KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: With the 2019-20 European competitions not yet completed, next season’s have already started falling foul of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tonight’s Champions League preliminary round tie between Kosovo’s KF Drita and Northern Ireland’s Linfield was called off at short notice after a second player from the Kosovar club tested positive for coronavirus.

The halt was enforced by the decision of the Swiss health authorities – in cooperation with UEFA – to put the entire Drita team into quarantine.

An unidentified player, who tested positive on Monday, had previously produced a negative test last Friday under the testing system put into place by UEFA in accordance with its Return to Play Protocol and approved by the local authorities in the Canton of Vaud.

On Friday, in a separate case, a Drita player had returned a positive result on the eve of the club’s tie against Andorra’s Inter Club d’Escaldes. He was then entered ibnto quarantine.

UEFA control and disciplinary body must now decide on the fate of the tie.

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