FAI suspend Covid testing with immediate effect
Testing for COVID-19 on players and staff from four SSE Airtricity League clubs – Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Derry City – is to be suspended with immediate effect, the FAI have announced.
Six rounds of testing have been carried out over the last four weeks on players and staff from Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Derry City. All tests to date have produced negative results.
After the latest series of negative results, FAI Medical Director Dr Alan Byrne has recommended that the Association suspend the COVID-19 testing programme, as all SSE Airtricity League and Women’s National League teams prepare for a full return to training and matches from June 29th under the new Safer Return to Football Pathway.
“The results to date from the six rounds of testing have all been negative and that is a real indicator that our game is a minimal contact sport which reduces the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for our players,” said Dr Byrne. “When you analyse those results and look at the medical evidence from other leagues around Europe, I am confident that we can suspend testing now as we prepare for a Safer Return to Football.
“Our aim from the very outset of this process has been to accommodate a return to play that is as safe as we can possibly make it for our players, match officials, staff and everyone involved with our clubs. I have said all along that the only certainty with COVID-19 is the uncertainty but these results all suggest that we are moving in the right direction as we look to get Irish football back to something approaching normality.
“We remain committed to Government guidelines around COVID-19 and this decision can be reversed if circumstances change. I would give great credit to all the players and staff from the four clubs who have made this pilot programme a success.”
