May 11 – Five players in the top two tiers of professional football in Spain have tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of a possible resumption of the season.
All five unnamed players were asymptomatic, illustrating precisely the concerns of many in terms of spreading the virus if and when the game resumes in Europe’s major leagues.
A La Liga statement read: “After completing the medical tests on the minimum essential personnel referred by the clubs to start training, some cases of Covid-19 have been detected.
“Specifically, between the clubs of Santander (Primera Division) and SmartBank (Segunda Division), five positive cases have been detected in players, all of them asymptomatic and in the final phase of the disease.
“As planned, the next steps with people who have taken a stand for Covid-19 are: To remain in quarantine in their homes, carrying out the same individual physical activity that they have been doing until now, following the instructions of the club, for those who are footballers.
“In the next few days, they will be tested again for the Covid-19 and, after obtaining two negative results, they will be able to join the training sessions at their club’s facilities.
“In addition, La Liga will offer people who live with those affected the possibility of also doing screening tests.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas has said there will be football every day when the league resumes and has earmarked June 12.
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