Footballer Paul Scholes flouted lockdown rules for a second time
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Former England footballer Paul Scholes could be hit with a fine of £3,200 after he was filmed flouting coronavirus restrictions and hosting a five-a-side tournament at his mansion.
The Manchester United legend, 45, could face the hefty fine after footage he had filmed of his son Arron and up to 20 other players playing in the back garden of his Oldham mansion was shared online.
The scenes come just a month after the football coach was visited by Greater Manchester Police for hosting an illegal house party for his son’s 21st birthday.
In a series of clips shared on his Instagram, Scholes joked about how the standard of the team was ‘appalling’ and said they were ‘desperate for a centre half and striker’.
Paul Scholes, 45, could face a fine of £3,200 after he was filmed hosting a five-a-side tournament at his mansion in Oldham
The former England footballer shared a series of clips on his Instagram of his son Arron and other players in his back garden
A source later told The Sun: ‘Either he lives on the moon or doesn’t care about the rules.
‘It’s a flagrant breach in a town really struggling with the virus.’
Last month, Greater Manchester Police attended the football coach’s £3.5million property after he went ahead with celebrations for his son Arron’s 21st despite Oldham being put under further lockdown restrictions.
Under the new lockdown rules, which came in force after Oldham saw a 240 per cent surge in cases at the end of July, residents were not allowed to invite social visitors beyond those in their support bubble into their homes.
However photographs shared by Alicia Scholes- the footballer’s daughter- on Instagram showed attendees disregarding social distancing as they danced and posed for pictures.
The party at Scholes’s Oldham home was said to have started at 7pm and gone on until 2.30am, The Sun reported.
Last month, residents in Oldham were warned they faced tighter coronavirus restrictions following a rise in cases.
However Sean Fielding, Oldham’s council leader, said the rush back into a lockdown would devastate the town’s already-crippled economy.
Scholes hosted the football game at his mansion before sharing the footage on social media
Scholes, who was visited last month for hosting an illegal house party for his son’s 21st birthday, shared a clip of the game on social media
In an interview with The Guardian, he suggested that it would be difficult to isolate Oldham from other Manchester towns and neighbouring West Yorkshire, and predicted that a ‘premature’ move into lockdown would not be ‘based on evidence’.
He said: ‘The impact of a local lockdown economically on Oldham would be catastrophic and we desperately want to avoid that.
‘Everything that is within our power we are doing, and there is some early evidence that is having an effect on the infection rate.
‘But we do need more time to see if that has really played out. I do think that moving into a local lockdown would be really premature.’
Meanwhile Arooj Shah, deputy leader of Oldham Council, said: ‘We know people in the borough have, on the whole, been behaving responsibly and abiding by the coronavirus restrictions.
‘But the fact remains that rates are now rising. To avoid a second lockdown, we need everyone to act now – which means us as an authority taking stronger action, as well as our communities making changes to the way they live and how they interact with other people.
‘For the minority who are not acting responsibly we will be more visibly ensuring compliance in households, businesses and in our public spaces.
‘We are all at risk of this terrible virus and it is our responsibility to protect ourselves, our friends and wider society.’
According to latest figures gathered between September 6-12, Oldham saw 280 new cases- an increase on the previous week total of 158.
The total number of confirmed cases in Oldham now stands at 3374 which is a rate of 1423 per 100,000 population – the highest rate across Greater Manchester.
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