Three new suspicions of Covid-19 contamination have been declared within the workforce of Olympique de Marseille, OM announced on Sunday evening in a press release, five days before the resumption of Ligue 1. If these cases had to be confirmed, this would bring to four the number of elements affected by the virus over the last four days in the Marseille club, after the revelation on Thursday of a case, which had resulted in the cancellation of a friendly match against Stuttgart, which was to take place on Friday in Fos-sur-mer (Bouches-du-Rhône).
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The Professional Football League (LFP) has set up in recent weeks a medical protocol supposed to regulate all the precautions that clubs will have to take to protect their staff from possible contamination. This protocol, already tied, was sent to the Interministerial Crisis Committee (CIC), which must validate it Tuesday according to the League. In these documents, of which AFP has obtained a copy, subject to validation, it is stated that "if the team has more than 3 players or supervisors (from 4) isolated over 8 rolling days, the virus is circulating in the club ”, which implies in particular for the club concerned a period of 7 days without collective training.
Great uncertainty about the holding of Friday's match against Saint-Etienne
In the case of Marseille, where four cases in four days could be declared if these suspicions were confirmed, this leaves great uncertainty over the holding of Friday's match against Saint-Etienne. Still according to the protocol of the League, a "Covid commission", in particular composed of doctors, will be seized to rule on possible postponements of meetings, among others in the case where the virus is considered "circulating" in a club.
Marseille also said Sunday evening to have "contacted the LFP commission provided for this purpose". At least 37 L1 players from 11 clubs have tested positive for Covid-19 in recent weeks. The vast majority of them contracted the virus after resuming training in June, resulting in more or less solitary confinement depending on the case and cascading cancellations of friendly matches.
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