COVID-19 Threatens More Africa Cup of Nations Teams
Four Cameroonian players tested positive for COVID-19, with the African Cup of Nations hosts set to kick off the tournament with the opening cracker against Burkina Faso in just over a week, the country’s football federation announced on Friday.
Other teams preparing for the finals, which begin on January 9, have also reported positive cases, with seven more in the Cape Verde Islands squad and one case reported in Morocco.
This is in addition to positive infections reported on Thursday by Algeria and the Ivory Coast, both of which have been hit hard by the possibility of a drug suspension for their first-choice goalkeeper.
Sylvain Gbohouo, who plays for Wolkite City in Ethiopia, has been provisionally suspended by FIFA after testing positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication classified as prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Cameroon also confirmed that leading defender Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui, midfielder Pierre Kunde Malong, winger Christian Bassogog, and backup goalkeeper Jean Efala had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Before reporting new cases in their camp on Friday, Cape Verde, who had been preparing for the Cup of Nations at home, had already cancelled a friendly match against Morocco.
According to a statement, the infected players were isolated but showed no symptoms, and only 15 players were able to train on Friday.
Morocco defender Badr Benoun, a late addition to their squad, has had to postpone plans to join teammates in training in the United Arab Emirates due to a positive drug test.
Similarly, Ivory Coast announced on Thursday that players arriving from Europe were placed in quarantine by the local authorities after they tested positive at their training camp in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Also, Algeria announced earlier this week that forward Youcef Belaili, as well as defenders Mohamed Amine Tougai and Houcine Benyada, had tested positive during their training camp in Qatar.
