Tottenham vs Rennes called off after Covid outbreak, Uefa confirms

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Louise Thomas

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Uefa confirmed on Thursday morning that Tottenham’s Europa Conference League match against Rennes has been postponed, despite the Ligue 1 club’s protest against the decision.

After a Covid outbreak at Tottenham’s training ground, eight first-team players and five members of staff have returned positive tests, and the club released a statement on Wednesday confirming it had “unilaterally” reached a decision to call the match off.

However, Rennes said the decision “had not been confirmed by Uefa in any way” and cited a “lack of fair play”.

On Thursday morning, amid conflicting reports, Uefa appeared to insist the “match is due to take place as scheduled,” only to then confirm that the match would not be going ahead and that a new date was being discussed.

Tottenham, who trail Rennes by four points in Group G, are also in discussions with the Premier League over postponing their fixture against Brighton on Sunday.

The club’s statement on Wednesday read: “We can confirm that our Uefa Europa Conference League Group G home fixture against Stade Rennais will not take place tomorrow (Thursday 9 December at 8pm UK) after a number of positive Covid-19 cases at the club. Discussions are ongoing with Uefa and we shall provide a further update on this fixture in due course.

“Additionally, following discussions with the Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) and DCMS advisers, the club has been advised to close the first team area of its training centre at this time, in the interests of the health and safety of players and staff.”