Costa Rica played with COVID-positive players – JFF doctor

[Cblake]

Now this is just nut, could this keep Canadians from attending what could be such a historical night for Canada. Crazy shit, wonder if it could lead to any punishment. And this was plural, ie players, this was not something that simply did not fall through the cracks. Could Costa Rica be forced to forfeit, lots of ramifications to be figured out here. 

Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Medical Committee Chairman Dr Guyan Arscott has confirmed that six persons from the Costa Rican delegation, including two who played against the Reggae Boyz in their Concacaf World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20220202/costa-rica-played-covid-positive-players-jff-doctor?fbclid=IwAR3TZhbeBds7ylcwKuWBSxcQqeahCCCQ17RFQ6q-6jpxtd3yvKVDW13Uyqw

Edited February 3, 2022 by Cblake

[JAVIERF]

Is that true????  Well that would give the match to the Jamaicans as a win.  It is a Scandal.  

Football is for the scoundrels

[pod818]

the only explanation I can think of is that they already had Covid recently and thus the test would be inaccurate for 3 months and could have a false positive. But then, they really shouldn't have needed to be tested at all if that were the case..will be interesting to see how this plays out

[JAVIERF]

12 minutes ago, pod818 said:

the only explanation I can think of is that they already had Covid recently and thus the test would be inaccurate for 3 months and could have a false positive. But then, they really shouldn't have needed to be tested at all if that were the case..will be interesting to see how this plays out

Doesn't matter for precautions they aren't allowed to play.  You had 3 guys with covid, they didn't even travel

This is the way

[pod818]

what I mean, is if they had covid last month, it is possible a recent test would come back as positive (false positive). Players aren't usually tested though in this scenario

[Meepmeep]

It’s suspicious that the JFF didn’t say a word until after they lost.  
 

We all saw what happened pre match in Brazil when the Argies flouted the Brazilian protocols. You’d expect similar in Jamaica as soon as the Costa Rica team sheet was submitted. 
 

Good old CONCACAF. 

[Approve My Account Pls]

4 minutes ago, Meepmeep said:

It’s suspicious that the JFF didn’t say a word until after they lost.  

Yeah it's definitely curious that nothing was said until after. I'm really interested in what kind of punishments these would be? I don't think it would be empty stadium as this isn't a fan issue. I'd anticipate going from hefty fines at the least, to maybe individual player suspensions or even dropped points? 

[theaub]

8 hours ago, pod818 said:

the only explanation I can think of is that they already had Covid recently and thus the test would be inaccurate for 3 months and could have a false positive. But then, they really shouldn't have needed to be tested at all if that were the case..will be interesting to see how this plays out

Was reading an article last night that I can't find now and this is basically what it said.  The positive players all had COVID a month ago.

[jonovision]

This just underlines, to me, that though we got bit by the COVID bug a bit this window, it could have been a lot worse. Imagine, instead of missing Gutierrez, Cavallini and Fraser for the El Salvador match, we were missing Borjan, Larin and David for the USA match?

[Floortom]

If you have proof of a positive test within 30 days then you don't need to be re-tested as it's assumed that the test is only picking up dead virus RNA. If the players have that proof then it should have been provided to Jamaica and wouldnt be an issue.

If not, and they simply elected to ignore the test results, Costa Rica should absolutely be deducted the 3 points IMO

[dyslexic nam]

Yeah, I don’t see this as a stadium-ban sort of issue.  If CR played with ineligible players (and I am sure that in the current climate testing positive would make you ineligible) then the only outcome I can see is awarding the win to Jamaica.   This is WCQ, not some informal friendly.  You need to make sure that players on the field are entitled to be there.  

All of this depends of course on the idea that CR did in fact field players who tested positive.  If it is a simple misinterpretation of events (like fielding players who were exempted due to previous illness) then that wouldn’t apply.  But if things are the way they are being reported, I would expect an adjustment to the point totals.  

[Cblake]

4 minutes ago, Floortom said:

If you have proof of a positive test within 30 days then you don't need to be re-tested as it's assumed that the test is only picking up dead virus RNA. If the players have that proof then it should have been provided to Jamaica and wouldnt be an issue.

If not, and they simply elected to ignore the test results, Costa Rica should absolutely be deducted the 3 points IMO

If they had the documentation of a recent positive test would you not just show it to avoid the situation it appears they are in now. Can you imagine if they tried to pull this stunt in Canada or the US? I wonder how they even got into the country. Lots of questions still to be answered. If Costa Rica simply ignored things and fielded these players, the book should be thrown at them.

[dyslexic nam]

1 minute ago, Cblake said:

If they had the documentation of a recent positive test would you not just show it to avoid the situation it appears they are in now. Can you imagine if they tried to pull this stunt in Canada or the US? I wonder how they even got into the country. Lots of questions still to be answered. If Costa Rica simply ignored things and fielded these players, the book should be thrown at them.

Depends.  They may have had the paper work but failed to file it properly.      Or some other administrative screw up.  In which case Jamaica would still try the Hail Mary to get the win awarded to them which would still mathematically keep them in the hunt for 4th spot.  And given Costa Rica and Panama’s final window, it would probably be worth a roll of the dice.  

[Floortom]

5 minutes ago, Cblake said:

If they had the documentation of a recent positive test would you not just show it to avoid the situation it appears they are in now. 

Yes, but we all know how inept the JFF is. It seems too brazen for Costa Rica to simply have ignored the results. We'll see how this develops

Edited February 3, 2022 by Floortom

[theaub]

Actually its all in that link...

Quote

 

'Arscott pointed out that after receiving their COVID-19 test results, the Costa Rican medical team were advised that the players should have been barred from playing in the match.

“We recommended that those two players should be isolated or should not be allowed to play,” he said.

“We had some discussions with the members of the Ministry of Health and we wondered if they had some new infections, having tested negative before they left Costa Rica. Be that as it may, with the positive test, we felt we were duty bound to recommend that they not play,” Arscott said.

He also pointed out that these players had tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago but had been cleared after they had completed isolation and had gone on to produce negative tests.

“They had tested positive a fortnight or so before. We were told that they did their quarantine and isolation and tested negative before leaving Costa Rica. But on arrival in Jamaica they tested positive at our official lab,” Arscott said.'

 

I can't see this being an issue if CR provides the negative tests.

[Unnamed Trialist]

About doctors not saying anything until after: that is how all football works down to competitive u-8 in Spain. If a player is suspended, and plays (reffing oversight), or if there are 12 on the pitch, or there are ineligible players due to age restrictcions, or if any other incident comes up, rival teams usually say nothing before a match. 

Only if the result in the match itself is negative then they appeal. The appeal process tends to be fast, and points can be deducted or awarded accordingly. I have seen this literally a dozen times in games my son was involved in or I coached. 

In the Canada-El Salvador home match in this qualifying round, an ES player tested positive for doping (as indicated on the opening post of yesterday's game thread). We won, and did not appeal. If we had lost points, we might have had a case, although I am not sure about precise protocols. 

[rdb9ty]

18 minutes ago, theaub said:

Was reading an article last night that I can't find now and this is basically what it said.  The positive players all had COVID a month ago.

Yeah I read the same article. I'm inclined to believe the tests aren't accurate since they had covid, tested positive, recovered, and tested negative in CR before coming to Jamaica.

[JBR]

Both sides of the story:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10471835/Jamaica-launch-complaint-FIFA-Costa-Rica-fielding-two-Covid-positive-players.html

[pod818]

the more I read this..the more it seems like JFF trying to gain an advantage and making players test when they are exempt from testing. And then using invalidated test results to try to overturn a result that didn't go their way

[rdb9ty]

2 minutes ago, JBR said:

Both sides of the story:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10471835/Jamaica-launch-complaint-FIFA-Costa-Rica-fielding-two-Covid-positive-players.html

Yeah I don't see Jamaica winning this one assuming what the CR delegates say is true

[Shway]

7 minutes ago, pod818 said:

the more I read this..the more it seems like JFF trying to gain an advantage and making players test when they are exempt from testing. And then using invalidated test results to try to overturn a result that didn't go their way

There what Jamaicans say "tryin a ting" 🤣

Seems so sketchy....but I want the appeal to be successful for our sake and theirs

[Obinna]

Football Federations who are desperate to qualify for the World Cup would never weaponize COVID testing to gain an advantage, especially not the JFF. 

We are talking about a reputable organization built on integrity, in a football confederation that exemplifies sportsmanship!

[Cblake]

20 minutes ago, pod818 said:

the more I read this..the more it seems like JFF trying to gain an advantage and making players test when they are exempt from testing. And then using invalidated test results to try to overturn a result that didn't go their way

Has the Jamaican government exempted them, what is the policy for an every day person traveling there? If Jamaica backs the JFF and comes out says Costa Rica violated health and safety protocols would that be enough for a points deduction, would it force CONCACAF's hand? There is definitely some gamesmanship going on here. 

[TGAA_Star]

10 hours ago, JAVIERF said:

Is that true????  Well that would give the match to the Jamaicans as a win.  It is a Scandal.  

Football is for the scoundrels

If it is true, then Jamaica should be awarded that match and Costa Rica should be given a 3-0 loss as punishment per FIFA guidelines like that is dangerous 

[narduch]

If this game gets overturned its possible all 3 of our last window games will be meaningful. 

Even if they aren't totally meaningful for us.