Newcastle United‘s match against Aston Villa has been postponed due to an ongoing coronavirus outbreak at the North East club.
Newcastle United vs Aston Villa First Game to Be Postponed Since Project Restart
Both Clubs Consulted Before Postponement Announced
The match was due to be played on Friday December 4. However, Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to postpone the game following five positive coronavirus tests at the club.
Following a Premier League Board meeting today, Newcastle United’s fixture at Aston Villa, due to be played at 20:00 GMT Friday 4 December, has been postponed
Full statement: https://t.co/ehtPV0pjZ3 pic.twitter.com/SnMQfx18zJ
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 1, 2020
In a statement, the Premier League said: “Following a Premier League Board meeting today, Newcastle United’s fixture at Aston Villa, due to be played at 20:00 GMT, Friday 4 December, has been postponed.
“Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to rearrange the game following a significant increase in COVID-19 cases at the club, which resulted in Public Health England North East (PHE) advising that their training facilities remain closed.
“The Premier League Board agreed, as a consequence, that the club are unable to train and adequately and safely prepare for their match on Friday.
“The decision has been taken in consultation with Newcastle United and Aston Villa, and following extensive consultation with PHE and Premier League medical advisors, with the health of players and staff the priority.
“The Premier League wishes those with COVID-19 a safe and speedy recovery and will rearrange the postponed fixture against Aston Villa in due course.”
Newcastle Players Self-Isolating
Steve Bruce’s side have been unable to train since last Friday’s 2-0 win at Crystal Palace – after which Bruce revealed that the club had returned three positive coronavirus tests.
Two more cases were reported prior to Sunday, which resulted in another bout of testing on Sunday.
The club has yet to receive the results of the latest round of tests; however, according to The Guardian, those tests revealed a significant number of players and staff had recorded positive results.
Since then, the Newcastle squad haven’t trained at all and are self-isolating, with the club assessing the situation on a day-by-day basis.
Another round of testing is due to take place on Wednesday.
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