Ahead of the inaugural NHS Charities Together Cup, we spoke to Chris Kamara, who will be co-hosting the all-star FIFA 20 tournament alongside Ben Shephard. The Sky Sports pundit spoke in-depth about the benefits of the competition which will feature sporting heroes such as John Terry, Ben Stokes and Justin Rose.
Alongside the sports stars will be various other famous faces, including Love Island’s Chris Hughes and eight-year-old YouTube star Tekkerz Kid. All proceeds will go towards the COVID-19 Urgent Appeal charity, with a tournament goal of raising £10million to help support the NHS.
FFC: What made you want to get involved in this charity FIFA 20 tournament?
Chris Kamara: “It’s a great cause, these absolutely fantastic people who have been asked to be involved have given up their time, which is great. It’s easy for people to sit at home and say ‘they’ve got nothing better to do’, but they have. We’ve all got families that we want to look after and spend as much time as possible with, because the one silver lining out of all of this is the family time.”
FFC: Is it important that content like this is still available for fans amid the current lockdown situation?
CK: “Very much so. I’ve been watching re-runs of old football matches. There are people out there who want to watch celebs competing against each other. Although it’s not on any of the main channels, it will be streaming live so we’re hoping that a lot of people join in and help us raise a bundle of money for the charity.”
FFC: Speaking of the lack of sport, what do you think will happen to English football’s 2019/20 season?
CK: “What do I think will happen? I’m not sure. I’m going to leave that to the authorities because this is a difficult decision. Whatever decision they make won’t please everybody. My personal opinion is, what’s the rush? The season was supposed to end in May but we’ve been on lockdown, so does it really matter when we finish it – between now and January? With the World Cup coming up in Doha, why can’t we start in the middle of January?
“These are special circumstances. I understand why people want to end the season, and if I was at a club at the bottom of the league then I would want it to end as soon as possible. That’s human nature. Even though it’s not about football at this moment in time, you would hope the authorities would do like Holland have done. But I don’t care when we start, I hope we start in June – I’ve heard the Premier League players might be going back into training on May 10. So I’m hoping that’s the case.
“I think if we get to July and nothing is happening, then we need to say ‘end of’ because we might not be able to start up again in January. It’s a really difficult question to answer and I’m just hoping whatever decision is made, everyone is in agreement.”
FFC: How do you feel about the likes of Leeds who may not be rewarded for their incredible season?
CK: “That would be a mega shame. From September, people were saying West Brom and Leeds will go up automatically, and that didn’t change, even when they had sticky periods.
“It would be a terrible situation for them, but once again, they’ll be around the table, they’ll be involved with the leagues making the decision. Liverpool at the top of the Premier League will be at the heart of it as well, and they’ll all be hoping that they come to the right decision and all the clubs are in agreement. But from a Leeds point of view, after banging on the door for as long as they have been now, it would be heartbreaking for them if the season was declared null and void. But we haven’t reached that point yet so who knows.”
FFC: How do you think the fans would react to a null and void season?
CK: “It’s hypothetical at the moment so we’re going to have to wait and see. We don’t know what’s going to happen or how the fans feel about it, but the fans should be involved in the decision-making, that’s one thing I know for sure. Whether we come back behind closed doors, come back with crowds or we don’t come back at all, the fans should have a voice in all of this.
“One of the things that make the Premier League great above all the other leagues in the world is the atmosphere in our stadiums. Atmospheres which other countries can only dream of. They’ve got their big games, Real Madrid vs Barcelona, PSG vs Marseille… but we have a big game every single week and these games always have a full house. For the fans not to be included in the decision-making would be wrong.
“With all the money that’s poured into the Premier League, the reason is the full stadiums and the atmospheres they create, so let’s not forget the people who matter.”
FFC: Are there any particular fixtures you’re looking forward to in the NHS Charities Together Cup?
CK: “Like I normally am when I’ve got my Soccer Saturday hat on, or my commentator hat on, I just look forward to every single game and I want to watch it like a fan. This is slightly different but I’m going to be as neutral as I possibly can be and get excited about what’s good and rip them to bits about what’s not so good.”
FFC: Do you think the tournament will hit the donation target of £10million?
CK: “I do a lot of charity work and the generosity of the people in the UK amazes me. So if we got £1million I’d be thankful, if we got £10million, that would be unbelievable – to coin a phrase!
“Never underestimate the charitable people in the UK. If you’d have said to captain Tom that he would reach more than £28million, he’d have laughed. So we’re in a situation where £1million would be fantastic, anything better would be incredible.
“It’s hard for the charities at the moment as well, because they’ve also got the future to think about. One of the biggest losses for Marie Curie was March, which is usually their big fundraiser that keeps the hospices and homes going. So to lose all that money is a travesty. But these Charities Together will hopefully help towards everybody’s funding.”
For more information on the NHS Charities Together Cup and how you can donate, click here.