Ronaldo Covid positive, may miss Barca tie

LISBON: Portugal and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for Covid-19, the Portuguese football federation announced on Tuesday. Ronaldo “is asymptomatic” and “will not play against Sweden” in Wednesday’s Nations League match, the federation said on its website.

On Monday, the Juventus forward posted a photo on Twitter showing him and the rest of the Portugal squad having a meal together.

The players were all close to each other at a table, with Ronaldo apparently taking the photo himself at the front end. Along with the tweet, Ronaldo wrote, in Portuguese, “United on and off the field!”

Ronaldo, 35, played in Portugal’s goalless Nations League draw against France in Paris on Sunday. The federation added the rest of the Portugal squad were “all negative” after tests on Tuesday morning, as was the France squad, according to the French Football Federation.

Ronaldo has scored 101 goals for Portugal and will be a huge absence for his team against Sweden as they aim to hold on to top spot in their group. His contracting the disease is also a big blow for Juventus, as the health protocol in force for Serie A says that Ronaldo must self-isolate for 10 days and then record a negative test before he can resume playing.

That means Ronaldo will miss Juve’s Serie A match at Crotone on Saturday and the Italian champions’ opening Champions League group stage game at Dynamo Kiev in a week’s time.

He is also a doubt for Juventus’ following Champions League clash with Barcelona on October 28, which was set to pit Ronaldo against his old rival Lionel Messi.

The test result re-opens the controversy over his departure from Turin for the Portugal training camp, which was, according to local health authorities in Italy’s Piedmont region, a violation of the virus protocol.

Ronaldo and other Juventus stars left to join up with their national teams despite the team being in isolation after two staff members tested positive for the virus.

Roberto Testi, a director of the regional health authority, said that local prosecutors had been informed of the players’ unauthorised departure.

Ronaldo is the highest-profile footballer to test positive for Covid-19, which has killed over a million people since the start of the pandemic earlier this year.