Chelsea: Surprise parties in the age of Covid only good for the uninvited

Tammy Abraham was given a surprise birthday party and now it may cost the Chelsea player a national team spot. It worked out for the uninvited though.

Tammy Abraham was given a surprise birthday party. Surprise is a key word there. He didn’t plan it or expect it. It is something that happened to him. It is also worth mentioning that Ben Chilwell was also in attendance.

There are a few issues here of course, namely that the world is being ravaged by Covid and England in particular has strict social gathering rules which were clearly broken by this party. Abraham has apologized (though, again, it wasn’t his decision) and now it looks like he and Chilwell may be removed from the national team on moral grounds. Bad for them personally, but Reece James who was not in attendance is set to be bumped up to the full national team for the first time.

This situation is different than Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood’s last month when the two left the bubble to meet some, erm, ladies of the night. Abraham and Chilwell had not yet joined up with the national team or been tested before entering it. They could test negative and be allowed to stay. But James being bumped up implies that someone is making way and it would seem to be Chilwell. That would be a moral stance by Gareth Southgate and it is hard to deny that it is the wrong one. After all, players are an example if only because of their profile.

That being said, this is more damaging to Abraham and Chilwell on a personal level than it is catastrophic on a grand scale. A mistake was made, not necessarily on the part of Abraham but a mistake was made nonetheless. Southgate may choose to punish them for that by removing them from the national team squad. But is that really the worst thing for Chelsea?

National team football is at its heart pretty silly. Bring a bunch of players together that rarely play with each other and expect them to perform in two week intervals away from the club that pays them. National team football now, in the age of Covid, is even sillier. There has already been one break smack dab in the middle of preseason. That is not even considering how crazy it is to bring players from all over Europe, bubbles or no, and pretend like things are normal.

That is not to say Abraham and Chilwell may not come back to Chelsea and be punished by the club too, but honestly there are worse things in the world than missing out on national team duty. The two can now get some rest ahead of a crazy season without the weird blip that is national team football.

But this all goes back to one simple fact: Covid is real. You don’t have to believe in it for it to be real. Whoever decided to throw Abraham a surprise party probably thought they were being nice, but they left the striker holding the bag. That has real effects even if it works out in a positive way for the club and James.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned here is to be careful and be aware of how your actions affect others. One decision, such as throwing a surprise party, can get someone kicked off the national team squad. That is better than getting Covid, but Covid was (and is) still a possibility. Hopefully everyone comes out of this situation healthy and a little more aware of one another.