Satellite view of the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, which is to host the resumption of MLS and the NBA in July 2020. - Planet Labs / AFP

The big MLS is back tournament is turning into a fiasco. With at least 13 players from three teams infected (and probably more) by the coronavirus in Orlando, the American soccer league announced Monday that FC Dallas was forfeited. While teams have arrived late in the "bubble" of Disney World, in Florida, several other games will undoubtedly have to be postponed, and anger is raging among players who have the feeling of playing guinea pigs. So much so that the star of LAFC, Carlos Vela, announced that he would skip a tournament supposed to start Wednesday to stay with his pregnant wife. If officially, a cancellation of the tournament was not - yet - on the agenda, Monday, everything could quickly change. The NBA, it follows the situation closely, while the playoffs must start at the end of the month in the same place.

Dallas package, who's next?

MLS put it mildly on Monday that Dallas FC had been "removed" from the tournament. "The health of the players is our priority," obviously assures the league. A decision welcomed by the club, when 10 of its players and a member of staff have tested positive for coronavirus - it seems before arriving in Orlando.

News: FC Dallas withdrawn from MLS is Back Tournament. https://t.co/UFU1gB0cVQ

- Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 6, 2020

pic.twitter.com/x35Hm0yeBv

- FC Dallas (@FCDallas) July 6, 2020

According to MLS, there are a total of 13 positive players (10 in Dallas and 3 in two other clubs) among the 557 players in Orlando. But according to the American media, there are two cases of Covid at Vancouver FC and five at Nashville SC, so these teams were unable to train. The Dallas-Vancouver game, scheduled for Thursday, was canceled due to the Dallas package. And the one between Nashville and Chicago, which is slated to kick off the tournament on Wednesday, should be postponed to a minimum, ESPN said - the press conference scheduled for Monday has been canceled. Meanwhile, the Colorado Rapids finally flew to Orlando on Monday night after negative tests.

This boycots the tournament, Rubio criticizes the failures of the bubble

At this point, all Covid cases have officially been contracted before joining Orlando. According to the MLS, there was therefore no contamination on the spot. But players don't really feel safe in Florida. Carlos Vela, last year's top scorer (34 goals in 31 games) with LAFC, has announced that he will not participate in the tournament. The Mexican star chose to stay at home with his wife "during a risky pregnancy".

Columbus goalkeeper Matt Lampson will make the trip, but the cancer survivor said he was one of the players "at risk" if infected. The Chilean Diego Rubio, of the Colorado Rapids, finally, relayed - before his departure for Orlando - the disturbing testimony of a player from a confined team:

🤦🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/gGLsVZsBQ4

- Diego Rubio (@DiegoRubio_) July 5, 2020

“Their team is supposed to be in quarantine after a positive test. But there is no one to deliver the meals to their room, which is supposed to be the protocol, so they have to take the elevator to the dining room and bring it back. They tell other players to be careful with the surfaces and use a ton of hydroalcoholic gel "

A partial bubble, and Covid cases exploding around in Florida

On paper, the idea of ​​MLS did not seem silly: to gather all the players in a bubble, to test them on their arrival and before each match. The problem is that the bubble is far from being airtight: if the players live in isolation in privatized hotels of the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, at Disney World, the employees, them, go out every day to return home, according to the Orlando Sentinel . There is, of course, a protocol in place with regular temperature readings, but with pre-symptomatic patients who can be contagious, the system is far from being shielded. Especially since the coronavirus explodes in Florida, which was one of the first American states to deconfinate, with 8,000 new cases daily on average since the end of June.

Coronavirus cases in Florida, with nearly 8,000 new cases daily for 10 days, and it's red in the counties around Orlando, where the MLS tournament is due to start on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/6w1ahMsT5z

- Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) July 7, 2020

NBA hopes to learn from these failures

The NBA, which has chosen the large Disney World complex to end its season from July 30, is monitoring the situation closely. The main difference is that MLS let the players, who didn't really want to spend their isolated summer in Orlando, arrive at the last minute. The NBA teams will arrive in the coming days, several weeks before the start of the competition, which should allow better control of the players and the screenings. Come on, if not, all that remains is to move everything to Canada.

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NBA: Personal alarms, pedicures, games… What will the Disney World “bubble” look like?

  • Coronavirus
  • NBA
  • Soccer
  • Florida
  • Sport