Portugal detects 13 cases of the omicron variant in the cast of Belenenses

Team faced Benfica last Saturday (27)

Published on 29/11/2021 - 16:08 By Catarina Demony e Andrei Khalip - Lisboa (Portugal)

Portugal detected 13 cases of the omicron variant of the new coronavirus (covid-19) this Monday (29), all involving players and members of the technical team of Belenenses-SAD, a Lisbon football club, since a team player returned recently from South Africa, reported the country's Directorate General of Health (DGS).

The new variant, which the World Health Organization (WHO) said will probably "disseminate worldwide", was found after Belenenses-SAD played a game in the Portuguese Championship against Benfica on Saturday (27).

The game started with just nine Belenenses-SAD players on the field, because the rest of the squad was isolated, and only seven returned after the break. The match was abandoned two minutes into the second half when Benfica was winning by 7-0.

"We are all isolated, with the exception of the youth team, which did not play on Saturday, 44 people are isolated at home," said a spokesman for the team, also in isolation, on Monday.

“Two or three players and two or three team members have symptoms, but nothing too serious, the rest are asymptomatic. Everyone is waiting to repeat the exams as soon as the health agency authorizes it”, he added.

Also on Saturday, the presidents of Benfica and Belenenses-SAD said at a press conference that they had no choice but to play the match in order not to be punished for "unjustified absence". They blamed the league and DGS for not allowing the game to be postponed.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.

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