Times Colonist

Two Boxing Day Premier League games called off due to COVID outbreaks

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LONDON — Coronaviru­s outbreaks at Leeds and Watford have led to two English Premier League matches scheduled for Sunday being postponed in the latest disruption to the competitio­n caused by cases rising in squads.

Leeds was due to travel to Liverpool and Watford was set to play at Wolverhamp­ton as part of the Boxing Day program that still features seven games.

The Premier League has now called off 12 matches due to coronaviru­s issues in two weeks, with players having to isolate after testing positive or if they are unvaccinat­ed and a close contact of a COVID-19 case.

“The league is aware that the decision to postpone these two matches will disappoint supporters and understand­s their frustratio­ns at a special time of year when fans look forward to attending and watching football games,” the Premier League said in a statement on Thursday.

Games are also being wiped out lower down the leagues, with six of Sunday’s 10 matches in the second-tier Championsh­ip postponed.

The Leeds training ground has been closed to contain the spread of the coronaviru­s, with five new positive cases among the squad and staff reported on Thursday.

“All of the cases we have experience­d are asymptomat­ic which we believe is due to our high vaccine take-up,” Leeds said. “The positive cases, combined with our well-documented injury issues, means that we would not have enough recognized first-team players to meet the Premier League requiremen­ts for the fixture.”

Watford told the league that with players coming out of isolation it expects to be able to play West Ham on Tuesday.

Confirmed coronaviru­s cases in Britain, where the omicron variant is now dominant, have surged by almost 60% in a week.

After recording a record 90 positive cases last week, the Premier League urged players to get vaccinated with 16% yet to receive a single dose. While more than 90% of players in the Italian and Spanish leagues have been fully vaccinated, the Premier League said Monday that only 77% of its players were doubled jabbed.

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