By Spy Uganda
Kampala: Day 1 of the Olympic Repechage in Monaco kicked off with an interesting match against Mexico and Zimbabwe, followed by the cancellation of the only other tournament of the day.
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Uganda was set to face off with Jamaica this in day one of the tournament but had to withdraw dues to the Covid-19 virus outbreak in their team.
Uganda’s men’s team was thrown out of the tournament in Monaco after some players returned positive test results for the coronavirus upon their arrival.
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Uganda was set to play in pool B of the competition against Chile, France and Hong Kong but this unfortunate incident will unfortunately have to cancel their Olympic goals.
World rugby has released a statement on the situation saying:
“In accordance with tournament regulations, the Uganda men’s team has been ‘withdrawn’ from the World Rugby Sevens competition in Monaco from 18-20 June following a number of positive Covid-19 results determined during scheduled arrival testing,”
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Monaco 7s Covid-19 protocols that where implemented by World Rugby and the hosts, included a pre-departure and on arrival PCR test. This test revealed that some players and coaching staff of Uganda 7s has tested positive for the virus. Though World Rugby refuses to reveal the official number of players that tested positive, it was enough for World Rugby to withdraw the team from the tournament.
The entire Uganda 7s team and their staff are now in strict isolation since their arrival and the proper isolation quarantine protocols as determined by the Monaco authorities’ public health guidelines.
According to the tournament rules, all of Uganda’s games will be recorded as a “bye” for their opponents in Pool B which includes Chile, France, Hong Kong and Jamaica.
The international body will provide full medical and operational support to ensure that the teams well being will be of importance as they remain in their quarantine.
This is the third Uganda national team that has had to withdraw in an international tournament due to the coronavirus. First was the Uganda National Basketball team who had to back out of the qualifier games back in February and them the women’s cricket also had to pull out after testing positive a few weeks ago.
