Bundesliga: Several Mainz players and staff quarantined after 'acute outbreak' of COVID-19 on eve of new season

Berlin: On the eve of the new Bundesliga season, Mainz cancelled training Wednesday with 14 players or members of staff currently quarantined after confirming an “acute outbreak” of COVID-19. Mainz are due to host last season’s runners-up RB Leipzig on Saturday in Germany’s top flight, but their preparation has been thrown into chaos. Forward Karim Onisiwo tested positive for the coronavirus last Friday, as did two more members of the squad during testing Monday and Tuesday. There are four confirmed cases of the virus at the club. The local health authority has ordered “immediate isolation for another eight players and two members of the coaching team”. Worryingly, “two of those who tested positive have full vaccination protection,” the club said. It is unclear whether Mainz will be able to host Leipzig on Saturday. “At the moment we assume that the match will take place,” Mainz’s CEO Stefan Hofmann told Bild. “The health department has advised us to cancel today’s training, we’ll have to see what happens next.” According to German league rules, a club can only request a match to be postponed if there are fewer than 16 players available.