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It is understood that City have received several more positive tests and the club has closed its training ground for the foreseeable future until the outbreak is brought under control, although Everton has requested a “full disclosure” to the Premier League on City’s request. after raising questions about the events that led to the game being canceled just hours before kickoff.
With City unable to field a full squad safely, the Premier League approved the request to postpone the match, but attention has quickly turned to their next matches against Chelsea and United and whether or not they will go ahead.
The Premier League is awaiting the results of Tuesday’s final round of testing at City before making any decisions on Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge, although a statement expressed its “full confidence” in Covid’s protocols and rules and ” the way all the clubs are implementing them. ”It is understood that officials are confident that the game will go as planned as there is enough time for extensive testing before the match takes place, which it was not the case with the clash against Everton.
However, if the worst happens and City’s results come back substantially more positive, the Premier League might have to consider postponing the match, and that would put next week’s Carabao Cup semi-final against United in doubt.
With this season’s semi-finals downgraded to a one-legged affair due to the reduced length of the season, the possibility of the game being threatened by Covid-related issues would prove problematic not only for City, but also for the EFL. In previous rounds of the Carabao Cup, teams that failed to deliver a match lost the match as regulations stated that the compressed schedule meant postponements were not an option for the 2020/21 campaign.
But that was only the case until the quarterfinals, with EFL regulations clarifying that any game from the fifth round onwards that cannot be completed can be postponed with the provision of “reasonable efforts to rearrange the match for the first. reasonable opportunity. “
If a club cannot fulfill its obligation to complete a competitive match in the fifth round and / or the semi-final round due to:
– that the player or players of the club have obtained a positive CAT result and have self-isolated in accordance with the action plan established in the return-to-play / return-to-training protocols, which means that both clubs do not have a sufficient number of players to meet the schedule; or
– any requirement or instruction from the UK government and / or any public authority,
then, the Management Committee will make every effort to reorganize the match for the first reasonable opportunity (including but not limited to arranging for the match to be played in a neutral location).
When the Management Committee determines that the meeting cannot be reorganized, the Management Committee will have the power to declare that the meeting will be abandoned. When the Management Committee declares that the match will be abandoned, the Club will lose the right to the match, will pay the expenses of the opposing Club in accordance with Rule 5.8 and the opposing Club will receive a free pass for the next round of the Competition.
The city could face a series of test games if more games are postponed
(AFP via Getty)
With the Carabao Cup final pushed back to April in hopes that fans will be able to enter Wembley Stadium for the occasion, there should be plenty of time to try and place the reorganized match with United if necessary.
The problem is somewhat clouded by the need to rearrange other accessories. Currently, the city’s first calendar gap occurs in the week beginning Monday, January 18. With the fourth round of the FA Cup scheduled for the end of the week, City could face Everton in the middle of the week before moving on to any cup commitments. But if the game against Chelsea also needs to be rearranged, the next available space, if City advances to the fifth round of the FA Cup, is not until mid-February, which would create a space between back-to-back games against Tottenham and Arsenal. . , just a week after facing Liverpool at Anfield and a week before their Champions League round of 16 clash with Borussia Monchengladbach.
If that were the case, and the Carabao Cup semi-final needs to be shaken up as well, City’s next opening on the schedule isn’t until early March, just days before United visit the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.
