WE MUST FACE SPURS
Orient in plea after virus KOs big match
LEYTON ORIENT chairman Nigel Travis has pleaded for their Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham to be rescheduled after it was called alled off because of a coronavirus us outbreak.
The EFL were thought to be about to announce Orient would have to forfeit the tie before Travis, right, intervened.
He pleaded with the EFL to set a new date, and officials will decide today whether the game should be rescheduled or forfeited. Tottenham already have an overcrowded fixture list and cannot see a space in the calendar. Postponing the game would cause more fixture chaos after a shambolic 24 hours
waiting to see if the Orient tie could go ahead.
But Travis, whose club stand to lose out on £ 150,000 in TV cash if the tie is not rescheduled, says Premier League clubs would be treated better and if the game is forfeited then it will encourage other clubs not to test players.
Travis said: “I’ve said it publicly and I reiterate it here – we think the appropriate action is for this game to take place.
“Can you imagine the outrage if, say, in the fourth round, Spurs vs Chelsea... one of those teams were impacted in the same way and the game didn’t take place? This clearly is not a good policy. Leyton Orient have followed all the guidelines and have done the right things.”
It is believed 25 Orient players were tested and the majority of the
results were positive. The club’s stadium and training ground have now been closed down by Public Health England as they will have to undergo a deep clean.
It means the game could not be played next week because the players would still be undergoing 10 days of self- isolation.
They then cannot resume training for another two days after returning a negative test. Last night’s tie was not called off officially until less than three hours before kick- off as the EFL and Tottenham were waiting on Public Health England to deem it unsafe while Orient were pleading to save the game.
Tottenham had assumed that Orient would forfeit the match because they could not fulfil the fixture and that would leave them with a bye to face the winners of the Chelsea- Barnsley tie next week.
Spurs already have Premier League and Europa League ties to play.
Tottenham did pay for Orient’s players to be tested and other Premier League clubs have offered to do the same for EFL teams.
But it is understood Morecambe, Luton and Brentford have not been tested ahead of facing top- flight opposition this week.
The EFL no longer insists on weekly tests.