Five Positive COVID-19 Tests Leave Atlético Femenino At Risk Of Forfeiting UWCL Tie

Just ten days before they are due to play FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Atlético Femenino’s plans have been thrown into turmoil after five of their first-team squad tested positive for COVID-19 and their training center was closed in order to undergo a deep clean.

Last Friday, Atlético cancelled their scheduled training match against Athletic Bilbao after pre-match serological tests revealed that one member of their team had tested positive and been quarantined. The rest of their first-team squad were moved to the University of Navarra Clinic before a further round of PCR tests were carried out in the coming days. On Monday, two of their men’s first team squad, also involved in the Champions League tested positive although a subsequent test came back as negative. The women’s team would not be so fortunate.

In a statement released last night, the club said “Atlético de Madrid Femenino has been forced to maintain the suspension of its training sessions and the confinement of all its players, coaching staff and assistants after the appearance of four more positive cases in the PCR tests carried out after the positive confirmed last Friday that led to the stoppage of its sporting activity. In addition, the club has decided, as a preventive measure, the temporary cessation of all activity and the closure of the Wanda Alcalá de Henares Sports Center, which has also been disinfected”.

“The five positive cases are asymptomatic and isolated in their respective homes and in continuous communication with the club’s medical services, which carry out individual control of each one of them, following the guidelines of the Covid protocol and the monitoring of the University of Navarra Clinic. The five positive cases will undergo new tests in the coming days, as established by the health protocol in these cases”.

“From the club we ask for maximum respect for the identity of these cases”.

UEFA’s Return to Play protocol states that a team can play a competition match if it has at least thirteen players who have tested negative for coronavirus. If there is no goalkeeper registered among these 13 players, UEFA allows the match to be postponed. Atlético’s first team squad currently consists of 24 players of 14 different nationalities including two goalkeepers.

Should they be unable to fulfil the fixture on 21 August, they will forfeit the tie which will be awarded by a score of 3-0 to FC Barcelona.

Atlético qualified for the Champions League as Spanish La Liga champions and had reached the last eight for the first time in their history. Since their league was cancelled at the outbreak of the pandemic five months ago, their have not played a single competitive match. While they were forced to cancel last weekend’s game with Athletic Bilbao, opponents FC Barcelona were playing their third warm-up match on successive weekends.

The eight teams remaining in the competition will play up to three matches in nine days later this month in the northern Basque region of Spain to decide the winners of the women’s Champions League on 29 August. The final was originally scheduled to be played in Vienna on 24 May.

UEFA accept that “while it is impossible to establish a completely risk-free environment, the protocol aims to lower the risk as far as possible by applying current medical advice and best practices. Minimizing the risk to UEFA competitions from the COVID-19 virus relies on thorough and robust preparations and on-site organisation, but also to a large extent on the cooperation, behavior and understanding of the teams, their players, officials and technical staff, as well as the UEFA referees, the UEFA venue staff and all target groups involved in the matches”.

“Football players and everyone else involved in should remember that their action serve as a strong symbol for the millions of viewers around the world. Football stakeholders have a collective duty to show leadership and set an example in the rigorous application of these measures”.

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