Bristol have been put on standby to play in the Premiership final against Exeter should Wasps have to pull out of the English rugby union club showpiece at Twickenham because of coronavirus concerns.
Bristol were crushed 47-24 in last Saturday’s play-off but would be given a reprieve as ‘lucky losers’ on the strength of finishing higher than Bath – the other losing semi-finalists – at the end of the regular Premiership season.
Four Wasps players and three members of backroom staff produced positive results for COVID-19 last Wednesday and are now self-isolating, with the club also cancelling training for the week.
The drama and uncertainty surrounding the English final only mirrors the problems besetting professional teams and event organisers around the world as the effect of the virus continued to disrupt global sport on Friday.
In the NFL, the New England Patriots cancelled practice after a member of the organisation tested positive for COVID-19, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts closed their practice facility for a while after “several individuals” tested positive, only for the retests to come back negative which allowed the building to be reopened.
Eight players and four members of staff at Montpellier have tested positive for COVID-19, the French Ligue 1 club said in a statement on Friday.
Montpellier, who did not name the players, said that the 12 had been isolated according to health protocols and that further tests had been conducted. Their game at Monaco on Sunday is still expected to go ahead.
The start of the Alpine ski World Cup series in Solden, Austria, on Saturday has also been affected with a Swedish team coach Ola Masdal having tested positive for the virus, while another team has also reportedly been affected.
Portugal’s health authority said on Friday it was reconsidering whether to allow fans into sports events, including the Formula One Grand Prix for which thousands of tickets had been sold, as it is still trying to contain a surge in infections.
The director of the circuit in Portimao, in the country’s southern Algarve region, said in August around 28,000 tickets had already been sold but warned that fans would not be allowed in if the pandemic worsened.
Ireland rugby union coach Andy Farrell said there were bigger things than finishing the Six Nations competition as the Irish government considered a renewed call by the country’s health chiefs for a second national lockdown due to the spread of the virus.
Ireland are due to resume their Six Nations campaign at home to Italy in eight days’ time before finishing the tournament that has been delayed by seven months in France on October 31.
Ireland’s top doctors have called for a tightening of COVID-19 restrictions, which would see elite sport banned.
“There’s bigger things than finishing the Six Nations,” said former rugby league star Farrell, who took over as Ireland coach after last year’s World Cup.
“If that (national lockdown) is what the government feel is needed for the health and safety of the country, we’ll be more than happy to follow that.”
