EFL: Cats can rearrange postponed games before investigation ends

Sunderland will NOT have to wait until the conclusion of an EFL investigation to rearrange the three League One fixtures affected by the club’s COVID-19 outbreak.

T h e B l ac k C at s’ fe s t ive c l a s h e s w i th S h rewsbu r y Town, Blackpool and Hull City have all been postponed after the club informed the EFL that they would be unable to fulfil the fixtures.

That decision came last Wednesday evening at a point when Sunderland confirmed five positive cases within the camp. This paper understands that number has since risen.

As is the norm when fixtures are postponed due to COVID-19, the EFL will now conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the postponements.

And there were fears that the trio of postponed games would not be able to be rearranged until such a point as the EFL investigation was concluded.

Given that those investigations have yet to finish, that could have left Sunderland with fixture congestion towards the end of the campaign.

But sources close to the EFL have confirmed that fixtures can be rearranged as soon as is practically possible.

T h at s h ou l d re p re s e nt something of a boost for the Black Cats, who will now be able to arrange the fixtures at a time convenient to them.

It also seemingly rules out the prospect of games being awa rd e d a ga i n s t Su n d e r - land as a result of the postponements, given the EFL have given the green light for the affected games to take place in the future.

All three games are set to take place in 2021, where there remain a number of free midweeks.

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