EFL chiefs to order ALL Carabao Cup teams to take coronavirus tests ahead of last-16 after Tottenham fiasco
EFL chiefs will order ALL Carabao Cup teams to take Covid-19 tests ahead of next week’s last-16 clashes. The third round fell into farce as Leyton Orient’s 17 positive results ruined their clash with Tottenham and Hull refused West Ham’s offer to provide screening. But chairman Rick Parry said: “For the next round we will test everybody. […]
EFL chiefs will order ALL Carabao Cup teams to take Covid-19 tests ahead of next week’s last-16 clashes.
The third round fell into farce as Leyton Orient’s 17 positive results ruined their clash with Tottenham and Hull refused West Ham’s offer to provide screening.
But chairman Rick Parry said: “For the next round we will test everybody.
“It was a bit random this time, it wasn’t coordinated through the leagues, it was kind of club to club.
“Some agreed, some didn’t. Hull didn’t, West Ham got positive, oddly.
“Orient agreed and suddenly 17 positives – the nightmare scenario.
“Safety comes first and foremost. I don’t think we needed a wake-up call but it has given us one.”
The EFL confirmed Orient must forfeit the Spurs tie so the Premier League side will now play Chelsea.
Grimsby are the latest club to suffer a Covid-19 postponement, with their League Two Cheltenham trip off after midfielder Jock Curran tested positive.
Mariners chairman Philip Day believes their next three games will be axed with the club’s training HQ shut for 14 days.
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Day said: “We don’t know if players. have the virus or are asymptomatic – we have put safety first and asked the EFL to call off the game.”
Orient’s game at Walsall is also off as a result of their outbreak and O’s chairman Nigel Travis is pushing for weekly testing in Leagues One and Two – despite it costing £4,000-£7,000 per squad.
Travis told SunSport: “The rationale is understandable, it’s expensive. But we need testing.”