By Samuel Opio
A number of Arsenal players are in 14-day
quarantine after coming into contact with Olympiakos chief Evangelos Marinakis
who was diagnosed with coronavirus recently.
It has already seen the Premier League postpone
their clash against Manchester City on Wednesday night.
The Gunners had faced Olympiakos in the Europa League over
two legs with several players meeting the club owner.
Some members of Arsenal’s staff also sat near him in the
stands as the match went on.
The club say they are abiding by government guidelines.
It rules that anyone that has come into contact with anyone
with the disease they must self-isolate themselves for two weeks.
In a statement, Arsenal said: “Following yesterday’s
news that Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis has recently contracted
Covid-19, we have been taking medical advice and tracing any individuals who
had what the guidelines define as close contact with him at the game 13 days
ago.
“As a result of this exercise we identified that a
number of players met the Olympiacos owner immediately following the game.
“The medical advice we have received puts the risk of
them developing Covid-19 at extremely low.
“However, we are strictly following the Government
guidelines which recommend that anyone coming into close contact with someone
with the virus should self-isolate at home for 14 days from the last time they
had contact.”
It has not been specified how many players have been forced
into quarantine or who.
But it remains to be seen what will happen to the matches
within this 14-day period in which Arsenal will have players out.
However, the statement continued to say that they will
prepare for their weekend’s match as normal.
It said: “Everyone at Arsenal Football Club wishes Mr
Marinakis a swift recovery and we look forward to the players and staff
returning to work on Friday in preparation for our match at Brighton.”
It is the latest incident in football that has been affected
by the disease – with the Champions League and Europa League also taking hits.
Valencia hosted Atalanta in the Champions League on
Wednesday night in front of nobody after it was ruled that the match be played
behind closed doors.
Cristiano Ronaldo also played his 1000th game in
professional football in an empty stadium with Italy severely hit by the
virus.
