On the 12th, the Premier League announced that this weekend’s matches were as usual. Just a few minutes later, Arsenal club confirmed the news that coach Atta was infected with the new Crown virus on its official website.
Xinhua News Agency, London, March 12 (Reporter Zhang Wei) the Premier League announced on the 12th that it had just been a few minutes since the official website of Arsenal club confirmed the news that coach Atta was infected with the new Crown virus. “Arsenal” said that they would communicate with the Premier League and other aspects next, but obviously some matches could not be held as scheduled.
A statement released on Arsenal’s official website said that Arsenal coach Atta received a positive test report for the new coronavirus that night. Therefore, Arsenal’s training base has been closed, and club personnel who have recently been in close contact with atato are also self-isolated according to government requirements. Arsenal is expected to involve a large number of personnel, “including all members of the first team, members of the coaching staff and a small number of members of the youth training academy”. And Arsenal’s youth academy has been temporarily closed.
Soon, the official website of the Premier League’s statement on the competition as usual was deleted. The new statement said that in view of Atta’s infection with the new Crown virus, they would hold an emergency meeting on the 13th to discuss the schedule.
On the same day, the Premier League had already received flustered news one after another. First, Leicester City confirmed that the three players were isolated due to similar symptoms of the new coronavirus, then there was Manchester City defender Mendi who immediately isolated himself because of the symptoms of his family. However, under such a premise, the Premier League still said that according to the government’s guidance, the game this weekend is as usual.
The British government held an emergency meeting on the epidemic earlier that day, in which Prime Minister Johnson said in response to sports events: “We are considering banning major public activities such as sports events. Scientific suggestions believe that this has little effect on the spread of the virus, but it will indeed burden other public services. We work under the guidance of science, and there is no reason to ban such activities at this moment. We are not saying that we will not take such measures (prohibited activities). We know that we have prepared emergency plans, but in order to maximize the effect of our intervention, we need to find the right time.”
As the only league among the five major European leagues that has not been suspended or closed, only one game in the Premier League has been affected by the epidemic so far. Because Marinakis, the confirmed owner of the Olympic Arcos club, watched the game at Arsenal’s home on February 27 and had contact with several Arsenal players, these players were required to isolate themselves, the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City, which should have been held on the 11th, was postponed. However, because these players were isolated on the 12th, Arsenal’s game against Brighton on the 14th had not been announced to be rescheduled.