think it was an innocent gesture from a loyal former player of The Rs, worries over possible COVID-19 breaches have suddenly started swirling, and officials at England’s Football Association have now launched an investigation into the matter.
This is sequel to observations at various points during the game that Eze was caught on camera and video not wearing a facemask, as he watched his old team slip to a defeat by fellow-London-based Fulham.
The report out of Queensland indicates further that Eze’s visit to his former club on Saturday for their FA Cup third-round tie against The Cottagers is now being investigated by the FA because it was also learnt that he had not been cleared by health officials to be in the stands.
Eze also appeared to ignore social-distancing guidelines and chatted to pals while NOT wearing a face mask, just 24 hours after Prem bigwigs issued strict new anti-coronavirus protocols and two days after Palace boss, Roy Hodgson vowed there would be ‘strong consequences’ for breaches by his players.
The report adds: “The winger, who joined Crystal Palace from QPR for £20m in the summer, sat in the directors’ box at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium as Rangers were beaten 2-0 in extra-time by Fulham.
“It is understood that Eze was an invited guest of QPR for the tie, with his attendance conditional on him complying with Covid-19 protocols and returning a negative coronavirus test. He complied with all of these.
“However, The FA has told Sky Sports News it will be looking into Eze’s attendance and the governing body has stated that, contrary to some reports, it did not grant the 22-year-old approval to go to the game.”
Eze’s former coach at QPR, Mark Warburton, however, play down the issue, as he said: “I’ve no idea whether he broke protocols or not. You’d have to ask our health and safety officer because that’s above my pay-grade.
“I want to talk about the game. What other players do in their own time, I can’t comment on that. It’s not my area of expertise. Far from it.”
