Close menu

Southampton: Ralph Hasenhuttl blocks wi-fi to prevent players from gaming

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments226

We have to protect players from 'addictive' video games - Hasenhuttl

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has blocked the wi-fi at team hotels to prevent his squad from playing "addictive" video games.

Hasenhuttl, who faced similar problems at former club RB Leipzig, compared it to alcohol and drug addiction.

"It's something you get addicted to and that means we have to protect the players," the 51-year-old said.

On Thursday, an anonymous English footballer admitted lengthy gaming sessions threatened to ruin his career.

The Sunexternal-link revealed the unknown EFL player would play popular video game Fortnite for up to 13 hours a day.

"It's something you have to force actively against and I will do this," said Hasenhuttl, whose side travel to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.

"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."

Austrian Hasenhuttl, who took over at Southampton in December, said none of his players has serious problems with gaming but added: "You can be sure that I'm always in contact with my captain or with a few players to speak about them.

"As long as it's not officially for the government an illness, then we have to protect them in our way.

"If it would be an illness then it would be easy for the government to say the companies have to give a block after three hours, for example, that they cannot play this game any more.

"I will be active always in this direction because I have to protect them. Also outside the pitch - and that means for 24 hours I have to look at them."

Former Liverpool goalkeeper David James blamed too much gaming on a bad match against Newcastle in 1997, saying: "I was getting carried away playing Tekken II and Tomb Raider for hours on end."

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

226 comments

  • Comment posted by West Country White, at 14:36 28 Mar 2019

    To be fair, the PS4 is the only place Shane Long would score more than 2 a season.

  • Comment posted by Wonderful Dame Thatcher, at 14:22 28 Mar 2019

    Its true. Apparently Loris Karius was playing Daley Thompson's Decathlon on his Spectrum until 6.30am on the day of the champions league final

  • Comment posted by John Prescott , at 14:10 28 Mar 2019

    Baby proof the facilities too, dont want them sticking their tounge in a socket.

    Good grief, they are meant to be at work.

  • Comment posted by Custodian, at 14:52 28 Mar 2019

    Ironic that the club is sponsored by Virgin Media.

  • Comment posted by 2weevills, at 14:21 28 Mar 2019

    BBC61

    I don't know why you identify video games as "childish". These days they are acclaimed for their settings and music, have their own awards ceremony, their music is part of Classic FMs Hall of Fame and they are just as valid an art form as music or film.

    And they are incredibly popular.

  • Comment posted by ScottNeo, at 15:23 28 Mar 2019

    So he blocks the hotel wif-fi, what about tethering your phone as a 4G hot spot, and with 5G inbound, and on their salaries, wi-fi will be pretty much redundant.

    Having said all that, how about he simply giving them the elbow, and employs someone else. Its not like he has a team of superstars who he can't replace.

  • Comment posted by arab87, at 14:58 28 Mar 2019

    Love Island, Fortnite, and self grooming, were apparently the entertainment of choice for the England squad at the World Cup. As a 40 year old man I really have no words.

  • Comment posted by PaulF, at 15:55 28 Mar 2019

    Sounds like they need a drinking culture and card school...

  • Comment posted by thesaints, at 19:28 28 Mar 2019

    I think on 50 grand a WEEK the club has a right to expect the guys not to play games till 3 in the morning before a game

  • Comment posted by Introspective, at 19:00 28 Mar 2019

    get the headphones and selfies binned too

  • Comment posted by keeping it real 2016, at 15:48 28 Mar 2019

    Quiet chuckle at some of the idiotic comments on here.
    If you had any brains you'd know that gaming is bigger than movies & music combined but by all means crack on watching corrie & re-runs of QI.

  • Comment posted by ianH, at 14:33 28 Mar 2019

    Sport gambling, casinos and bingo plus online platform games where they peddle gamepacks. The amount of young people that gamble is astonishing and a problem that the authorities turn a blind eye. On tv you cannot advertise cocopops yet all hours of the day awash with all the above. Even charities have jumped in! Utter madness. Few clubs dont have a gambling sponsor and only one has no adverts.

  • Comment posted by Doctor Sorders, at 01:30 29 Mar 2019

    He also needs to block all incoming calls emails and texts to his best players from the Liverpool scouting team.

  • Comment posted by Doctor Sorders, at 01:16 29 Mar 2019

    No gaming
    No hanky lanky
    No drink
    No gambling
    No junk food
    No independence

    Sounds just like a normal marriage.

  • Comment posted by wemarchon, at 14:30 28 Mar 2019

    First world problems + + + +

  • Comment posted by Swifty1863, at 21:46 28 Mar 2019

    How many potential England stars of the 70s and 80s ruined their chances by crawling into the bottle or the bookies? Not surprising in the slightest that as the game has modernised so to has the nature of player addiction. The Love Island watching, Fortnite playing squad of 2018 got further than the squads of the aforementioned eras....

  • Comment posted by U15492298, at 19:09 28 Mar 2019

    At first I thought what's the point of blocking their WiFi, they will just use their own mobile devices to connect their games consuls to the internet, it's simple?

    Then I remembered, these are Premiership footballers so are as thick as ................!

  • Comment posted by Ursicles, at 17:34 28 Mar 2019

    How will these multi-millionaire footballers survive without WiFi?

    Ah yes ... Maybe they will just pay £50 a month for unlimited data and carry on anyway.

  • Comment posted by U17001653, at 15:49 28 Mar 2019

    Lol games are for children, what a stupid comment. Everyone is entitled to enjoy them. I cannot stand X factor, Eastenders, but do not complain of people want to watch them

  • Comment posted by AdamRezza, at 14:04 28 Mar 2019

    @3 your comment is so irrelevant, it's silly..

Top Stories

Also in Sport

Elsewhere on the BBC