Belarus football report first positive coronavirus tests after playing through pandemic

A fan wearing a mask at a Minsk home game
AFP via Getty Images

The Belarus FA has postponed two matches because players from two teams are suspected of being infected with the coronavirus.

Belarus was the only country in Europe continuing to play football during the coronavirus pandemic.

On May 11, the country's football federation said one Belarusian Premier League match, scheduled to take place on May 15, and one first division game, scheduled for May 16, were postponed due to suspected Covid-19 cases.

Federation spokesman Alexander Aleinik says the players are from Minsk and Arsenal Dzerzhinsk but the identity of the players was not confirmed.

Minsk and Neman Grodno were to play on Friday and Arsenal was to face Lokomotiv Gomel on Saturday.

Though matches were still being held in Belarus, attendances at recent matches have been thin and spectators have been seated in staggered formation in the stands.

There are 23,900 confirmed coronavirus cases in Belarus to date, with 135 deaths.

Additional reporting by Reuters.

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