Second MLS side exits restart tournament due to virus

KISSIMMEE, FLA. Nashville SC withdrew from MLS’S season-reopening tournament Thursday, becoming the second team to exit because of a coronavirus outbreak and raising anew questions about sports resuming competition during a pandemic.

The club reported nine players — about a third of the roster — had tested positive for COVID -19 since arriving at a Disney resort, where all 26 teams are staying in a socalled bubble for several weeks.

The Nashville delegation arrived July 1, “having taken all the necessary steps and following all the mandated protocols established by the league as well as local and national health authorities,” the team said in a written statement.

One player tested positive upon arrival and another eight followed suit in subsequent days. Though the timeline suggests the virus was contracted in Tennessee, it appears to have spread in Florida.

While the infected players were placed in an isolated part of the massive hotel, other players and staff were quarantined in their rooms and unable to practise.

“Our focus now (lies) on the recovery of our players who have been infected with COVID -19 and on getting our complete travelling party back home safely,” Nashville chief executive Ian Ayre said.

The identities of the infected players and the severity of their respective illnesses were not disclosed.

In announcing Nashville’s withdrawal, MLS commissioner Don Garber said: “For every decision we make in our return to play, the well-being of our players, staff, officials and all participants is our top priority.”

FC Dallas withdrew Monday after 10 players and a staff member tested positive at their hotel.

Based on MLS’S testing data, few other teams have been affected. Early Thursday morning, the league said four of 1,888 individuals tested positive Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, that does not square with the recent Nashville results. MLS did not respond to requests for clarification.

People close to the situation, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the testing, said the league’s greatest concern all along was not necessarily teams contracting the virus at the hotel or playing facility.

Rather, the fear was it being brought from home markets without detection and going through an incubation period.