London (dpa)
The Italian Antonio Conte, coach of the English football team, Tottenham Hotspur, confirmed that eight players and five members of the coaching staff had tested positive for the new Corona virus infection, after the team hit a wave of infections, and he also expected more infections.
And the British news agency reported that Tottenham will have to play the French match against Rennes in the European Conference League on Thursday, in light of the strict rules of the European Union “UEFA” regarding the number of players available to participate in the matches.
It is not yet clear whether the club will demand the postponement of its match with Brighton in the English Premier League next Sunday.
Today, Wednesday, Conte said in a virtual press conference due to Corona’s cases in the club: “Eight players, and five members of the coaching staff are infected with Corona.”
He added, “Every day we witness the infection of people with corona, and they are people whose sample was not positive yesterday. This is not a good situation.”
Conte was supposed to speak to the media with the presence of Danish midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at the pre-match press conference, but instead the Italian coach was alone.
The Italian coach explained: “To talk about football today is impossible, the last situation made me worried.”
He continued, “The situation is very difficult, and the infections are large.”
“We are preparing for our next match with Rennes, but it is very difficult,” Conte continued.
And the Italian coach said: “Again at the end of the training session, a positive player sample came, as well as another employee, and tomorrow who will have a positive sample.”
He added, “Now we are in a state of anxiety because we do not know what tomorrow holds for us.”
Conte stressed that the situation is very strange and difficult for his club at the present time.
And the Italian coach said: “This certainly makes me worried because I am here to talk about football, about the players in the team, and the atmosphere that I would like to see tomorrow, and instead of that I talk about the players with corona.”
Conte did not confirm if there were infections with the Omicron mutator among the injuries that struck his club, but he confirmed that he had been vaccinated.
Speaking about vaccination within the team, Conte said: “I think everyone makes their own decisions, and this is a question for the medical staff about who should get the vaccine.”
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