UPDATES WITH FOUR MORE POSTPONED MATCHES BY PREMIER LEAGUE; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK
ANKARA (AA) - The English Premier League board on Thursday postponed six matches, including Leicester City’s week 17 match against Tottenham Hotspur slated for Thursday evening.
In a statement, the Premier League said the game at King Power Stadium has been postponed due to a rise in COVID-19 cases within Leicester’s squad.
“Following consultation with the Premier League and UK Health Security Agency, the club’s (Leicester) first-team training ground was closed this morning to help contain the outbreak,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Manchester United’s game against Brighton and Hove Albion, scheduled for Dec. 18, has also been called off by the board.
Several hours later the same day, the board decided to postpone four more league games, including Southampton-Brentford, Watford-Crystal Palace, and West Ham United-Norwich City games on Saturday and Everton-Leicester City game on Sunday.
The Premier League board noted that Watford, Norwich City, and Leicester City have an insufficient number of players available to fulfill their match due to COVID-19, injuries, and other illnesses, while Brentford's training ground is closed which means they are unable to prepare for the upcoming game.
The Premier League has recently reverted to emergency COVID-19 measures, including protocols such as more frequent testing, wearing face coverings while indoors, and observing social distancing, after the recent rise in infections across the country.