France defender Samuel Umtiti has picked up a calf injury in just the second session since Barcelona returned to training from the coronavirus quarantine, the Spanish champions announced yesterday. Barca said that Umtiti picked up an injury to his right calf during individual training session at the club’s Joan Gamper facility, but did not specify how long the 26-year-old would be out for.
Spanish media report that he will be unavailable for two or three weeks, so will likely be back in time for a potential June 20 restart for football in Spain as the country attempts to loosen coronavirus restrictions.
The 26-year-old Umtiti joined Barca from Lyon in 2016 after he helped France to the final of Euro 2016. He had further success with France in their successful 2018 World Cup campaign. He played 16 times for the Catalan giants this season before play was suspended in March, and was twice injured earlier in the campaign, causing him to miss 10 matches between September and November last year.
Barca returned to training at the club’s facility on Friday after almost two months on lockdown in defence against a virus that has killed over 26,0000 in Spain. Footballers in Spain restarted training following the announcement last week of a government plan that aims to end quarantine for professional players.
Individual training sessions are the first step to what La Liga hopes will be a return to action in June that will complete the 2019-20 season behind closed doors.
Besiktas player, staff
member test positive
for coronavirus
One Besiktas player and a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus three days after the announcement that the Turkish league will resume next month, the club said. League leaders Trabzonspor, champions Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas are among leading clubs which held training sessions this week in small groups in line with guidelines set out by the Turkish Football Federation.
Besiktas said all their players and coaching staff had been tested for the virus, adding that the player and staff member who tested positive had begun treatment. Fenerbahce said on Friday one of their staff members had tested positive for the virus, prompting the club to cancel a scheduled practice session. Turkey’s domestic leagues will resume without fans on June 12 after a three-month suspension and TFF Chairman Nihat Ozdemir said on Wednesday the country is planning to host the Champions League final in late August.
AC Milan announce no first team virus cases
AC Milan revealed yesterday that none of their first-team footballers or staff were positive for coronavirus, a day after the club’s president said that some players were recovering from the disease. In a statement, the seven-time European champions said that “based on the medical tests carried out so far on both the first team players and staff, there have not been any positive cases of Covid-19”.
Milan added that the team would continue the individual training programmes that they and other Serie A clubs had begun this week in the hope they can complete the 2019-20 this summer. On Friday, Milan president Paolo Scaroni told local media that some of the club’s players were recovering from Covid-19, which has killed over 30,000 people in Italy.
His comments came after Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Torino confirmed positive tests for eight players. On Thursday, Italy’s Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora had said that he was hopeful group training could resume on May 18 but yesterday said the positive cases “were not a good sign”.
Maradona autographs shirt to help Buenos Aires poor
Diego Maradona has lent a hand in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in his hometown by autographing an Argentina national team jersey for a raffle. The sale raised money for an underprivileged area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires affected by quarantine rules. “We’re going to get through it,” Maradona wrote on the jersey, a replica of the one he wore when he led his country to victory in the 1986 World Cup. The jersey was first offered at auction, but is being raffled to those who have given donations in an initiative that has collected hygiene products, masks and around 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of food for charity.
Samuel Umtiti
