MANCHESTER CITY’S FRIENDLY at Troyes, scheduled for 31 July, has been called off, the newly-promoted French side said Wednesday, citing “sanitary restrictions linked to the critical development of Covid-19, notably in the United Kingdom.”
Had City made the cross-Channel trip they would have had to quarantine thereafter and therefore the game will be called off to avoid what would have been a major disruption of the English Premier League champions’ pre-season preparations.
Manchester City are disappointed to confirm that our planned pre-season friendly at fellow CFG club ES Troyes AC has been cancelled.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 21, 2021
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Elsewhere, Italian champions Inter Milan announced Wednesday that they will not be travelling to the United States for the Florida Cup after Premier League side Arsenal earlier withdrew after coronavirus cases.
The Serie A club said in a statement the decision was “due to the current risks involved in international travel as a result of the spread of the pandemic, risks that have already caused Arsenal F.C. to withdraw”.
Earlier Arsenal also cancelled their pre-season trip after a “small number” of their touring party tested positive for coronavirus.
The two teams were scheduled to play each other this weekend in the opening round of the Florida Cup, which also includes Everton and Colombia’s Millonarios.
Arsenal did not specify how many members of their touring group had tested positive, or if any players were among those with a Covid-19 diagnosis.
“Following a small number of positive Covid tests among the planned party to travel to America tomorrow, we have sadly been forced to withdraw from the Florida Cup,” the statement read.
“This difficult decision is based on ensuring the health and wellbeing of our players and staff.”
The Premier League season starts on 13 August, with Arsenal travelling to promoted Brentford.
Serie A kicks off on the weekend of 21 August, with Inter opening their title defence at home against Genoa.
Meanwhile, Italian side Spezia have confirmed four more positive cases, a player and three staff members, bringing the Covid outbreak at the Serie A club to 14 in the last week.
