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Nimes (AFP)
After Marseille, Nîmes also confirmed on Friday that it had reached the fateful bar of four cases of Covid-19, and many other clubs are affected by the pandemic, increasing concern on the day of the resumption of Ligue 1.
The list goes on. After Montpellier, where striker Andy Delort was affected this week, other clubs have deplored positive cases in their workforce: one in Lens, two in Nice, one in Angers, one in Monaco, one in Brest …
The pandemic continues to make its way into professional clubs, and the first day is likely to shrink even further.
To the postponements, more joyful, from Montpellier-Lyon (September 15) and Paris SG-Metz (September 16), for reasons of the semi-finals of the Champions League of OL and PSG, was added that of OM -Saint-Étienne (September 17) because of the pandemic.
Could the inaugural day of the season therefore also be deprived of Nîmes-Brest, scheduled for Sunday? A third and a fourth case were in any case confirmed on Friday after additional tests.
However, according to the protocol of the Professional Football League, from four cases the virus is considered circulating in the club, and the LFP Commission is called upon to rule on any postponement of matches.
This match against Brest, which also had its first positive case on Friday, “I hope to play it, I think we can play it,” Nîmes coach Jérôme Arpinon nevertheless said at a press conference.
– Nîmes and Brest want to play –
“We are preparing in the head to play this first match, we can not wait to start this championship”, continues his side Renaud Ripart, ensuring that “we try to be as vigilant as possible. We wash our hands more often, we wear the mask more regularly, we try to see as few people as possible, I no longer kiss, we no longer shake hands. Covid-19 tests have become part of everyday life … “
Not all names are “out”, most cases are asymptomatic, but the virus is there.
Lens defender Jonathan Clauss tested positive at the start of the week, his coach Franck Haise announced on Friday two days before Lensois’ big comeback in the elite, scheduled for Nice (5:00 p.m.).
“He is completely asymptomatic, he manages to do an interview in the gym every day. He is isolated in La Gaillette (the training center, editor’s note), he sleeps there and he can go out for an hour a day”, explained the artesian technician at a press conference.
“We did a test yesterday (Thursday) and again this morning (Friday) so we are waiting for the results,” said Haise.
The holding of the match is all the more questioned as two cases were announced on the same day within the Nice workforce, however spared until then.
The two players, whose names have not been released, obviously did not take part in Friday’s training session.
– “The workforce is worried” –
“I felt on the pitch that the rest of the squad were worried. So am I, for Sunday’s game against Lens and beyond,” said coach Patrick Vieira. “It complicates the planning of work. You have to deal with it, and be very responsible at home.”
The Lens coach wants to be positive. “I hope we will play. If we start to postpone the first day, we are not out … I think we have to play as much as possible when possible otherwise we will end the season in 2023” , said Haise.
On the morning of Friday, Angers also announced the positive test of its defender Rayan Aït-Nouri, placed in solitary confinement. And at the start of the afternoon, Monaco was added to the list of hit clubs, with a case concerning the professional group, whose identity has not been disclosed. The SCO must move from Saturday to Dijon (5:00 p.m.) for its first day, Monaco facing Reims on Sunday (1:00 p.m.).
Finally Marseille, which had already reached the four mark, had a fifth positive case on Friday, after new tests. OM were already preparing for Matchday 2, in Brest on Sunday August 30. French football hopes that the postponements will stop there.
© 2020 AFP
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