That is the warning issued by Brendan Schwab, the executive director of the Worlds Player Association, a body which represents some 85,000 athletes globally from a variety of sports, including European football, the NFL, NBA, and the National Hockey League.
Schwab cited research that indicates that professional athletes are at particular risk from Covid-19 which can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause significant damage to the organs. To be able to counter it, they need to be in peak physical condition.
He was particularly critical of some organisations which have asked players to sign agreements effectively transferring the legal risk of contracting the virus by playing again on to them, a practice he believes is completely unacceptable.
Whilst not referring to it specifically, one such example he may have had in mind is the document that players and staff at Premier League clubs may be asked to sign indicating that they have read and understood what is required of them under Project Restart. Although club officials insist that they are merely to confirm staff understand coronavirus safety protocols, some legal experts in the UK have opined that they are equivalent to non-liability waivers.
It adds another dimension to the health versus wealth argument that surrounds the impetus for a resumption of sport globally at the moment. Owners, directors and backers of clubs, teams, and franchises of sports teams and bodies across the world have suffered considerable financial loss as a result of the pandemic, with football, tennis, cricket, golf and Formula One just some of the sports which have suffered potentially catastrophic losses.
At the same time, there is no cure or vaccination for the coronavirus yet, and the pandemic is by no means under control in many countries, where the infection and death rates still remain at alarming levels.
In the middle of this debate are the athletes, and Schwab fears, for one, that they may be forced to take unacceptable risks with their own health for the sake of economics.