5 footballers in Spain test positive for coronavirus

Five players in the top two divisions of Spanish football have tested positive for coronavirus, La Liga has confirmed.

All professional footballers in La Liga and Segunda Division are being tested ahead of a return to training and a possible resumption of the 2019-20 season, with Spain having been one of the European countries worst hit by the pandemic.

La Liga have confirmed that five players have tested positive, but all are asymptomatic. The identities of two are being kept anonymous in line with data protection rules in Spain, while Real Betis have announced that Joel Robles, Alfonso Pedraza and Juanmi Jimenez have been infected.

The players will now be placed in isolation and will be tested in the coming days to see if they are still infected. La Liga said they would also offer tests to the families of the affected players.

An official statement said: "Specifically, between the La Liga Santander [first division] and La Liga SmartBank [second division] clubs, five positive cases have been detected in players, all of them asymptomatic and in the final phase of the disease, whose specific identity La Liga does not know in compliance with the laws on data protection."

Meanwhile, Dr Rafael Ramos, president of the Spanish Association of Football Doctors, has confirmed that entire La Liga sides will not need to be quarantined should one or more players fall ill.

"In La Liga, if there are positive tests during training, the whole squad will not be quarantined," he confirmed.

Clubs have started training again following an extended break to the Spanish season, with all major leagues around the world also having paused due to the pandemic.

Source: Agencies


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