December 13, (THEWILL) – Manchester United’s Premier League match against Brentford on Tuesday is in doubt after the club said that their Carrington training facility will be shuttered for 24 hours due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
THEWILL recalls that on Sunday, United confirmed that a “small number” of first-team players and staff had tested positive on the lateral flow tests.
The club noted in a statement posted Monday afternoon that: “Manchester United can confirm that following PCR test confirmation of yesterday’s positive LFT [lateral flow test] COVID-19 cases among the first-team staff and players, the decision has been taken to close down first-team operations at the Carrington Training Complex for 24 hours, to minimize the risk of any further infection.”
“Individuals who tested positive are isolating per Premier League protocols.”
“Given the cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, the club is in discussion with the Premier League whether it is safe for Tuesday’s fixture against Brentford to continue, both from a COVID-19 infection and player preparation perspective.”
“Team and staff travel to London will be deferred pending the result of that discussion.”
This comes after a COVID-19 outbreak at Tottenham Hotspur last week forced football authorities in Europe and England to postpone the club’s games against Rennes and Brighton.
With the British authorities forecasting a flood of new infections from the Omicron variant of the virus, the English Premier League’s Christmas season could be disrupted even more.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
