Brasilia (AFP)

Towards a "Copa Corona"?

The teams of Venezuela and Bolivia were struck by positive cases for the coronavirus on Saturday, on the eve of the opening of the Copa América 2021 in Brazil, a country itself seriously affected by the pandemic.

Eleven members of the Venezuelan delegation, including eight players, tested positive for Covid-19, the Venezuelan Football Federation said on Saturday.

The captain of the Vinotinto, Tomas Rincon, for his part announced on Instagram that he was positive for the coronavirus and that he was withdrawing from the tournament.

His federation had announced Friday that the middle of Torino, victim of a "viral episode" without further details, had remained in "isolation" in Caracas.

The Venezuelan federation reported eleven cases, "eight players and three members of the management, who were immediately dismissed", without giving their names.

The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) had on the other hand reported a little earlier of 13 infected people, specifying: "All are asymptomatic" and "isolated".

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"All are isolated in the hotel, including those who have been in contact" with them, then declared the Brazilian Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga.

During his press conference, he also confirmed the opening match Brazil-Venezuela, Sunday in Brasilia (21:00 GMT).

- Three positive Bolivian players -

To make up for all these absences, Venezuela coach José Peseiro has called up 15 new players to take part in the competition.

Friday, the Conmebol had authorized the replacement "without limitation" of the players who would be positive and of those considered as "contact cases" and who must remain in quarantine.

Two "Vinotinto" players, Wilker Angel and Rolf Feltscher, had previously been excluded from the list due to coronavirus infections.

Shortly after Venezuela, Bolivia announced cases of contamination.

"After doing the PCR tests on the Bolivian delegation which is in Brazil (...) three positive cases among the players and one in the technical staff were detected", said the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) in a press release sent to AFP.

The federation, which did not disclose the identity of the people concerned, said that they were "in good health and isolated from the group", and that "all the procedures established by the health protocol" had been immediately put into effect. square.

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She did not report summoning other players to compensate for these impromptu absences.

The Bolivian selection, coached by the Venezuelan César Farias, has been in Goiania since Wednesday, where she arrived after her match in Chile (1-1) as part of the qualifications for the World-2022.

Bolivia will compete in this city against Paraguay on Monday.

- Tracing -

The question now arises: is the disease more widespread among Copa participants?

On the side of Venezuela, seven of the eight infected players were titular against Uruguay (0-0) Tuesday in Caracas, in qualifying for the World-2022, said Jose Peseiro, still without revealing their names.

Health authorities in Brasilia are tracing all those who have been in contact with those infected and will perform tests to determine the type of variant of the coronavirus, the secretary of health of the federal district of the capital, Osnei Okumoto, explained on CNN Brazil. .

"Given the length of their stay here, they must have come with the disease from the last country they were in," he added.

Brazil has been hit hard by the Gamma variant, which first appeared on its territory.

The Delta variant, first detected in India, has been reported in imported cases but has not been confirmed as a case of local transmission.

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"I would like there to be a level playing field for everyone in the competition," lamented Brazil coach Tite, who also ensured that his team still felt safe to approach this match. against the Venezuelans.

The organization of the Copa America is already criticized from all sides because of the health situation in Brazil, appointed new organizer of the competition after the withdrawal of Argentina and Colombia.

Brazil is the second country most bereaved by the pandemic, after the United States, with more than 485,000 deaths.

© 2021 AFP