Everyone at ISF would today like to pay tribute to – and stand in solidarity with – the thousands of 6 a side footballers who are frontline workers, in many cases doing dangerous jobs right now.
We are living in unprecedented times, and sport has ground to a halt throughout the world, meaning that all our competitions are in cold storage at the moment. Although of course there was heartening news yesterday that many countries in Europe have begun to relax their lockdowns.
Our Head Office in the UK is closed at until Government guidelines say we can reopen, and we know how lucky we are to be able to have that luxury.
Usually, our member nations are bound together with a shared love for the most inclusive of sports, that of socca, but now we are battling something altogether more serious.
So today, we’d like to pay tribute to our players on the frontline. Without them as doctors, food retailers, postmen, dustmen, teachers who are going in to keep schools open so that the children of these Key Workers can do their job.
This work is vital to allow the rest of us in the country to function as normally as we possibly can throughout the pandemic.
We would like to thank each and every one of you, and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible back on the pitch enjoying a little bit of light relief that you will doubtless need.
When football returns, we look forward to welcoming all of you, key workers or otherwise, to Socca once more. The competitions will be even more vital, then as well.
But for now, from all of us at ISF to all the frontline workers, that grace our tournaments, their families, but also everywhere else, thank you for your hard work.
To the rest of you, please, follow the guidelines in your own countries and help us all get through this as quickly as we can.
For the latest World Health Organisation advice, click here