Omicron and Covid resurgence leading to disruption of PL and other sports
A worsening Covid wave, fuelled by the Omicron variant, is threatening to engulf the English Premier League. Two more games were postponed in the last 36 hours while at least 30 new cases emerged. A look at the crisis...
19 cases at Manchester United
The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that the club ‘had 19 cases among players and staff’. The club shut down its first team training on Monday before they reopened it on Tuesday. Next match against Brighton also off.
Brentford’s out of a movie scenario
When manager Thomas Frank, while doing a press conference, learned of three or more positive cases among the playing and support staff, In all, they have a total of 13 cases. Frank called for a circuit breaker.
Leicester vs Tottenham called off
Both clubs made seperate representations to postpone the game and the authorities finally agreed, seven hours before the game was supposed to start. Both camps have had an outbreak in the last few days.
An uncontrolled outbreak at Watford
Watford’s game at Burnley, scheduled for Wednesday night, was postponed because of a lack of players available. Reports suggested that Watford had an insufficient number of first-team players at their disposal.
A halt on the cards
With Britain battling a big surge, clubs may yet make a representation asking for the league to be paused indefinitely. However, it isn’t so simple because the festive period fixtures is something that’s so unique to English football.
Outbreak affects other events too
Outbreak isn’t just restricted to the PL. In Spain, Real Madrid have reported five Covid cases. In US, some leagues are facing similar issues. In cricket, West Indies’ ODI tour of Pakistan has been deferred by six months.
Matches postponed
Spurs vs Brighton, Spurs vs Leicester, Brentford vs Man Utd, Burnley vs Watford, Man Utd vs Brighton
88,376 UK reported 88376 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, a record.