Salzburg players out of national teams after 6 virus cases

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — Austrian soccer club Salzburg stopped its players from joining their national teams on Monday after six coronavirus cases were found in the squad.

The Austrian champions said they received results Sunday showing six positive tests among players who were due to head to their national teams during the international break. Salzburg hasn’t named the players and said they are all in isolation and no one is showing symptoms.

The cases cause yet more disruption for upcoming international games as coronavirus case numbers rise across Europe. Clubs in Germany and Italy have also delayed releasing players or refused to release them at all.

Salzburg said everyone at the club tested negative in samples taken Friday before the team played to a 1-1 draw with Rapid Vienna on Sunday. Another round of testing is planned for Monday.

The club said “all international call-ups … have also been rejected for now” and that the situation could change once players have undergone more tests.

That could leave the Austrian national team needing replacements ahead of its upcoming games. Salzburg goalkeeper Cican Stankovic and defenders Andreas Ulmer and Albert Vallci were all named in the Austria squad last week.

Austria plays Luxembourg in a friendly on Wednesday and then Nations League games against Northern Ireland and Norway.

Mali will have to cope without Salzburg midfielder Mohamed Camara and forward Sekou Koita. Midfielder Masaya Okugawa was in line to make his debut for Japan in upcoming friendlies.

Last week, German clubs Werder Bremen and Arminia Bielefeld said they wouldn’t release players for national team duty, citing local health regulations. Their decisions affected numerous teams, including the United States and Serbia.

In Italy, Roma and Fiorentina’s squads are in isolation after positive tests. That has stopped players who tested negative from joining their national teams. British restrictions on entry for people who have been in Denmark led to the Danish team replacing players from English clubs.

FIFA said last month clubs could refuse to release players who faced at least five days in quarantine on their return. Normally clubs can face sanctions if they don’t let players join their national teams.

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