Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Omicron, positive tests, rejections
Massive corona chaos in the Premier League
The Premier League is relapsing into long-forgotten pandemic times. After the cancellation of the Manchester United game at Brentford FC and 42 new corona cases in the clubs, the world’s most popular football league may only be at the beginning of a dark time.
The Premier League game planned for the evening of the Ralf Rangnick club Manchester United at Brentford FC has been canceled after a corona outbreak at the English record champions, the Premier League announced on Tuesday night. The league made the decision on the instructions of medical advisors, who cited “the exceptional circumstances of an ongoing Covid-19 outbreak in the Manchester United squad,” a league statement said. Previously, after positive tests with several players and employees, the club’s training grounds, the Carrington Training Complex, had already been closed for at least 24 hours “in order to control the outbreak and minimize the risk of further infection”.
Aston Villa and Brighton have also reported new corona cases in the past few days. The training of Steven Gerrard’s new team, Aston Villa, was canceled on Sunday. However, since there should only be one player among those who tested positive, the game scheduled for today at Norwich City has not yet been canceled. The Leicester-Tottenham game on Thursday is still open. The Spurs game against Brighton last Sunday has already been postponed due to a corona outbreak at the London club. The championship game between Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers, scheduled for earlier this week, also had to be canceled due to an outbreak at QPR.
Appointment chaos looms
Further game cancellations could plunge the Premier League and the other English professional leagues into a mess of appointments. In contrast to the Bundesliga, there is no winter break in the Premier League, but rather a tightly packed calendar for the Christmas holidays and the turn of the year. In addition to the league, Tottenham will face the League Cup quarter-finals against West Ham on December 22nd and the UEFA Conference League group game against Stade Rennes, which was also canceled due to the outbreak. According to UEFA regulations, this must be made up for by December 31st.
The Premier League announced a total of 42 new corona cases in the clubs on Monday. A sad season record for the English league, which carried out a total of 3,805 tests last week, another season record. This had become necessary because of the Omikron variant, which is raging in the UK five months after “Freedom Day”.
The Premier League had recently adjusted its protocol and reintroduced the Covid-19 restrictions. These include a return to the requirement to wear a mask indoors, a reduction in contacts in medical facilities and the urgent recommendation to significantly reduce social contacts outside the “bubble”. On its official website, the league also indicates the applicable 3G rules for stadium spectators.
The UK has been worried about the omicron variant for a few days. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had recently announced that the corona measures would be tightened. Due to the renewed government crisis in the UK, it is currently still open whether these will come through parliament. This was triggered by a Christmas party on Downing Street last year.