There is growing concern about a Covid-19 outbreak among the Black Stars after Jordan Ayew became the sixth player to test positive follow...
There is growing concern about a Covid-19 outbreak among the Black Stars after Jordan Ayew became the sixth player to test positive following the recent international break.
Crystal Palace’s confirmation of Ayew’s status on Sunday adds to the increasing number of players afflicted with the condition who were part of the team camp in Antalya, Turkey.
Six players and two officials who took part in the training camp are now confirmed by their clubs and the Ghana FA to be down with the disease.
Below is a timeline of events:
Mali FA doctor Adama Sangare confirms four of their players
test positive for Covid-19 on the eve of a friendly with the Black Stars. They
include Mali skipper and former Leicester defender Molla Wague (Amiens SC),
Hamidou Traore, Aly Yirango and Aboubacar ‘Kiki’ Kouyate (FC Metz).
October 9
The friendly game still goes ahead. Mali beat Ghana 3-0 in
Antalya.
Ghana face Qatar in a second friendly, winning 5-1. Both teams report no positive cases before the game.
October 13
A scheduled friendly between Mali and Iran is cancelled after the two teams agree that it is too risky to go ahead. This follows another two positive cases in the Mali camp.
October 14
Turkish club Besiktas announce that Bernard Mensah has returned a positive test. He is the first case reported following the Black Stars training camp.
October 16
Gideon Mensah tests positive, reports his club Vitoria Guimaraes. He played in both Mali and Qatar friendlies. It also emerges that a Ghana FA official, Jones Alhassan Abu, has tested positive and is self-isolating in Turkey.
October 16
Celta Vigo do not include Joseph Aidoo in their matchday
squad while confirming he has the virus.
October 17
German club TSG Hoffenheim announce that two squad members
are Covid-19 positive. Ghanaian media later report that Kassim Nuhu Adams, also
at the Black Stars camp, is one of them.
Caleb Ekuban taken to hospital after recording a 39° body temperature following his return from international duty. Reports emerge that the Trabzonspor forward had shared a room with Bernard Mensah.
October 18
Crystal Palace confirm striker Jordan Ayew is down with the virus. Coach Roy Hodgson hints that there was a concern about the player following the growing number of cases in the Ghana team.
October 18
The Ghana Football Association, in a statement issued on
Sunday night, assured that it had strictly adhered to all protocols while the
team was in camp at Antalya in Turkey. The FA says a minimum of three separate
tests were done for players and staff, confirming that at least two technical
team members tested positive.
Source: Joy Sports
