Tottenham v Fulham postponed due to Covid outbreak, Premier League insists season will continue
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ByEurosport
Updated 30/12/2020 at 22:26 GMT
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham is the latest fixture to be called off amidst the coronavirus pandemic. It will undoubtedly increase the clamour for a circuit-break hiatus to the football season, but the Premier League has insisted other matches will continue as planned, with Liverpool set to face Newcastle on Wednesday evening.
Tottenham Hotspur Manager José Mourinho ahead of the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 20, 2020 in London, United Kingdom
Image credit: Getty Images
Tottenham Hotspur's match against Fulham in the Premier League has been called off - less than three hours before kick-off - due to a Covid outbreak in the visitors' camp.
The match is the third in the English top flight to be postponed due to Covid-19 cases this season. Newcastle United's trip to Aston Villa was called off earlier this month, as was Monday's match between Everton and Manchester City.
"Fulham lodged a request with the Premier League board to rearrange the fixture following a significant rise in positive Covid-19 cases, as well as a number of players showing symptoms today," read a Premier League statement.
"The Premier League board has consulted its medical advisors and the decision to postpone the game has been taken as a precaution and with the health of players and staff as the priority. The group will now be retested immediately."
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Prem has 'full confidence' in being able to continue season
However, as calls mount for a circuit-break hiatus to the football season, the Premier League insisted the show would go on.
"With low numbers of positive tests across the overwhelming majority of clubs, the Premier League continues to have full confidence in its Covid-19 protocols and being able to continue to play our fixtures as scheduled," the statement added.
Spurs boss Jose Mourinho had suggested earlier in the day that the fixture might be postponed, with an acerbic post on Instagram.
It showed his squad sitting in a lounge, with the caption, "Match at 6pm. We still don't know if we play. Best league in the world."
City report no new positives ahead of Chelsea game
However, there was better news from Manchester City, who have returned to training after testing revealed no new positives following the outbreak which postponed their match against Everton on Monday.
Five City players are currently isolating and while there will be more testing before Sunday's scheduled match against Chelsea, no fresh cases have been uncovered as yet.
Fans banned at Liverpool and Everton as all 20 clubs go behind closed doors
Liverpool and Everton will both play home games behind closed doors after the Liverpool City Region was placed into Tier 3 of Britain's Covid-19 restrictions.
The clubs were the last two in the Premier League admitting fans as the area had been in Tier 2 since December 2.
However, that has now changed with the latest government restrictions and all 20 Premier League teams will again play behind closed doors.
Liverpool play their next three games away from Anfield but their home match against Manchester United on January 17 will be played without fans.
A potential solution to the Premier League Covid fixture crisis?
In a season that has already been compacted and crammed, things could be about to get worse.
With over half of the season left to play and a finish date of May 23, just 19 days before rescheduled Euro 2020 kicks off, what do the recent postponements mean for teams and what could the solutions be? Would calling off the FA Cup be an option? Or should there be a 'circuit break' now? We take a look in our feature: Prem Covid crisis - Scrap FA Cup? Take a break? What now for season?
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