Soccer

Spurs forced to call off Rennes match after Covid outbreak escalates

Leicester City have travelled to Napoli without seven players because of Covid

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte admits he is ‘scared’ at the Covid outbreak in his squad which has led to the postponement of the club’s Europa Conference game against Rennes. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA Wire

David Hytner
Wed Dec 8 2021 - 15:32

Tottenham have been forced to call off their Europa Conference League tie at home to Rennes on Thursday night after an alarming rise in Covid cases at the club on a day when English football was forced to confront an escalating crisis.

Spurs also confirmed they had closed the first-team area of their training centre in Enfield, hours after Leicester reported before their Europa League game at Napoli that seven of their players had not travelled because of coronavirus or illness. Three members of staff did not make the trip because of illness.

Spurs said: “Discussions are ongoing with Uefa and we shall provide a further update on this fixture in due course.”

The Spurs manager, Antonio Conte, had earlier admitted he was "scared" as he revealed eight players and five coaches had tested positive for the virus.

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The Premier League had confirmed 12 positive results among players and staff last week – the highest figure since August – and, amid concern over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the situations at Spurs and Leicester are a worry.

Conte had worked with a skeleton senior squad on Wednesday morning and said that, after the session, a player he had intended to start against Rennes returned a positive test.

The senior outfield players pictured in the session were Matt Doherty, Eric Dier, Davinson Sánchez, Joe Rodon, Japhet Tanganga, Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele, Dele Alli, Steven Bergwijn, Ryan Sessegnon, Jack Clarke and Harry Kane. Sessegnon was suspended and Lo Celso a fitness doubt. It was understood the goalkeepers Hugo Lloris, Pierluigi Gollini and Brandon Austin were available. Tobi Omole, who is on the Uefa A list, was also pictured.

Under Uefa rules, if a club has fewer than 13 available senior players and no goalkeeper, a tie can be postponed, meaning that Spurs were on the edge and, in the end, the situation regarding the Rennes game felt untenable.

Spurs, who were conscious of their responsibility not to put Rennes at risk, know that the Uefa cut-off date for a rearranged tie is the end of the month.

It is understood the Leicester players who did not travel are Kelechi Iheanacho, Ademola Lookman, Daniel Amartey, Jannik Vestergaard, Ayoze Pérez, Filip Benkovic and Vontae Daley-Campbell. Leicester need a draw to ensure they advance.

“We’ve had a number of people, staff and players, who haven’t travelled,” Rodgers said. “We’ve had some positive [Covid] cases, some are generally not well, so we haven’t taken the risk.

“We will have seven unavailable. It’s been [over the] last few days, really. In general, you’re starting to see a few more cases and, for us, it’s always about the health of our players. We have to respect travelling into Italy.

“The players who were unwell who we could’ve maybe given 24 hours to feel better . . . we couldn’t take any risk with those so we’ve kept them at home along with the other guys who were deemed positive.”

Conte had spoken with emotion and no little anger at his media conference, which was staged remotely, and his biggest concern regarded the unknown.

“It’s eight players and five members of staff but the problem is that every day we are having people with Covid,” Conte said. “People that yesterday weren’t positive . . . today are positive and we continue to have contact with people we think are negative but the day after they become positive. This is a serious problem.

“Everyone is a bit scared because we have family and: ‘[We ask] why I have to take this risk? Why?’ This is my question. Tomorrow, who [will be positive]? Me? I don’t know. Maybe. Better me than a player for sure but I think that it is not right for everyone because we have family and contact with them when we come back home. Football is the most important thing but today to speak about football is impossible. There are situations that made me very upset.”

Spurs will now consider whether to ask the Premier League to postpone their match at Brighton on Sunday, and next Thursday’s visit to Leicester is also set to be affected. To advance to the Conference League playoff round they must match Vitesse’s result at home to NS Mura and make sure that their goal difference remains superior to that of the Dutch club. – Guardian

Antonio Conte