“Four to five executive players” of Burkina-Faso, as well as coach Kamou Malo, tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, January 7, as the Stallions face host country Cameroon in the opening match of the African Cup of Nations, Sunday. At a press conference, the assistant coach and the captain, Bertrand Traoré, complained about a vague procedure.
If the names of the infected players were not communicated, Firmin Sanou, the assistant coach of the Burkinabe selection, contested the method applied to carry out these tests: “Yesterday morning [vendredi] a medical team came to our hotel for tests. When we tried to understand who had sent them, CAF [Confédération africaine de football] told us clearly that it was not them who sent them to the team, so we refused to do the tests. “
A second team, “apparently that of CAF”, then arrived “at 10 pm”, that is to say less than 48 hours of the meeting, added Firmin Sanou, who remains skeptical about the result of the tests: “We have carried out the tests which inform us of 4 to 5 cases of Covid. I say 4 or 5 because they say that our first player tested did not perform the test …“.
The Standards also ensured that the tests carried out were antigenic tests, and not PCR, which must be carried out 48 hours before the meeting. Captain Bertrand Traoré did not mince his words at a press conference: “It’s a scandal, we cannot be deprived of holders 24 hours before the match. The authorities must review the organization, we cannot accept this decision.” The Burkinabe selection intends to request that new tests be carried out on positive players.