March 29 – An English Premier League manager has banned its players using wi-fi at team hotels to prevent them from playing “addictive” video games.
Southampton’s Ralph Hasenhuttl (pictured), who says he faced similar problems at former club RB Leipzig, compared playing the games to alcohol and drug addiction.
“It’s something you get addicted to and that means we have to protect the players,” he said as his relegation-threatened team prepared to take on Brighton this weekend. “It’s something you have to force actively against and I will do this.”
“I did it in my last club. We had also problems with players – they were playing until three o’clock in the morning before a game. You have to help protect them because it’s not a small problem. If you are honest it’s the same as alcoholism or getting addicted to drugs.
“To protect them means helping them not to spend so much time there. We block the wi-fi in the hotel, for example, in the evening so they can’t play any more.”
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