Footballers Among 68 Coronavirus Positive Cases From a Music Club in Prague; ‘Anirudh Thapa can play in Europe’ and More (Football News Round-up)

The hygiene service of Prague revealed that a party at a Prague music club resulted in 68 people catching the coronavirus. Among those infected were active athletes including footballers and floorball players.

There are 14,324 virus cases recorded along with 360 deaths in the Czech Republic so far. While the European country is among those worst hit by the pandemic, the past week has witnessed a surge in cases. 

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The public health service did not reveal the sports club affected. Several football clubs which include Sparta Prague, Bohemians 1905 and Dukla Prague have reported positive cases in members of their junior teams.

The city’s hygiene service chief, Zdenka Jagrova said in a statement that at the initial stage, health officials only tested 17 people from the birthday party that was held at a music venue on July 11. 15 tested positive for the virus. 

"Further epidemiological investigation has so far found 37 people who were not directly guests at the party but were at the club... the same night," she said, and more cases were found among family members and 121 people have been quarantined so far. 

Bohemians director Darek Jakubowicz told Reuters the B-team had two infections -- both traced to the July 11 event -- and were in preemptive quarantine. "Other players had met (the infected) in training but no one else was infected," he said.

Sparta and Dukla also said their affected teams were in quarantine.

Thapa Can Play in Europe

Former Portugal defender Henrique Sereno believes India international Anirudh Thapa is capable enough to play club football in Europe. 

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Sereno who won consecutives Indian Super League (ISL) titles with two different teams — with ATK in 2016 and Chennaiyin in 2017-18 — commended his former teammate Thapa in a live Instagram chat with the Chennaiyin fan group Super Machans."We had many good young players like Anirudh Thapa. He can play in Europe. He is a very good number 10 and has very nice skills. We also had Jeje [Lalpekhlua] who is a great striker," Sereno said

The 22-year old midfielder has performed tremendously for his clubs and the national team and has garnered praises from various quarters. His performance in India’s AFC Asian Cup opener against Thailand last year was seen by many as a breakthrough moment for the player.

Sereno didn’t not restrict his praise just to Thapa though, commending many other players on the live chat. ''We had so many players. Even the players who didn't play a lot like Keenan [Almeida], [Fulganco] Cardozo, they had amazing skills but they didn't get many chances but they were good in the training. That was the key to success”.

Leeds-Adidas Ink Kit Deal 

Leeds United announced they signed what is a record breaking five-year kit deal with Adidas. The deal will commence from the 2020-21 season, which will see Leeds in the Premier League, after qualifying for last week.

Leeds comeback to the Premier League took 16 years in the making, with the club having appointed 21 managers over the years, dropping down to League One and then remarkably securing promotion emphatically this season. The club ended their EFL Championship season with a 4-0 win against Charlton and were confirmed as champions. 

The club has not revealed the financial details of the deal yet. 

Leeds United chief executive Angus Kinnear, said in a club statement: "We're looking forward to our return to the Premier League with anticipation next season and partnering with adidas, who are one of the most recognisable names in sport, represents a new beginning for the club.” 

WSL in the Clear

The English Football Association have confirmed that no new cases of Covid-19 have emerged after the second week of testing in the Women Super League (WSL) and Championship. 

There were 1,194 tests conducted between 12-19 July  throughout the top two tiers of the women football leagues and all results have returned negative. In the first week of testing one positive case had emerged from a total of 802 tests.

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The Premier League donated $1.2 million (£1 million) to cover the expense of Covid-19 testing during the pre-season for WSL and Championship clubs. 

In line with protocols established by the Premier League, clubs are testing players twice a week. The protocols also require every club to have a Covid-19 officer, risk assessment and mitigation plans, access to PPE and equipment cleaning between sessions.

Any hopes that the new season would commence with fans present in the stadium have been dashed by the UK government revealed plans to get fans back into stadiums by October. The WSL season begins a month earlier and will probably do so in front of empty stands.

For clubs in the WSL and Championship backed by men’s clubs the economic impact of empty stadiums will be minimal. Gate revenues do not contribute much to their turnover. For smaller clubs playing in front of empty stands reduces any exposure for the women’s game and also reduces their budgets severely.

Bagan Give Players I-League Bonus

I-League champions Mohun Bagan announced that they have paid a title winning bonus to all coaches, players and ground staff. 

The club said in a statement, "With immense pleasure, we wish to inform you that as per our commitment, today we have paid the I-League 2019-20 winning bonus to all coaches, players, support staff and office staff including ground staff."

Mohun Bagan, have merged with ATK and the new club ATK Mohun Bagan Fc will compete in the ISL in the upcoming season.

Earlier this month the green and maroon brigade finally cleared dues of the Indian coaches, players and staff that were delayed due to the coronavirus lockdown. In the month of May, several Mohun Bagan players had demanded their salaries to be cleared immediately. But the club management had asked them to wait till the lockdown was lifted. 

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