Depression a worrying side-effect of virus shutdown for idle footballers

Prevented from doing their jobs and often confined at home, there are concerns about the mental health of "isolated" and "lost" professional footballers during the coronavirus pandemic.

A study by global players' union FIFPro published Monday warned of a sharp rise in the number of footballers reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression since the game was suspended worldwide.

"We have had many concerns about players with their mental response to the isolation. Many of the foreign players don't have family with them, spend a lot of time on their own, away from their loved ones, which is very challenging," said Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, FIFPro's general secretary.

The union's survey of 1,602 players in 16 countries revealed 13 percent of men reported symptoms of depression, and 16 percent symptoms of anxiety. Among women the numbers were higher: 22 percent for depression and 18 percent for anxiety.

It is a major increase on a similar study done in January and indicates the same worries felt by the general population about the pandemic are combining with the difficulty of adapting to life without football.

Michael Bennett, the director of player welfare at England's Professional Footballers' Association, told the BBC that at first it may feel like "a honeymoon period" but added that "we always thought the longer it went on that's when it would hit home".

As Baer-Hoffmann suggests, not all players have been lucky enough to have family with them.

Spain great Andres Iniesta has spoken of his struggles with depression when starring for Barcelona -- and the important role his family played.

"I had a really bad time," he told Cadena Ser radio. "I was lucky to have the family I have. The people around you are the ones who give meaning to everything."
- Learning to cope -
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Taylor, 33, admits the ongoing uncertainty is hard to come to terms with, adding: "I don't think anyone feels safe. A lot of us don't really know what is going on, and what the repercussions of this pandemic are going to be."