It was a big punch in the gut when Nashville SC officials told players they would be withdrawing from Major League Soccer’s return-to-play tournament.
The announcement comes after the team‘s tournament debut yesterday was canceled, due to nine team members testing positive for COVID-19.
The first of those players tested positive after the club arrived at their Orlando hotel on July 1. A few days later, eight more tested positive. Team officials say they followed all the league‘s mandates and health protocols, but the virus spread anyway.
“I imagine that different players obviously are in different categories of healthy and unhealthy right now,” Nashville SC CEO Ian Ayre says. “Different people became unhealthy at different times. So, I think we’ll see a phased re-introduction of some form.”
He says the team is currently focused on getting the club home safely and will work with the player’s union and MLS to get the team ready for games post-Orlando.
Nashville is the second team to pull out. FC Dallas withdrew on Monday, after 10 players and a coach tested positive.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM