Positive Covid-19 Tests in Football

[TwoSheds]

So Genoa have 14 positive tests amongst their playing squad and staff, and it seems they are likely to have to play their next match anyway despite half their squad self isolating.

https://www.eurosport.com/football/...-genoa-report-14-cases_sto7911187/story.shtml

We also had Spurs getting a bye into the league cup 4th round because they paid for Orient to get Covid tests and it turned out 17 Orient players and staff were positive.

I'm sure this is the first round of many teams who will experience this sort of problem over the course of the season and my first question is, is it fair to force them to play or concede a game because their squad is afflicted, particularly for the smaller teams? UEFA rules say that if you have 14 fit players available then you should play I think.

2nd question, will the season actually finish in all competitions? Things are getting worse all around Europe as winter approaches, it seems, and we've already squashed in shed loads of fixtures between September and the Euros next summer (which I assume will be a hard stop for the season). So let's say for the sake of argument we lost 4 weeks of the season to a lockdown or lockdowns in various leagues, is it possible to actually finish every competition? Should European fixtures even be happening?

 

[rcoobc]

I think it's questionable whether it should be going ahead. The odd player is one thing. Outbreaks are another.

If an outbreak happens in a factory it gets shut down and an investigation happens. But not football?

 

[horsechoker]

I think it's questionable whether it should be going ahead. The odd player is one thing. Outbreaks are another.

If an outbreak happens in a factory it gets shut down and an investigation happens. But not football?

This will come to a head if the numbers of positive tests keep increasing.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Were realistically not going to get past Christmas in my opinion.

 

[bond19821982]

We will not complete the season. This is exactly why I agree with the club not to spend 120m on Sancho.

 

[SilentWitness]

Its not fair at all that clubs can get a bye due to an outbreak in another club or a club being forced to play with half a squad. These are exceptional circumstances.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Its not fair at all that clubs can get a bye due to an outbreak in another club or a club being forced to play with half a squad. These are exceptional circumstances.

They are exceptional circumstances which is why if a club can’t get a team out due to covid then the only option is to forfeit. The schedule is already ludicrously packed and it will be hard enough to get through this season without adding in a load of replays.

 

[Maureen-yo]

Were realistically not going to get past Christmas in my opinion.

Agreed, I work in the pharmaceutical world and the feeling within is that once flu kicks in alongside Covid it’s going to be an absolute mess.

 

[SilentWitness]

They are exceptional circumstances which is why if a club can’t get a team out due to covid then the only option is to forfeit. The schedule is already ludicrously packed and it will be hard enough to get through this season without adding in a load of replays.

Which is why they should have either removed the League Cup or the Nations League or both to cater for that instead.

 

[El Zoido]

I really do not know why all the competitions are going ahead. Money, yeah. But decisions have to be made. They should have cancelled European competition & league cup for a start. Just hold over European places from the previous season and establish that the league was for placement only.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Which is why they should have either removed the League Cup or the Nations League or both to cater for that instead.

Both those competitions can rinse a bit more money out of the tv companies, so cancelling them was never an option. Without any paying fans, football needs to serve up as much “product “ as possible or go completely bust. It’s facing an existential threat. Replaying specific matches because it would be unfair to penalise teams with a covid outbreak must be VERY low on their priorities.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Any team that couldn't prepare negative C19 tests group of players must forfeit from competition.. sensibly. I mean, their players and staffs should sensibly practice social distancing and self-isolation during this time... they are paid to play and decently they should be responsible in taking care of themselves. It's to minimise the risk of getting one... and even with that, if they still got it, they should just simply bow out of competitions. Many more important things than football. Fixtures don't really allow too much postponement. Alternatively, they could bring in players from reserve and youth. Loans is also a good option. Enough time for preparation.

 

[Dancfc]

Napoli (who Genoa played on Sunday) had to isolate and test and all came back negative.

That's a pretty positive development in terms of the concern of spread between players.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Any team that couldn't prepare negative C19 tests group of players must forfeit from competition.. sensibly. I mean, their players and staffs should sensibly practice social distancing and self-isolation during this time... they are paid to play and decently they should be responsible in taking care of themselves. It's to minimise the risk of getting one... and even with that, if they still got it, they should just simply bow out of competitions. Many more important things than football. Fixtures don't really allow too much postponement. Alternatively, they could bring in players from reserve and youth. Loans is also a good option. Enough time for preparation.

This is remarkably close to victim shaming here - you’re essentially saying it’s their fault they got an incredibly transmissible virus and they should be punished by having to forfeit.

Masks and social distancing will cut down your chances of getting it, but it’s possible to do everything correctly and still catch it. It only takes one person bringing it into a training ground to infect potentially loads of people.

 

[Pexbo]

Arturo Vidal is in hospital with a positive COVID test.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Arturo Vidal is in hospital with a positive COVID test.

News are being a bit sneaky with their headlines. He was already in hospital for tonsillitis.

Inter Milan's Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal is receiving hospital treatment after testing positive for coronavirus, his national team said Monday.

The diagnosis means the 34-year-old will miss Thursday's World Cup qualifier between Chile and Argentina.

"The medical team of the Chilean national team emphasizes that at the request of the player Arturo Vidal, it is announced that he has been diagnosed positive for Covid," the national team said on its official website.

It said no other players in the squad had tested positive for the virus.

Vidal was initially hospitalized with severe tonsilitis, but tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, the team statement said.