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Fulham’s Premier League match at Burnley on Sunday was postponed due to more positive coronavirus cases at the west London club.
It is the second game involving Fulham to be postponed this week, after Wednesday’s game at Tottenham was canceled a few hours before kick-off.
The Premier League made the decision to postpone the match against Spurs after Fulham requested that it reorganize following “a significant increase in positive Covid-19 cases” at the club.
Sunday’s game at Turf Moor has also been postponed and becomes the fourth Premier League game to be canceled due to coronavirus this season.
“Following further new positive results from the most recent Covid-19 tests, the Club can confirm that this Sunday’s away game in Burnley has been postponed following discussions with the Premier League and advice from medical teams,” read a statement issued by Fulham.
“Those who tested positive self-isolate according to UK government and Premier League guidelines.
Fulham manager Scott Parker was due to return to the bench against Burnley after a period of self-isolation.
“The well-being of our players, staff and their families remains of the utmost importance, and we wish those who tested positive a speedy and safe recovery.”
The Premier League has not discussed the possibility of a circuit break for the season despite the growing number of postponed matches and says it will seek to reschedule Fulham matches “as soon as possible”.
“With a low number of positive tests in the overwhelming majority of clubs, the League continues to rely on its COVID-19 protocols, fully endorsed by the Government, to allow matches to be played as scheduled,” a statement read.
“The League wishes those with COVID-19 a speedy and safe recovery and will reorganize Fulham’s two postponed games as soon as possible.”
Fulham manager Scott Parker admitted earlier this week that he was unsure whether the game against Burnley would go ahead.
Parker also said he understood José Mourinho’s frustrations over the decision to postpone the game against Tottenham after the Spurs manager called the situation “unprofessional.”
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José Mourinho described the postponement of Tottenham’s game against Fulham as ‘unprofessional’, after it was suspended three hours before the start of the game
“We were in exactly the same position Tottenham was in. We were in a hotel, we didn’t find out until late,” said Parker, who was due to return to the dugout against Burnley after a period in isolation.
“We were sitting 20 minutes from the stadium, obviously ready for the pre-match and waiting at the hotel, so it was too late for my team.”
“The places that information got to on Tuesday … that information didn’t change until Wednesday.
“There was no new information on Wednesday, so the information was there on Tuesday, but for one reason or another it was not postponed or canceled until the time it was.
“I was in exactly the same position and I understand José’s frustration.”
What are the criteria for a postponement?
Peter Smith from Sky Sports:
The Premier League Board ultimately decides whether the matches can be postponed or not. While there are no hard and fast rules, each game is judged on a case-by-case basis, there are some guidelines.
For example, in the 2020/21 Premier League manual, clubs have been told that “permission will not be granted to postpone a league match in which the applicant club has 14 or more players included in its team roster. available “.
Earlier this season, teams were allowed to name 25 players to their Premier League team roster, and that doesn’t include registered under-21 players.
Man City, for example, according to the Premier League website, named 20 players to its list of Premier League teams. They currently have Ilkay Gundogan and Eric Garcia injured, with Walker and Jesus positive for coronavirus. That cuts their list of Premier League teams down to 16, but doesn’t take into account any subsequent positive cases that they may have discovered on Monday.
However, City may not even have had to drop below the 14-player level to have their match with Everton postponed. The Premier League Board has said it took medical advice into consideration when deciding to cancel that match, and there may be other factors that affected its decision.
However, what we do know is that the Premier League Board only reorganizes games in “exceptional circumstances”.
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