Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Conor due apology in Covid row
CONOR MCKENNA is to receive an apology from a leading AFL pundit who said he had “no sympathy” for the Essendon defender after his positive COVID-19 test.
Former North Melbourne star David King hit out at Mckenna for allegedly breaking quarantine rules ahead of his positive test last Saturday, which caused the postponement of Essendon’s game with Melbourne and has threatened the revised AFL schedule.
However, Mckenna has since reported a negative test as medics try to get to the bottom of the matter and there is much disquiet, both in Ireland and Australia, at how the Tyrone native’s name was dragged through the mud in recent days.
Speaking last weekend,
King said: “The protocols are there for everyone and he’s clearly gone outside of those. I have no sympathy for Conor and he’s got to face what comes but what it does to the game is disastrous really.”
But the two-time Premiership winner has rowed back and tweeted: “A lot of feedback from my C Mckenna opinion given on Saturday. Most of it fair and warranted. Went off information that changed, which is my error, I own it and clearly I will follow up with Conor to apologise.”
Meanwhile, the state of Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton has said Mckenna is still classified as a confirmed positive case and must serve the 14-day isolation period which he started last Saturday, though Essendon are hopeful that a second successive negative test will see him released from quarantine.