Arsenal Legend Perry Groves has hit back at Oriol Romeu’s suggestions that TV cameras should be allowed in dressing rooms when the Premier League Returns from the coronavirus hiatus.
Top flight matches could potentially be played behind closed doors when the 2019/20 campaign resumes to help ensure the season is finished.
And Southampton midfielder Romeu believes giving broadcasters more access behind the scenes to bring fans closer than ever to the action is a great idea, especially if they aren’t allowed to sit in the stands.
The Spanish star said: “I understand that 40,000 people will not be able to enter the stadiums overnight, but without fans there is no atmosphere, and without atmosphere there is less emotion.
“Perhaps to compensate them, cameras can be introduced inside the locker room to make them feel closer to everything.”
Backstage access is fairly common in other sports, especially in the United States, where broadcasters are regularly allowed to access locker rooms and even conduct interviews with players and coaches.
But former Arsenal ace Groves says it’s a terrible idea, insisting they are ‘sacred’ in football.
“Absolutely not. What happens in the dressing room should stay in the dressing room,” the former Gunner told Natalie Sawyer when asked if he agreed with Romeu’s suggestion.
“It would be so sanitised. Players and managers wouldn’t act normally. I think Romeu is in a minority of one. Not one manager or player would want that.
“It’s easy for Romeu to say that now, but would he have wanted cameras to be in the dressing room after Southampton got beaten 9-0 by Leicester? No they wouldn’t!
“There’s so much access to footballers and managers now with TV and social media, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a little bit of mystique.
“I think there are some things that just need to be behind closed doors. You need the raw passion and emotions, and that wouldn’t happen with a cameras on the players. It wouldn’t be natural if you had cameras in, no chance.
“There’s a big difference to what goes on the pitch and what goes in in the dressing room.
“The gloves come off, you will call people things you wouldn’t imagine, you would row with your fellow players, you row with manager and coaches, and you just wouldn’t get that if the cameras are in there because the managers and players wouldn’t want to be seen with those deficiencies in their characters.
“You don’t need to go into the dressing room. You need something that is sacrosanct and I think that is the last thing.”
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