Arsenal look set to be without Kieran Tierney for the weekend’s clash with Manchester City, DESPITE testing negative for Coronavirus, and I believe that this should have been avoided.
Our club is strongly trying to figure out a way to return Tierney to England, after he travelled north to join up with his international squad, before coming into ‘contact’ with a fellow player who in turn tested positive.
Tierney himself is already believed to have tested positive for the virus earlier in 2020, and he could well have antibodies which may well have fought off the virus, but that is a whole new argument…
With quarantine and guidelines being set in many places due to the vast spread of the Coronavirus in recent months, surely the powers that be could have found a way to move any unnecessary fixtures to a later date, especially when so many professional players around Europe are testing positive on a regular basis at present.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the latest high-profile name to test positive for the virus, days after posting a picture of himself with his Portugal squad sat at a table eating together, but in Serie A, groups of positive results are a weekly issue.
ESPN reported that Napoli were refused permission to travel to Turin to take on Juventus, a week after they demolitioned Genoa who were missing a large chunk of their squad to the virus before their next fixture was postponed, and you have to ask if these international matches should even have gone ahead…
SkySports reported that New Zealand have moved to call off their upcoming friendly against England next month, and I don’t understand why all international fixtures couldn’t have been delayed, apart from maybe the remaining European Championships qualifiers. Those could have been planned to be played in a bubble however, similarly to way the Europa League and Champions League were completed during August.
Is it crazy that Tierney could be refused to return in time for the Man City clash? Is it stupid altogether that players have been made to travel to join up with their international sides amidst a wave of positive tests amongst footballers at present?
Patrick