Dakar, Jan. 5 (BNA): The Senegalese national football team was forced to postpone its trip to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon after three other players and six back-team members tested positive for the coronavirus, the Associated Press reported.
The Senegalese Football Association announced, on Wednesday, the names of the players Pape Sarr, Nambalis Mendy and Mami Thiam.
The federation said their tests and six members of the management team came back positive on Tuesday, when the team was due to travel to Cameroon.
The federation’s spokeswoman, Kara Tiun, said the team was due to leave on Wednesday afternoon and the three players and six referees would remain in Dakar until they re-test negative.
The Africa Cup kicks off on Sunday, with Senegal having little time before their first match of the tournament against Zimbabwe on Monday.
Senegal, with stars such as Liverpool striker Sadio Mane and Chelsea goalkeeper Edward Mendy, is one of the favorites after losing in the last African Cup of Nations final.
News of more cases of the virus confirms fears that the pandemic and the recent emergence of the most contagious omicron variant will wreak havoc on the backlog and at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, where less than 3% of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to a tracker maintained by the University of Johns Hopkins.
Major European clubs have made clear their concerns about sending their African players and questioned whether CAF and Cameroon organizers would be able to prevent a major outbreak of the disease at the month-long event.
In response, organizers announced that only fully vaccinated fans with evidence of negative tests will be able to attend matches, meaning matches will likely be played in empty or nearly empty stadiums due to extremely low levels of vaccination in Africa.
The Confederation of African Football has hired pharmaceutical company UNILAB to oversee the periodic testing of all players and officials from the 24 teams.
But an increasing number of teams have been affected by cases of the virus even before the start of Africa’s biggest football tournament.
Host country Cameroon announced last month that it had positive cases on its team.
Burkina Faso, which plays Cameroon in the first game of the African Cup on Sunday, has had to leave two players behind in Abu Dhabi due to the virus and may not be able to field its strongest team in the opening match of the tournament in Yaounde.
Like Senegal, Cape Verde and Tunisia have reported new cases in their teams, while Gambia and Ivory Coast have had to cancel friendlies due to the outbreak of the disease in their teams.
Malawi left three players behind in Saudi Arabia, where the team set up a training camp, because the tests were positive. Nigeria has left striker Victor Osimhen of Italian club Napoli out of its squad for the African Cup due to his coronavirus test.
The defending champion also reported injuries to Algeria. Senegal have already had the complications of Cheikhou Kouyate and Alfred Gomes testing positive and staying behind with their European clubs for periods of isolation.
The Africa Cup was supposed to take place in 2021 but was delayed by a year due to the pandemic. It has faced calls in recent months that it should be postponed again due to the emergence of Omicron.
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