SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazilian club Flamengo, whose leaders pushed for the restart of football after the coronavirus pandemic hit South America, will now postpone a league match after 16 of its players tested positive for COVID-19.
Flamengo’s vice president of legal affairs, Rodrigo Dunshee, said he hoped the Brazilian football confederation would agree to postpone Sunday’s Brazilian league against Palmeiras, which has already rejected the request.
Those from Rio de Janeiro are the reigning champions of Brazil and the Copa Libertadores.
“Today we have 16 infected athletes as well as several training staff members. The test result was negative, but I’m isolated,” Dunshee said Thursday on social media.
The Brazilian football confederation had still responded to the request.
Earlier thursday, the Professional Athletes Guild of the State of Sao Paulo issued an order for the postponement of the match, saying that there were “strong signs of threat to the lives of professional athletes and other members of the club. “
Flamengo virus problems began before Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores organizing match against Ecuadorian Barcelona. Seven players and two staff members tested positive at the start of the match, which led the local government to ban their access to the stadium. In the end, guayaquil’s Monumental Stadium opened through the federal government and the Brazilian club won 2-1.
When Flamengo returned to Brazil after the match, defender Rodrigo Caio was the first to test positive for his arrival. Authorities played with COVID-19 or hired him on the plane.
Caio is from Brazilian coach Tite’s team for the first rounds of the World Cup qualifiers in October.
“We had intense contact until we flew, so there’s a contagion threat window and I can show symptoms,” Dunshee said. “The medical report indicates that we have this (threatening) window until Monday. “
CONMEBOL spokesman Ariel Ramírez said that the South American government framework had commented on the incident and described it as an “internal matter. “
In June, Flamengo brazenly joined Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to push for the restart of local football leagues. More recently, he sided with Bolsonaro to ask enthusiasts to return to the stands, which has still happened.
More than 140,000 people died from COVID-19 in Brazil, the time they died worldwide.
___
More AP Football: https://apnews. com/Soccer and https://twitter. com/AP_Sports