Johannesburg - Kaizer Chiefs has appealed to the Premier Soccer League to postpone their four league matches in December after 31 personnel tested positive for Covid-19 this week, the club said in an official statement on Friday morning.
As Chiefs were preparing for their clash against Cape Town City at home on Saturday night, they went through the mandatory Covid-19 testing routing. But the results returned with “no less than 31 people" testing positive for the pandemic.
“Players and staff at Kaizer Chiefs Football Club have been closely monitored for symptoms during the Covid-19 pandemic and have been tested regularly. More personnel tested positive this week as we were preparing for Saturday’s game,” the club said.
“As a result of this outbreak, no less than 31 people tested positive for Covid-19. The Kaizer Chiefs Village is temporarily closed until next week.”
"Given the situation, the medical team have conducted contact tracing of primary contacts of those who tested positive and have instructed all players, members of the technical team and staff, including those who tested negative, who are primary contacts to quarantine as per Covid-19 protocols.”
“The club has written to the Premier Soccer League to request for a postponement of the four upcoming games in December against Cape Town City (4 December), Golden Arrows (8 December), Sekhukhune FC (12 December) and Royal AM (22 December) to avoid risk of infection and further spread of the virus and allow those affected to recover and complete their quarantine period before they can play against other teams.”
A week ago, a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, was discovered in the country, propelling the surge in Covid-19 positive cases. On Thursday night, the country had recorded a whopping 11535 new positive cases and 44 deaths as a result of the virus.
Gauteng, moreover, was the hotspot of the new positive cases, recording 8258 new infections. This was a huge spike in their record of 3500 new cases by Wednesday night, while before that they had recorded 1000 daily new cases on average.
“We view this as a case of force majeure as what the club is experiencing as a consequence of Covid-19 and the protocols it is obliged to implement, is totally beyond the control of the club,” the club said.
“The club does not at the moment have sufficient players nor a technical team to constitute a team. We have appealed to the League to seriously consider the matter for the sake of everyone’s health and safety because there are many other people involved in organising a game.”
“The team will be closely monitored by our medical team, while we continue to maintain Covid-19 risk mitigation protocols.”
“We urge supporters to take care of themselves and follow all the Covid-19 protocols (and) well wishes and speedy recovery to all those affected.”
@MihlaliBaleka
IOL Sport