Kiev-Barcelona clash in doubt as Covid-19 engulfs Ukrainian club
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Updated 02/11/2020 at 18:16 GMT
Dynamo Kiev’s Champions League clash with Barcelona could be in doubt after a sizable outbreak of Covid-19 at the Ukrainian Premier League club swept through its playing staff. The club only have 13 available players for the trip to Spain for Wednesday’s Champions League encounter.
Barcelona - Lionel Messi - Champions League
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The Champions League fixture between Barcelona and Dynamo Kiev is on the cusp of postponement according to reports.
The Ukrainian Premier League have only been able to name 13 players from their Champions League A-list squad due to a combination of Covid-19 cases, injury and suspension – a club must have a minimum of 13 players available from their A-list squad to fulfil a Champions League fixture.
The club currently have nine players unavailable due to Covid-19, with three suspended and one injured.
Georgiy Tsitaishvili, Denis Garmash, Mikkel Duelund, Alexander Karavaev, Tudor Belutse and Mykola Shaparenko all tested positive this week, with Vitaly Mykolenko, Georgy Buschan and Denys Boyko already in quarantine.
SO WHAT ARE UEFA RULES?
Annex J: Rules Applicable to the Group Stage due to Covid-19 in UEFA’s Regulations of the UEFA Champions League outlines the situation in which a game can be postponed.
The section on testing and player eligibility reads as follows:
“If one or more players or officials of a club test positive for Covid-19 in the tests required by the UEFA Return to Play Protocol, the match will take place as scheduled unless the national/local authorities of one or both clubs involved or of where the match will take place (in case of a neutral country) require a large group of players or the entire team to go into quarantine.
If at least 13 players registered on the A list (including at least one goalkeeper) are available, the match must go ahead on the scheduled date. "If less than 13 players registered on the A list or no registered goalkeeper are available, UEFA may allow a rescheduling of the match, if the relevant national/local authority seeks new tests to allow a sufficient number of players (at least 13 including at least one goalkeeper) to participate in the match.
"Alternatively, the club may field players who have not been registered with UEFA within the deadlines stipulated in the present regulations, provided that these players (i) are duly registered with their national association as playing for the club concerned in accordance with the association’s own rules and those of FIFA and (ii) are tested negative in accordance with the UEFA Return to Play Protocol.
"If it is not possible to reschedule the match within the final deadline set out in Annex J.3.1, the club that cannot play the match will be held responsible for the match not taking place and the match will be declared by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body to be forfeited by the club, which will be considered to have lost the match 3-0.”
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