Sport

Soccer-Fleetwood Town latest to suspend games after COVID-19 outbreak at club

Fleetwood Town's next two league games against Ipswich Town and Sunderland have been suspended following an outbreak of COVID-19 at the club, the League One (third tier) side said on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Carabao Cup Third Round - Fleetwood Town v Everton - Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood, Britain - September 23, 2020 General view Fleetwood Town players during the warm up before the match Pool via REUTERS/Alex Livesey

01 Jan 2021 12:50AM

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REUTERS: Fleetwood Town's next two league games against Ipswich Town and Sunderland have been suspended following an outbreak of COVID-19 at the club, the League One (third tier) side said on Thursday.

Fleetwood were scheduled to play Ipswich on Jan. 4 and Sunderland on Jan. 9. No new dates have been announced for the fixtures.

"The club has advised the EFL that it is unable to fulfil the fixtures following several positive COVID-19 tests and the requirement for players and staff to self-isolate as per EFL and government guidance," the club said in a statement.

Sunderland have now had five fixtures postponed after games against Shrewsbury Town, Blackpool, Hull City and Accrington Stanley were suspended following an outbreak at the Wearside club.

The postponed fixtures are also a blow to Ipswich who have had a fourth game postponed due to COVID-19 after a similar outbreak in their squad earlier this month. Ipswich manager Paul Lambert was among those who tested positive.

The country is battling a new variant of the virus and Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered millions more people to live under the strictest restrictions from Thursday to curb its spread after case numbers rose sharply in the last two weeks.

The United Kingdom has had more than 2.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and recorded over 72,500 deaths.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

Source: Reuters