The English Premier League has not been hit as hard as the Italian Serie A and the Spanish La Liga, but a few individuals have been diagnosed with the new virus. Players, managers, and staff are among those affected and have since been isolated from the public.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was the first person in the EPL to be confirmed as having contracted the virus, which was immediately after the announcement by the Premier League that matches would go on as scheduled. The entire Arsenal squad was subsequently quarantined, causing the game against Brighton to be postponed. Other matches went on as planned, and fans had the opportunity to bet on https://www.betway.co.za/sport/soccer at least for the weekend matches. The Premier League lockdown that ensued thereafter meant that so many matches were unavailable.
It was reported that Greek champions Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis had tested positive a few weeks after his side’s Europa League win over Arteta’s Arsenal in London. The cases were believed to be unrelated, though.
The Chelsea squad was not spared either, as youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi also tested positive. As is the norm, he was isolated from the rest of the squad, along with everyone who had come into contact with the Chelsea star. Odoi later revealed that he had fully recovered from the virus.
“Hi, guys, as you may be aware I had the virus for the last couple of days, which I’ve recovered from. I’m following the health guidelines and self-isolating for the week. I hope to see everybody soon and hopefully be back on the pitch very soon. Take care.” Odoi wrote on his social media pages.
Should the pandemic be contained soon, respective federations from around the world will be able to finish the season and make timely preparations for the upcoming season. All matches will be available on Betway immediately the break is over.
Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy was also forced to self-isolate after one of his close family members was confirmed to have had contracted Covid-19. It was only precautionary as it was believed that Mendy may have interacted with the patient, and all the World Health Organization measures had to be put in place. The good news is that the Citizens defender never contracted the disease.
As recently as March 13, an announcement from Everton said that a player had exhibited symptoms consistent with the dreaded virus and that they had sent players to self-isolation. The club further closed down its headquarters in Liverpool, as well as their training facility at Finch Farm.
READ ALSO: Dangote, Sanusi Announce Coronavirus Status
Over at the King Power Stadium, Leicester boss Brendan Rogers reported that a number of his players had shown similar signs and that the necessary isolation measures had been taken immediately.
Staff members at Bournemouth and goalkeeper Arthur Boruc proceeded to voluntary self- isolation after it emerged that they had shown symptoms of the Covid-19. It should be noted that none of these staff members or Boruc tested positive for the virus, but they would be given the penultimate test after the expiry of the 14-day self-isolation program.
The EPL was tentatively scheduled to resume in April, but there are signs that it may be pushed even further. On March 24, the International Olympics Committee announced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics had been pushed further by a year till 2021.
Hopefully, the pandemic will be contained soon, and we will be back to betting on sports with Betway. Meanwhile, everyone has been urged to stay safe and to practice extreme care until the matter is resolved.