Goiás Soccer Team Learns of Ten Covid-19 Cases Only Hours Before Sunday’s Match

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A viral “bomb” went off in Goiás a few hours before the soccer match against São Paulo, in the 1st round of the Brazilian national championship tournament on Sunday at 4 PM in Serrinha.

The results of the Covid-19 tests conducted in the team for the match were released only on Sunday morning, according to the press office. The Brazilian Soccer League (CBF) canceled the match.

Of 26 tests conducted on players, ten tested positive for the novel coronavirus, eight of whom were in the starting lineup.

São Paulo, which boarded a plane to Goiânia with 40 people in its delegation, came on the field but was advised by the refereeing team that there would be no match. All members of the São Paulo team tested negative for Covid-19.

Testing issue

Goiás reported that there were issues in conducting the first tests on Thursday. According to a note from the club, the CBF requested the tests to be annulled on the grounds that the selected laboratory had “failed to pack the samples”.

The tests were redone on Friday, but the results were only delivered at 8:30 AM on Sunday. In all, there were 26 players selected – two for each quarter. Of the 26, ten tested positive for Covid-19.

The situation is similar to that of the Vila Nova team, which opened in Serie C last Saturday. The club’s president, Hugo Jorge Bravo, disclosed in Manaus that the test results had only come out on the match day, with the delegation then in the capital of Amazonas. At least one player tested positive. The club was also required to retake the tests during the week after the first collection.

The Goiás team bulletin:

“The tests conducted by the CBF in the 23 players convened for the game, on Thursday, were invalidated by CBF itself, claiming that the laboratory they selected in Goiania for the collection failed to pack the samples. The CBF asked for the tests to be redone on Friday. After the collection on Friday, the CBF, which was required to deliver the results at least 24 hours before the match, failed to submit the results to Goiás. The results were released at 8:30 AM on Sunday. Result: ten infected in the team out of 26 tests conducted.”

Source: Globo Esporte