COVID-hit Manchester United seek postponement of Brighton match

Covid-19 hit Manchester United have issued a club statement to confirm the discussions with the Premier league over the postponement of their match against Brentford on Tuesday night.

A number of staff and players of the club have tested positive for Covid-19.

The club have closed down their Carrington training complex for 24 hours following the positive tests, and will not travel to London for the match against the Bees until they know if the game is going ahead.

The club statement said:

“Manchester United can confirm that following PCR test confirmation of yesterday’s positive LFT Covid-19 cases among the first-team staff and players, the decision has been taken to close down first-team operations at the Carrington Training Complex for 24 hours, to minimize risk of any further infection.

“Individuals who tested positive are isolating per Premier League protocols.

“Given cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, the club is in discussion with the Premier League whether it is safe for Tuesday’s fixture against Brentford to continue, both from a Covid infection and player preparation perspective.

“Team and staff travel to London will be deferred pending the result of that discussion.”

The Press Association said positive lateral flow tests were returned by a small group of players and staff on Sunday morning, and that individuals were sent home before that day’s training session began.

Tottenham’s Premier League fixture against Brighton on Sunday was postponed for same reason after eight players and five members of staff had tested positive.

Spurs game against Rennes was similarly postponed.

Manchester City, Norwich, Brighton and other clubs have been impacted by the outbreak of the virus.