Brighton chief executive Paul Barber on Sunday revealed a third player at the Premier League club has tested positive for the coronavirus, raising fresh concerns about the attempt to finish the English top-flight season.
An unnamed player was tested on Saturday and will self-isolate for 14 days while he recovers from the virus.
The rest of Brighton’s squad will continue to train at home and in solo sessions at the team’s training ground.
Two other Brighton players, who were not named, contracted the virus several weeks ago and have reportedly recovered. “Unfortunately we have had a third player test positive just yesterday,” Barber told Sky Sports News.
“Despite all the measures we have all been taking over the last few weeks, when the players haven’t been involved in taking any significant training at all, we have still suffered another player testing positive for the virus.
“There are concerns and I think it is normal for all clubs to have those concerns.
“We want to make sure we do all that we can so the protocols that are put into place are safe and secure and mitigate the risk.” In Germany, Bundesliga 2 side Dynamo Dresden have put their entire squad and coaching staff into two-week isolation after two players tested positive for coronavirus.
The Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 are due to restart on May 16.
Brighton’s latest positive test comes ahead of Monday’s Premier League meeting, where clubs are expected to debate the plan to complete the season behind closed doors at neutral venues and vote on whether player contracts will be extended until the end of the rescheduled campaign.
The Premier League would like to restart the season in June and play the remaining 92 fixtures by August.
Barber has been critical of the neutral venue idea, insisting that the campaign should still be played on a home-and-away basis as Brighton battle to avoid relegation.
Norwich, Watford and Aston Villa were in the relegation zone when the Premier League was suspended because of the health crisis on March 13.
Brighton have received criticism for their vocal stance, but Barber insists all clubs will act with a degree of self-interest.
“People will accuse us of self-interest, I totally understand that, but at this stage of the season there is self-interest at every level of the table,” he added. “There is as much self-interest at the top as there is at the bottom, there is as much self-interest in the middle as there is at the bottom.
“Everyone has different objectives for the season and we are all looking to play out the season, if it is safe to do so.
“We really do want to play and we want to make sure the competition stays as fair as it can be despite these exceptional circumstances that we are facing.”
Aston Villa and Watford have joined Brighton in speaking out against the neutral stadium plan.
But Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has backed the 20 clubs to eventually come to a consensus.
“There are no easy answers, we have to work through it as a collective and I think we will and come out with a consensus in the end,” he told the BBC.
“(The meeting) is another part of the journey in trying to get football back. We would be derelict in our duty if we did not find a way for the game to come back.
“It may prove beyond us, we have huge challenges in order to get it back to complete the season but we are planning on doing so.”
German league sticks to resumption plan despite Dresden quarantine
DPA, Berlin: German professional football is still planning on restarting the season next weekend but the league’s chief has acknowledged that more positive coronavirus tests like those at second division Dynamo Dresden could cause havoc.
“We are not changing the goal at the moment,” German Football League (DFL) chief executive Christian Seifert told ZDF television late on Saturday.
But if other whole squads are ordered into quarantine “then at some point this will no longer be feasible,” he added.
The DFL has a policy that only infected players have to go into quarantine, but the local health authority is in ultimate charge.
It has decided all of Dresden’s squad must be isolated for 14 days despite only two players testing positive in a third wave of tests.
One team-mate was positive in a first test.
The ruling means their first two games following the restart must be postponed. They were due to face Hanover next Sunday and Greuther Fuerth a week later.The DFL got the go ahead from the German government on Wednesday for the Bundesliga and second division to resume the season without fans in stadiums following a two-month suspension due to the coronavirus crisis.
A restart next weekend was perfect timing for the DFL as it meant it could squeeze the remaining nine rounds of the season in before the traditional end to the campaign on June 30 — when player and broadcast contracts may be up.
Now bottom side Dresden will almost certainly have to play at least two games beyond that point.
“We are in contact with the responsible health authority and the German football league to coordinate all further steps,” Dresden sporting director Ralf Minge said.
Germany is the first major European football league to be allowed to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic and the restart was being closely watched by other countries such as England, which hopes to start up again next month.
The Dresden issue will have spooked some itching for a return in other nations but Seifert is standing firm, stating that the procedures put in place are designed to stop infected players taking to the pitch.
“It was absolutely clear that this could happen,” he said.
The DFL had announced that there had been 10 positive tests from a first tranche of checks, including three at Bundesliga side Cologne.
However, Cologne did not go into full quarantine, with even one of their own players questioning the decision.
Second division Aue did decide to go into full quarantine but will be out of it for next weekend’s resumption — assuming there are no more positive tests..
The American Express Community Stadium, in Brighton, Britain.
