The J. League isn’t ridding itself of COVID-19 anytime soon.
This week saw the first postponements of the season after a cluster of infections emerged within the Gamba Osaka camp, expanding to five players and one team staffer as of Thursday night.
After one player reported a fever on Tuesday morning and was found to have tested positive on Tuesday night, the rest of the team including the squad that had already traveled east ahead of Wednesday’s first-division tie against Nagoya Grampus were tested, with two players and one staffer returning positives early Wednesday morning.
An additional player who did not travel with the team also tested positive on Wednesday, resulting in the Grampus game being called off less than two hours before kickoff.