Premier League
MANCHESTER CITY-ARSENAL PREMIER LEAGUE GAME POSTPONED AFTER CORONAVIRUS CONTACT
Manchester City’s English Premier League home match against Arsenal on Wednesday (March 11) has been postponed because players from the London club have had contact with the owner of Greek side Olympiakos, who has contracted the coronavirus.
“Manchester City’s Premier League fixture at home to Arsenal has been postponed,” the club said in a statement.
“The decision to postpone tonight’s game has been taken as a precautionary measure on medical advice, after it emerged that personnel from Arsenal FC have come into contact with the Olympiakos owner, Evangelos Marinakis, who has been named as a positive case of Covid-19.”
Marinakis, who also owns English Championship side Nottingham Forest, said on Tuesday he had contracted the coronavirus.
The first postponement in the Premier League, which has a worldwide following of billions of TV viewers, comes after Uefa’s Champions League and Europa League were both forced to arrange matches behind closed doors.
Football’s top-flight Serie A and all other sports have been put on hold in Italy, which is under national lockdown as virus cases soar.
Matches in the top two divisions in Spain and France will be played behind closed doors for at least the next two weeks, officials announced Tuesday.
In Asia, football has been suspended in China, South Korea and Japan, and the AFC Champions League schedule heavily disrupted.
Arsenal were knocked out of the Europa League by Olympiakos in late February in the round of 32.
Globally, more than 116,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus and over 4,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.
“Manchester City’s Premier League fixture at home to Arsenal has been postponed,” City said in a statement.
“The decision to postpone tonight’s game has been taken as a precautionary measure on medical advice, after it emerged that personnel from Arsenal FC have come into contact with the Olympiakos owner, Evangelos Marinakis, who has been named as a positive case of Covid-19.”
Arsenal said the risk to their players was “extremely low” but they would follow medical guidelines.
“The medical advice we have received puts the risk of them developing Covid-19 at extremely low,” Arsenal said in a statement.
“However, we are strictly following government guidelines which recommend that anyone coming into close contact with someone with the virus should self-isolate at home for 14 days from the last time they had contact.
“The players will remain at their homes until the 14-day period expires. Four Arsenal staff, who were sitting close to Mr Marinakis during the match will also remain at home until the 14 days are complete.”
Meanwhile, Olympiakos’ next Europa League opponents, another Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, said on Tuesday that their request to the European football governing body to postpone their Europa League last-16, first leg had been rejected.
Wolves had said that the trip to Greece posed unnecessary risks to their “players, staff, supporters and the families of all who travel, at such critical and uncertain times”.
The game is one of several European fixtures that will be played without supporters.
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo said postponing the game made more sense than playing behind closed doors.
“What’s the point of football? It’s entertainment. Playing behind closed doors doesn’t make sense,” he told Sky Sports.
“Now it’s more than football. It’s a social situation and everybody’s worried and I think something has to be done.
“I think closing doors in stadiums is not the solution because it’s not normal. We are pretending to live a normal life when things are not normal. The point I am trying to make is – is there another solution for it? Why not stop?”
-Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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