Twelve members of the Venezuelan delegation, including players, tested positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the opening match of the Copa America against Brazil from Neymar, host country, the health authorities in Brasilia said on Saturday.
“On Friday evening, the health secretariat of the federal district was informed by the Conmebol that 12 members of the Venezuelan national football team, including players and members of the technical committee, have tested positive for Covid-19”, the entity said in a statement sent to AFP. “All are asymptomatic” and “isolated”, he added.
The statement did not specify how many players had tested positive among the 12 members of the delegation, although a representative of the health authorities reported to CNN Brasil at least 5 players and 5 officials infected.
Those affected are “asymptomatic” and “isolated” in individual rooms, under the surveillance of Conmebol, the South American football confederation, and the Secretariat of Health, the authority added in its statement.
The appearance of cases of coronavirus in the Venezuelan team is the latest blow for a Copa America criticized from all sides because of the health situation in Brazil, new host country of the competition after the withdrawal of Argentina and the Colombia.
Brazil is the second country most bereaved by the pandemic, after the United States, with 484,000 deaths.
Consequently, the Conmebol modified its rules to allow the selections to replace, in an unlimited way, all the players affected by the virus before or during the competition.
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