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| ▲ This photo shows (from the left) Son Heung-min and Tottenham players. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 10-11)
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) -- Amid the striking news of the outbreak of COVID-19 infection in Tottenham Hotspur, professional soccer club in England, another report says that South Korean football star Son Heung-min (29) has been tested positive for the infection.
“Son Heung-Min is among six Tottenham stars hit by the Covid outbreak,” reported England’s Football Insider on the 7th.
Earlier, British media, such as the BBC and Football London, reported that six players and two coaches were reported to have been infected.
Although the club did not issue an official announcement yet, “Football Insider” released a list of players who were tested positive and included Son in it.
“Emerson Royal and Bryan Gil missed Sunday’s 3-0 win over Norwich City after testing positive for Covid-19. A Tottenham source has told Football Insider that Son, Lucas Moura, Ben Davies and the injured Cristian Romero have also tested positive for the coronavirus this week,” reported the media referring to a Tottenham source.
“In addition to the six players, coaches Ryan Mason and Cristian Stellini have also been hit by the outbreak that has rocked the camp. The source added that further mass testing is due to take place a Tottenham today (7 December) and up to three more positives are expected by the club,” added Football Insider.
Tottenham Hotspur, with a tight schedule for this month, has fallen into their worst situation.
Tottenham Hotspur have a group stage match between Rennes (France) and UEFA Europa Conference League on the 10th and have to play against Brighton & Hove Albion on the 12th, and Leicester City on the 17th.
On the 20th, they are scheduled to play against Liverpool.
“The match is due to take place as scheduled,” said UEFA according to England’s Sky Sports.
But their Premier League schedules may be changed. Guardian reported that the club is discussing Brighton game with the EPL.
Confirmed cases will have to go into self-quarantine for 10 days according to the British authorities’ quarantine guidelines. They will off the field for some time.
Son’s absence will be a big damage to the team as he is the most scorer (6 goals) of the league and has scored in the last two games in a row.
If more players show positive results and the team fail to fill the required number of players, the game schedules may be postponed.
Earlier in October two players were reported positive for the infection due to a test error.
At the time, Son was also included in the confirmed cases but further analysis showed that the test results were incorrect.
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