The manager of the UK’s Arsenal football club Mikel Arteta has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, prompting the team to “deep clean” its training center in Hertfordshire and its key players to undergo self-quarantine.
“Arsenal personnel who had recent close contact with Mikel will now self-isolate in line with Government health guidelines,” the club said in a statement on Thursday, noting that would include its “full first-team squad and coaching staff, as well as a smaller number of people from our Hale End Academy,” which has been temporarily shut down as a precaution.
Both the academy and the team’s training center in Hertfordshire will be given a “deep clean,” the club added, though other club sites will continue to operate as normal.
The team sought to assure fans earlier this week that none of its athletes or staff had contracted the illness, after the owner of Greece’s Olympiacos – the Gunners’ recent opponent – revealed he tested positive. It remains unclear who may have passed the virus to Arteta, however.
