There have been cases of coronavirus infections since the beginning of the European Women’s Championships. Both Finland, which was eliminated from the Games, and Sweden, which is in the hunt for the championship, have been criticized for the continuous meetings of people outside the teams.
Several coronavirus infections have occurred during the European football championships. There are more than ten players who gave a positive test result in the games. Several coaches and background personnel have also had to miss their teams’ matches due to infections.
The most exciting thing in the games was whether the head coach of England, the favorite for the championship, would make it Sarina Wiegman to coach his team in the quarter-final against Spain. Wiegman gave a positive test result on Friday of last week, after having a fever and coughing a little before this.
Wiegman was reported to have received a negative test result three hours before the quarterfinals. Thus, he was allowed to participate in his team’s match.
There is plenty of excitement in several other countries in the playoff phase of the Games. For example, Holland finally got their star player Vivianne Miedeman back to training with a negative test result.
Instead, in Sweden, the problems related to controlling coronavirus infections have started to grow. On Monday, the team announced two players, Hanna Glasin and by Emma Kullbergas well as the team’s sports psychologist Rasmus Liljebladin corona infections. In addition, the public broadcasting company SVT said that in the player list Jennifer Falk, Hannah Bennison and Jonna Andersson have symptoms consistent with a viral infection.
Sweden and Finland operate with loose restrictions
In the Swedish media, the national team’s constant spending time with people outside the team has garnered criticism.
Even before the Games, the Swedish national team guaranteed its players the opportunity to spend time with their family members traveling to England. “Family days” have been held at the team’s training center, during which people outside the national team have had plenty of contact with the entire team.
The Swedish media, especially in retrospect, have criticized “family days” as an unnecessary risk of infection.
– I don’t like spending time with families and people outside the team now that the situation is such that the number of coronavirus infections has risen again. That’s why I’m not happy about this previous decision of the national team, SVT’s long-time expert Daniel Nannskog comment (you will switch to another service) In the EM studio broadcast.
Finland, which remained in the first group, was also criticized for its diligence in preventing corona cases. In Finland, the events of the opening match against Spain were the subject of wonder. Finnish players warmly greet their family members and supporters in close contact.
– We are by no means satisfied with it. In my opinion, there have been too many corona cases and maybe a few could have been avoided with a more careful approach, Lahti said in an interview with MTV.
– As we know, Corona is of course a very contagious disease and here in England there is a lot of it in circulation. In that sense, it is difficult to prevent it. But maybe with a little stricter precautions, a little better results could have been achieved, he continued.
In the Finnish team, four players were found to be infected with the corona virus. Tuija Hyyrynen, Anna Westerlund, Tinja-Riikka Korpela and San Francisco had to move to the side during the games due to positive test results.
“We approach all our activities critically”
Urheilu interviewed the doctor of the Finnish team Pippa Gallops About the corona situation of the helmet team a week ago, when Korpela’s infection had just been announced.
– As is also known from wastewater monitoring in Finland, the corona pandemic is not over. There are disease cases everywhere, including here at the tournament, Laukka said.
When Lauka was asked if Finland should have acted differently after the match against Spain and avoided close contact, he gave a roundabout answer.
– We approach all our activities critically. We are careful to keep our distance and avoid extra contact, Laukka answers.
In their later matches, the Finnish players no longer greeted supporters and loved ones other than from a distance.
However, the Finnish players moved around in their free time with their loved ones, for example eating, just like the Swedish players, for example. Sweden’s “family day” custom has been used in some form in addition to its western neighbor, at least in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and England. Of these countries, only Belgium has survived without corona infections. The surprise team of the Games will face Sweden in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Uefa protocol requires teams to isolate themselves
Laukka also stated in an interview with that, like other teams, Helmarit followed the instructions of the European football association Uefa and the British authorities.
Uefa drafted the seventh update to its coronavirus protocol in mid-May. The regulations related to combating the corona virus in force at the games apply to all teams and the organization organizing the games.
In the one that goes by the name “Return to play”. in the protocol (you switch to another service)players and background personnel working in the teams belong to the first priority group, who are required to have a negative corona test before the match. A negative test result must be given on the day of the match at the latest.
Regarding close contacts, on the other hand, the protocol instructs that the teams should control the movement of its members outside the hotels as precisely as possible to prevent infections. The protocol also says that the players should not move inside with people outside the team. Leaving the hotel is not recommended in the protocol and it requires the isolation of the living quarters for the use of the team only. According to the protocol, there should also be a safety distance of 1.5 meters between the audience and the team.