Manchester United were supposed to head to London for a midweek fixture against new boys in the League town, Brentford. However, the game has been suspended for the time being and will be played at another time in the future because of the COVID outbreak in the Manchester United setup.
It was reported first by The Sun that a small group of United’s first team players and staff members had tested positive, due to which no players or staff had appeared at Carrington for practice on Monday.
The management has confirmed that the individuals who had tested positive, had tested negative ahead of their trip to Norwich City, where United registered a narrow 1-0 victory.
“The decision (to postpone the Brentford-United game) was taken following guidance from medical advisers due to the exceptional circumstances of an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak within Manchester United.
First team operations at the club’s Carrington Training Complex were closed down today to help control the outbreak and minimize risk of further infection among players and staff,”
a Premier League statement said.
The fast-spreading Omicron variant has hit the shores of the United Kingdom, and concerns have intensified in the country, with booster vaccination procession happening quite slowly. In the last one week, the Premier League witnessed 42 cases, more than any other weekly tally from before. This number is higher than the number of positive cases from over the last seven weeks combined.
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Tottenham Hotspur were the other majorly impacted team, who had their fixture against Brighton postponed due to some of their players testing positive. Spurs were also made to postpone their UEFA Conference League fixture against Rennes, which has been referred to the disciplinary panel as the decision to not play came from the North London club.
Premier League has confirmed that emergency measures to ensure the players are tested regularly will be implemented. Brentford had welcomed the decision to postpone Tuesday’s match and gave their best wishes to all those who had tested positive. It was also mentioned in the statement that they are looking forward to hosting the 20-time champions in the New Year.
