Five members of Valencia squad test positive for coronavirus

Valencia confirmed on Sunday five of the club’s players and staff have tested positive for coronavirus, including Argentinian defender Ezequiel Garay.

Valencia said all those affected were “now at home, in good health and obeying self-isolation measures.”

Garay, who was set to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, became the first player in La Liga to confirm a positive test earlier on Sunday.

“It’s clear that I have got off to the wrong start in 2020. I’ve tested positive for the coronavirus, I feel very good and now I just have to listen to the health authorities and for now remain isolated.”

Valencia confirmed more cases shortly after Garay’s announcement. “Valencia CF confirm five positive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus have been detected amongst first team staff and players.

“All of these persons are now at home, in good health and obeying self-isolation measures.”

Valencia played behind closed doors on Tuesday in the Champions League against Atalanta, the Serie A team based in Lombardy, one of Italy’s worst-hit regions by the virus.

After playing the first leg away at Atalanta on Feb. 19 without restrictions to supporters, Valencia was one of the first Spanish clubs to take precautions.  The club announced on Feb. 28 they would be suspending all non-sporting activity with the first-team after a journalist attending the opening game against Atalanta was confirmed to have tested positive.

All engagement with the media before and after subsequent matches against Real Betis on Feb. 29 and Alaves on Friday was cancelled, while a tribute to the club’s former player David Villa was also called off.  La Liga have since suspended all league fixtures for two weeks while clubs have closed down their training grounds and instructed players to train alone from home.

An unnamed Real Madrid basketball player tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

Serious doubts remain about whether the current season can be finished, with La Liga understood to be in favour of extending the campaign into the summer and postponing Euro 2020 until either later this year or 2021.

UEFA will hold a video conference on Tuesday, where football’s response to the virus will be discussed, along with the status of Euro 2020, the Champions League and the Europa League.

Lionel Messi has called for people to “stay at home” and heed the advice of authorities in a bid to counter the coronavirus epidemic.

The Barcelona and Argentina forward’s message came as the global death toll from the outbreak surpassed 5,000 on Saturday.

Messi said he is currently spending time with his family after the suspension of all major domestic and continental football competitions in Europe, as well as the postponement of the first two rounds of South America’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

“Health must always come first,” Messi said in an Instagram post. “It is an exceptional time and we must follow the instructions of health organisations and public authorities. Only by doing this can we effectively combat it.

“It is the time to be responsible and stay at home. It is also a perfect opportunity to enjoy family time, something that’s not always possible.”

Messi’s words were accompanied by a photo of the 32-year-old with two of his children.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner said he hoped “we can turn this situation around as soon as possible” and offered moral support to those directly impacted by the virus.

“These are complicated days for everyone,” Messi said. “We are worried about what is happening and we want to help by putting ourselves in the place of those who are having the worst of it, either because it has directly affected them or their family and friends, or because they are working on the front line to combat it in hospitals and health centres. I want to send a lot of strength to all of them.”

Agencies