The fight against COVID-19 will doubtless one day be assimilated to a football match. When we eventually look back on this summer hiatus between fan-free Premier League seasons, however, which period of the game will it represent?

Will it be the last few minutes of playing around with possession in the opposition’s half, playing for a corner and a little wasted time before victory is confirmed? Or will it be a first-half injury time equaliser, proof that there is plenty to play for in the second half of the battle?

The actions of several clubs and individuals in recent weeks suggest that unless more is done within football itself, we could be about to concede a second early own goal as we give ourselves a mountain to climb instead.

Football has put a huge amount of effort into the global restart project led by the German Bundesliga and continued by competitions such as La Liga, the English Premier League and both the Champions League and Europa League. But have the clubs or the individual players forgotten that? Recent flouting of the rules might suggest so.