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Football

08th Dec 2021

Tottenham to ask Premier League to postpone Brighton clash after more COVID-19 cases

Daniel Brown

Spurs have confirmed that eight players and five staff members have now tested positive for coronavirus

Tottenham Hotspur are set to ask the Premier League to postpone their game against Brighton at the weekend after the club confirmed additional cases from their COVID-19 outbreak.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that up to seven players and two members of staff had tested positive for Covid-19, with others sent to take a PCR test later in the day.

It was reported that Spurs were considering asking the Premier League to postpone their match at Brighton on Sunday, but that their UEFA Conference League clash against French side Rennes on Thursday was set to go ahead.

UEFA rules state that ‘if less than 13 players registered on the A-list or no registered goalkeeper are available’, a game can be called off. This means that Tottenham should technically still be able to fulfil the fixture.

However, Antonio Conte confirmed on Wednesday (8 December) that eight players from Tottenham’s first-team squad and five staff members had now tested positive for coronavirus.

The Spurs head coach added that the number is growing every day and said it is “a serious problem”.

He said: “The situation makes me very upset because the situation is serious. It’s contagious and there is a big infection.

“Now we are a bit scared because tomorrow we don’t know what will happen.”

According to The Athletic, Tottenham will now ask the Premier League to postpone their game at the weekend.

When a club asks for a postponement of a fixture, the Premier League board decides on a case-by-case basis – which means that there is no set number of cases needed, it is simply the decision of the board.

Last season, Manchester City’s league clash against Everton at Goodison Park was postponed after they reported four positive COVID-19 tests among players and staff on December 25, with three more later reported on December 29.

When Fulham’s tie against Spurs was also postponed last campaign, the Cottagers had six positive COVID-19 cases.

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