Zubiria outlines new safety measures as players return to individual training

On Thursday morning first-team players will return to Trigoria for individual training, for the first time since sporting activities were temporarily postponed due to Covid-19.

Ahead of their arrival at the club’s training centre, we spoke to the club’s Chief Global Sporting Officer Manolo Zubiria, to find out what changes and protocols the club have implemented to ensure the safety of all staff and players as their work resumes...

On Thursday the players will resume individual training: how has the club prepared for this latest stage?

“We have worked closely with experts from the Biomedical Campus, to have as much information as possible available to us about how to try to prevent any spread of Covid-19, and to understand how to implement those measures at our training centre. As a result we have worked on a precisely detailed protocol, one that has also been approved by Regione Lazio, the local authority.”

How will you control entrance into the training centre?

“There are three stations set up to measure the temperature and oxygen levels of anyone entering the complex, with one station dedicated exclusively for the use of players and coaching staff. Over the last couple of days we have begun with some medical assessments, without having any of the players come into contact with each other.

“We have reduced the number of people present at Trigoria as much as possible – even coach Fonseca has remained at home. From Thursday one of the staff will follow the players on the pitch. As a general rule, entrance at Trigoria will be permitted only to those absolutely necessary.”

How will you manage the training the players do out on the pitch?

“We have divided them into small groups, which will alternate in three shifts during the course of the morning. On each pitch there will be just four players, and one member of the coaching staff – with a doctor and a physiotherapist available if necessary. There will also be one goalkeeper on each pitch, following a separate training plan.

“There will be more than 10 metres between each of the players. In terms of the workload, it will predominantly be athletic work, with some ball-work to regain a feel for the game. Staff on the pitches will all wear masks.”

What will a normal day at Trigoria look like for the players then?

“The players will arrive wearing masks, which they will keep on up until the start of the training session. They will have their temperature measured, oxygen levels recorded via pulse oximetry and then will also complete a Covid-19 specific health questionnaire. They will then go to their individual rooms, where they will be able to change and then head directly to the training pitch – because the dressing rooms and other common areas will be kept closed.

“Pitchside the players will find their boots, along with all the fluids they will need throughout the session. At the end of training, they will leave the pitch one at a time and return to their rooms – where they will be able to take a shower and leave all the materials they have used during the course of the training session in a bag that they will have to seal up.”

What happens if a player arrives at Trigoria with an elevated body temperature?

“If we are faced with a situation where it seems the temperature is slightly elevated as a result of the warm weather or similar, the player will then be put in an isolated room and will have his temperature taken again, around 10 minutes later. If a temperature over 37.5 degrees is taken, either at the first or second recording, the player will be sent home and his condition will be monitored from a distance by our medical staff, complying with all Health Ministry guidelines.”

How will physiotherapy sessions be handled?

“Our physiotherapists will all have to wear one-use protective equipment; including masks, gloves and protective eyewear. All of them will work in a well-ventilated space, and we will never have two physiotherapists working at the same time in the same area.

“One thing must be made clear, however: physiotherapy will only be given to players when strictly necessary, and not as it might be normally. For example, the swimming pool will not be open for use for recovery, up until we receive any other direction from the federations over protocol.”

After showering, what will the players do?

“They will go straight home, after collecting their packages for lunch which will be left outside their respective rooms. The players cannot have breakfast together, or lunch. Throughout this period the players will have breakfast at home, and then they will be given their lunch – prepared by our nutritionist to the requirements of each individual – before they return home.”

How have you changed the communal spaces at the training centre during this period?

“They will not be in use. The cafe area is closed and the same goes for the changing rooms. The gym will be set up outside, and it is there that individual players can do some limited work – respecting at all times the social distancing and group size rules currently in place. The kitmen will bring the equipment required out, to be exchanged at working positions under a gazebo.”

How pleased are you to be able to get the players back to work at the training centre?

“During the current period we have tried to support the players as much as possible; working with them remotely and making sure they have all the equipment they need. But the ability to be able to return to running on a football pitch is important both for us and them; of course while ensuring the health of all our players remains the absolute priority. All of this is with a target in mind: to be ready to go when we get the green light to return safely to group training.”