Three additional A-League Men round seven games have been postponed due to COVID-19 cases at Brisbane Roar, Melbourne City and Central Coast.
Brisbane became the latest club to report cases after fully vaccinated players returned positive PCR tests on Tuesday, forcing the postponement of Sunday’s away game against Melbourne Victory.
City’s away game against Newcastle on January 1 and the Mariners’ New Year’s Eve clash with Macarthur have also been postponed.
Sydney’s January 2 clash with Perth had already been moved due to Glory isolating in Western Australia.
Three additional @IsuzuUTE Round 7 A-League games scheduled for this weekend have been postponed.https://t.co/vr8tvZXkzY#WeAreALeagues pic.twitter.com/ctZqOvezDI
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) December 29, 2021
It follows the postponement of four matches last round.
“The Brisbane Roar men’s football department confirmed positive COVID-19 cases via PCR testing on 28 December, with all players, coaches and staff now in isolation and awaiting further results, while following the Queensland Health directives,” an A-Leagues statement said.
The Mariners confirmed they had more positive cases, on top of those reported on December 27, which scuppered that day’s planned clash with Wellington, and would be unable to field a team this week.
City previously had six cases on December 22, which saw its December 27 clash with Roar cancelled, and won’t feature again this weekend, though the league was confident the champions would be back in action next week.
Every A-League Men club except Victory and Wellington has now reported COVID-19 cases.
There are two remaining games this weekend.
Adelaide, which had a COVID-19 case last week, is due to host Wellington on January 1.
The same day, Western Sydney and Western United, who also both had positive cases last week, are due to face off.
Later on Wednesday, the leagues confirmed further match postponements.
Three games on January 5: Wellington v Brisbane, Macarthur v Perth and Melbourne City v Adelaide, have all been postponed.
The league also confirmed Perth Glory’s A-League Women team, which hit the road in January, will host Canberra at NSW’s Wanderers Football Park on January 5.
Spoke to Justis Huni’s father, Rocky this morning – Huni’s next fight is now in serious doubt after he caught COVID a couple of days agohttps://t.co/D3UVRxU5EH
– Matt Bungard (@TheMattBungard) December 28, 2021
Meanwhile, Justis Huni’s return to the ring is under a cloud after the Australian heavyweight champion tested positive to COVID-19.
The world title hope this month flew to the US for a training camp ahead of a February 4 date with Joe Goodall in Brisbane.
Huni’s team confirmed the positive case on Wednesday, with a decision on the fight’s status to be made within a week.
Elsewhere, a Gold Coast Suns AFLW player has tested positive for COVID-19.
The player, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive to a PCR test conducted on Monday.
A positive Covid-19 test has hit the Gold Coast Suns AFLW team barely a week from round onehttps://t.co/W82F01px7Y @codesportsau
— Daniel Cherny ? (@DanielCherny) December 29, 2021
The Suns confirmed the rest of their players and staff were self-isolating, out of caution, awaiting further test results and guidance from relevant authorities.
Gold Coast is scheduled to host Greater Western Sydney in their season opener on Sunday, January 9.
-AAP