Man City v Arsenal clash postponed over coronavirus fears

The English Premier League game between Manchester City and Arsenal — expected to take place on Wednesday night at the Etihad — has been postponed over coronavirus fears.

The postponement comes hours after Evangelos Marinakis, Olympiacos owner, announced that he has contracted the diseases.

Marinakis was seen on the pitch at the Emirates stadium when his side played Arsenal in the Europa League on February 27.

Arsenal would later confirm that they had “identified that a number of players met the Olympiacos owner immediately following the game”.

The North London club, in a statement, said the risk of those players developing Covid-19 was “extremely low”, but added that the affected players and staff would follow government guidelines and self-isolate for 14 days.

“Following yesterday’s news that Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis has recently contracted Covid-19, we have been taking medical advice and tracing any individuals who had what the guidelines define as close contact with him at the game 13 days ago,” Arsenal statement said.

“As a result of this exercise we identified that a number of players met the Olympiacos owner immediately following the game.

“The medical advice we have received puts the risk of them developing Covid-19 at extremely low.

“However, we are strictly following the Government guidelines which recommend that anyone coming into close contact with someone with the virus should self-isolate at home for 14 days from the last time they had contact.

“As a result, the players are unavailable for tonight’s match against Manchester City and the Premier League has decided the game should be postponed.

“The players will remain at their homes until the 14-day period expires. Four Arsenal staff – who were sitting close to Mr Marinakis during the match – will also remain at home until the 14 days are complete.

“We fully understand how disappointing this is for our supporters, in particular those who were travelling to Manchester for tonight’s match. Tickets will be valid for the match when it’s rearranged.

“As a further precautionary measure, whilst we do not believe there was any close contact with any other Arsenal guests or staff in the directors box restaurant, we are contacting them to advise they should follow the relevant advice if there has been any such contact.

“Everyone at Arsenal Football Club wishes Mr Marinakis a swift recovery and we look forward to the players and staff returning to work on Friday in preparation for our match at Brighton.”

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers are “unhappy” that UEFA did not postpone their scheduled Europa League tie at Olympiacos after Marinakis – who is also Nottingham Forest’s majority owner – announcement on Tuesday.