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A soccer ball is disinfected
From Manchester City Premier League visit to Everton Monday was postponed after multiple new positive tests for coronavirus were detected between Pep Guardiola team.
City had already announced on Christmas Day that there had been four positive tests at the club for players Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus and two staff members.
“Based on strong medical advice, the Premier League, in consultation with both clubs, has decided to postpone the match,” City said in a statement.
“After the latest round of Covid-19 testing, the club returned several positive cases, in addition to the four already reported on Christmas Day.
“With the security of the bubble compromised, there was a risk that the virus would spread further between equipment, personnel, and potentially beyond.”
In accordance with Premier League rules, matches will not be postponed unless the affected club has fewer than 14 senior players in shape.
However, the league said the game had been postponed as a precaution on medical advice.
“Manchester City today submitted a request to the Premier League to reorganize the match following an increase in positive COVID-19 test results received by the club this morning, in addition to the cases reported on Christmas Day,” said the Premier League in a statement. .
“This increase has created uncertainty and the Premier League Board received medical advice that the match should be postponed.
“The Board agreed to reorganize the game as a precautionary measure, and more tests will be carried out tomorrow. The decision has been made with the health of the players and staff as a priority.”
Everton lawsuit responses
The clash at Goodison Park was the only Premier League match in the current round of matches that had fans in attendance.
The city of Liverpool is at Level Two due to coronavirus restrictions, which means that up to 2,000 fans can attend Liverpool and Everton home games.
Everton could have placed at the top of the table, alongside Liverpool, with the victory.
“While Everton will always have public safety first, we will request full disclosure of all information that Manchester City provided to the Premier League so that the club can be clear about why this decision was made,” Everton said in a release.
The city’s training ground will now be closed for an “indeterminate period” with more testing to players and staff before it can be reopened.
They are due to face Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday and Manchester United in the semi-finals of the League Cup on January 6.
“I think we all feel that this next period could be difficult with what has been going on before Christmas with Covid in general,” Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said with Sunday’s clash now in doubt.
“I think the Premier League and the clubs have done a great job to keep football going in difficult circumstances, so hopefully we can keep it going.”
Pep Guardiola’s men are already facing a congested schedule as they still participate in four competitions and started their league season a week late after reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season.
It is only the second time that a Premier League match has been postponed due to Covid-19 since the 2019/20 season resumed in June.
Aston Villa’s clash with Newcastle earlier this month was called off due to an outbreak at Newcastle’s training ground.
The Premier League insisted that the protocols in place remain strict enough to prevent another shutdown.
“The Premier League continues to have full confidence in its protocols and rules, and in the way that all clubs are implementing them,” the league added in its statement.
Guardiola’s mother died of coronavirus earlier this year and, following Saturday’s 2-0 win over Newcastle, the City manager said the health of his players must take priority.
“What we want is that Gabriel and Kyle do not get worse and can be asymptomatic and spend these 8-10 days without serious symptoms,” said Guardiola.
“Covid is here. It is not only here in Man City, it is all over the world attacking hard, so we have to be careful and what we want is that the next few days they have no symptoms and they recover.”
