Cases of a new variant of COVID-19, Micron, left many players out of play at the start of 2021. Just look at major European teams and even athletes in American sports to see how many athletes have been infected and away from activities.
Here in Brazil, football has not been affected like this yet with many teams still on vacation. But cases are already starting to emerge with testing. Botafogo e BasqueFor example, I have already had to remove some athletes due to Covid-19.
Read also:
In Crusmaltino, six athletes have already tested positive in tests performed in re-submission. At first it was Luis Canga and Matías Galarza, then Nene, Riquelme, Leo Matos and Thiago Rodriguez joined their companions in quarantine, which should last for 10 days.
In the current champion of Série B, only Rafael’s side has had to self-isolate, along with three other club staff who have also tested positive for covid-19.
This situation worries the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which has already started meetings to define the health protocol in competitions. The idea is that by the end of this week it will be possible to submit a draft of the new document, which, according to the entity’s medical coordinator, Jorge Bajora, may be more stringent as of February:
We analyze European leagues and events in the US, as well as data from major countries. This new variant will require modifications compared to last season. Our requirements must meet the definition of local health authorities. He explained that we are also waiting for the official data in Brazil as well as the applicability of the new isolation period with respect to the micron.”
Currently, the CBF protocol requires testing 72 hours in advance on those who do not have antibodies, have not had Covid-19, or have had a positive PCR or antibody test for more than six months. The duration of isolation in case of a positive result is 10 days.
Another worrying situation is the increase in cases in neighboring Argentina. There, the record for new daily cases was broken in the last week of 2021, with 50,000 infected, and of course football did not come out unscathed.
Until yesterday, it was confirmed that 101 athletes and members of the technical committees were injured. The worst situation is Velez Sarsfield with 12 players, including striker Lucas Prato, former Atletico MG and Sao Paulo. Boca Juniors comes right after 10 injured.
Even Lionel Messi, who was taking a few days off in his home country, ended up getting infected.
But in the case of the Paris Saint-Germain player, he has already recovered and returned to France in the early hours of Wednesday (5), after tests tested positive for the virus.
