Cologne calls worried player to account over virus comments

Cologne has called midfielder Birger Verstraete to account for an interview he gave in which he criticized club for its handing of three positive cases of coronavirus.

Bundesliga side said Sunday that Verstraete had given a false impression about training safety measures at club in an interview Saturday with Belgian TV station VTM. It said it was abiding by league’s medical advice and that all players would be tested again before training can resume Monday.

In a statement on club website, Verstraete said, “Instead of giving an interview out of emotion, I should have contacted our doctor and had my questions answered. It was t my intention to blame responsible authorities or FC Cologne.”

Verstraete had told VTM in an interview Saturday that two players and a physiorapist were confirmed with COVID-19 and that he was finding it hard to focus on soccer, especially as his girlfriend is at high risk due to a previous heart condition.

“I want everyone to be healthy before we play soccer again,” Verstraete said.

players had been training in small groups, but that hadn’t eased Verstraete’s concerns.

“We train in two groups and you kw that boys were extremely close to me,” Verstraete told VTM. “ test was done on Thursday around 4pm and before that we had been toger constantly from 9am to 3pm. We did fitness work toger, trained toger. Thursday’s test didn’t show that I am positive and that is why re will be ar test tomorrow.”

three affected individuals were immediately ordered to quarantine for 14 days, but orwise training continued as before.

Team doctor Paul Klein defended club’s handling of cases on Saturday, saying training with those who tested negative was still possible “due to hygiene and infection prevention measures in group training” as one had come into prolonged contact with those affected.

But Verstraete said decision t to quarantine whole squad “is a bit bizarre.”

Verstraete said club was correct “in a literal sense. But physiorapist is man who treated me and or players for weeks. And I paired up with one of two players in gym on Thursday. So to say we did t come into contact with m is t entirely correct.”

Players and staff around Bundesliga began giving samples Thursday as part of an ongoing process targeting a return to full training, n to games later this month.

“It’s t up to me to decide what to do with Bundesliga but I can say that my head is t on soccer. If you see how close ( virus) is,” Verstraete said. “ health of my family, girlfriend – everyone in fact – is paramount.”

On Sunday, Verstraete told Cologne’s website that his girlfriend “will head home to Belgium and stay re for time being.”

Most teams have t commented on test results. Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hoffenheim Hertha Berlin and Union Berlin all reported negative results before ar round of testing Sunday.

Second-division side Stuttgart reported an “inconclusive result” from a person, reportedly a player, who was separated from his colleagues and placed in quarantine for 14 days before ar test on Monday.

A Paderborn player tested positive in March.