INFO MIDI LIBRE – The situation is not improving at Nîmes Olympique: after the tests on Wednesday, eight players and five members of the extended staff are positive for Covid-19. According to our information, the club has requested the postponement of its match against Valenciennes, scheduled for Saturday January 15 at Costières. The Professional Football League (LFP) will decide.
The new Nîmes Olympique coach Nicolas Usaï was unable to train this Wednesday morning. Feverish all night, he nevertheless went to the Bastide to consult the club doctor. His antigen test turned out to be negative, but the winning technician in Dijon for his debut on the croco bench (2-1) appears on borrowed time.
Indeed, NO is now at 13 positive cases for Covid-19: now eight players, and five members of the extended staff. This prompted the management of the Gard club to ask the League (LFP), already, to postpone its meeting against Valenciennes, scheduled for Saturday January 15 at 7 p.m. at Costières.
It takes 11 positives to report. But NO no longer has a goalkeeper…
What does the current medical protocol for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 say? It indicates that the LFP competitions committee, on the advice of the Covid FFF national committee, may decide to postpone a match “in the event of a potential or proven impossibility for a club to have a group of twenty players, including a goalkeeper, tested negative RT-PCR being part of the official list of thirty players declared by the club to the LFP for the period of competition considered”.
Clearly, each club must give a list of 30 players. A match can be maintained as long as 20 players (including a goalkeeper) out of this squad of 30 are negative. However, Nîmes Olympique now has 22 negative players (including one who has barely returned from Covid, Benrahou) but no longer has a goalkeeper! Dias and Bratveit are positive, and Nazih is still injured (wrist). But the latter does not have the Covid, so… Can the LFP then ask NO to call on an off-list doorman, either Malafosse, or Rothacher, the last ramparts of the reserve?
New tests this Thursday
The competitions commission should decide this Thursday, after the result of the now compulsory PCR tests 48 hours before an official meeting… For the moment, Nicolas Usaï has sent the message to the survivors: “We ignore the situation and we getting ready to play on Saturday!” This Wednesday morning, the session was not very long but intense: athletic work with the ball, finishing and replacement, on transitions and an opposition at 9 against 9 to finish. Waiting to be enough to play 11 against 11 again…
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