LIVERPOOL will benefit from a loophole in the Premier League’s Covid-19 rules which saw Mo Salah return just FIVE days after a positive test.
Salah is in line to play in tonight’s Champions League clash against Atalanta after being able to start training again on Monday.
Mo Salah is set to play against Atalanta just seven days after testing positive for coronavirusCredit: Reuters
That is despite Prem rules stating stars cannot train or play for ten days after a positive test.
SunSport has learned league bosses have blurred those lines — claiming they actually mean ten days from an INITIAL positive test.
Salah had two positive tests, the second coming on Wednesday last week, after going away with Egypt.
Yet Government rules clearly say the quarantine period is taken from the point of each test — not from an ‘initial’ one.
UK law states: “If you have symptoms, the ten days starts from when they started. If you have not had symptoms, the ten days starts from when you had the test.”
Liverpool have done nothing wrong and Salah’s return was cleared by the Prem. Uefa allow a player to play after a week’s quarantine period.
But it does now leave league guidelines open to scrutiny.
Prem chiefs will deal with each Covid issue on a case by case basis — led by medical advice.
The league has admitted that there may be examples where one person is dealt with differently to another – even though Appendix 14 of their regulations appear to make the rules clear.
They state: “Each Club must ensure that: (i) all PDP Persons comply with Government guidance regarding management of COVID-19 symptoms experienced by them or any member of their household, including any ‘test and trace’ guidance or policy implemented by Government
“(ii) in the event that a PDP Person develops symptoms of COVID-19 at any point: a. they self-isolate for ten days or until symptoms resolve (whichever is the later); and b. members of the PDP Person’s household self-isolate for 14 days.”
They were happy for Salah to return as he had subsequently provided a negative sample.
Yet Conor Coady could not play for Wolves on Monday as he was self-isolating, despite never testing positive.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk