Conan Byrne believes Covid-19 testing needs to be brought in for players and staff in the NI Football League.
Byrne, who is currently on the books of Danske Bank Premiership side Glenavon, made the call while speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast. On Friday last, league officials made the call to suspend the season until 23 January, owing to the rising cases of the virus.
"It's all a bit of mess and it has been for the last number of weeks and months," said Byrne, while adding that "we don't get tested, we just get our temperature checked at grounds".
Needless to say, the Dubliner, who also enjoyed spells at UCD, Shelbourne and St Pat's, feels more needs to be done.
"I have never been tested and I think that's outrageous. We should be tested at least once a week to make sure that we are safe and are not bringing any disease or virus back home with us.
"Glenavon is a part-time club. We all have jobs outside of that. You can only imagine if one our players contracted the virus where we would be bringing it to.
We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"Testing needs to be brought in, and brought in very, very quickly. It would alleviate any fears that the players might have of going back to training or play games.
"It's a basic requirement. We did it in the League of Ireland last season and it worked really, really well. It happens across the water and there is no reason why it can't work up north.
As to why Covid-19 testing is not more rigorous, Byrne can't give a definite answer.
"Maybe it all comes down to money. Maybe it's a lax attitude. Temperature checks doesn't really work. You could have Covid-19 while having a normal temperature. It's not a great way of handling things when there are so many contacts within the league," he said.
"As things stand, players, I think would like to see an extension to the suspension."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
