Tottenham 'surprised' by postponing Arsenal match
Tottenham Hotspur was surprised by the Premier League's decision today, Saturday, to postpone the North London summit against Arsenal, scheduled for Sunday, due to the large number of absentees due to infection with Covid-19, injuries and the participation of players in the African Nations Cup in Cameroon.
Arsenal had asked the League on Friday to postpone due to the insufficient number of players to play the match.
"With fewer players available than required to play the match (13 players plus one goalkeeper) at Arsenal, the committee agreed to the club's request (to postpone the match)," the association said in a statement.
And this is the 21st match that has been postponed in the Premier League this season in a little more than one month, and since the number of people infected with the mutated Omicron strain of the Corona virus increased.
Arsenal's Granit Xhaka is absent due to a red card against Liverpool last Thursday in the League Cup semi-final first leg, while Cedric Soares, Bukayo Saka and Callum Chambers suffer injuries.
Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang traveled to Cameroon to participate with their country's teams in the African Nations Cup, while Norway's Martin Odegaard contracted Covid-19.
Arsenal is fifth in the league with 35 points from 20 games, and two points ahead of Tottenham, sixth in the league from 18 games.
Spurs issued a statement saying that the league's decision to postpone the match shortly before it was scheduled would negatively affect the fans' plans.
"We are very surprised that the request has been approved," Spurs said.
He added, “The main objective of the regulation is to deal with the players’ readiness that is directly related to Covid-19 injuries, which affects the increase in absentees, as with the presence of injured, the matter results in the inability to participate in a squad.”
"We don't think the goal was to deal with players' readiness not related to Covid.
It is important to clarify the regulation in this matter.”
Earlier today, Arsenal said in a statement, “We are aware of the meaning of this match for our fans around the world, but the League has taken the decision to postpone due to the absence of many players due to Covid-19, injuries and the participation of players in the African Nations Cup.”
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