Aston Villa vs Burnley suspended among several weekend games
The Premier League has suspended several games this weekend in the English Premier League because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the league. Premier League chiefs were told that because of the increased number of outbreaks fueled by the Omicron variant, there would be increasing support among the managers to suspend the league until the weekend of 8-9 January, when the FA Cup third-round games are to begin. Postponing all games until the weekend of 1-2 January would push back four rounds of matches in the English Premier League.
The Premier League recognises that several clubs are facing COVID-19 outbreaks. Still, they intend to proceed with the current games scheduled, as safely as possible, reiterating that they, too, were concerned about the players they who remained a top priority.
On Friday, Aston Villa’s game against Burnley was set to kick-off, but the former Liverpool man, Steven Gerrard, earlier said that they could expect changes to happen quickly after a few games. Today, Aston Villa released a statement notifying the Premier League that they were suspending their fixture against Burnley because of the high number of COVID-19 cases among the squad.
“Aston Villa can confirm that today’s Premier League fixture with Burnley has been postponed due to an increased amount of positive Covid-19 test results within our playing squad. The results of PCR tests, which were taken yesterday prior to training as well as Lateral Flow Tests, were received this morning and confirmed further depletion of our playing squad which was already impacted upon for our trip to Norwich in midweek,” the statement read.
Aston Villa told the Premier League that the players who tested positive for COVID-19 are isolating according to the Premier League government and guidance and protocols. The Villans apologised to their sponsors and both their and the Burnley fans that were to attend the game, “The club is extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to Burnley Football Club, both our own supporters and the Burnley fans due to attend the fixture but have acted as swiftly as possible this morning to minimise disruption,” the statement read.
The Premier League also released a statement accepting Aston Villa’s request to postpone their fixture against Burnley but noted that all the other fixtures set to play this weekend would continue. “The league understands the decision to postpone the match at such short notice will frustrate and disappoint supporters and apologises for the inconvenience and disruption caused. The remaining four Premier League matches due to be played this weekend are currently scheduled to proceed as planned,” the statement read.
