BarcelonaThe coronavirus hits basketball hard again. The ACB has announced some postponements and new dates for the dispute of different parties. The Endesa League is looking for a new date for the match that Barça, which has Pierre Oriola infected, and MoraBanc Andorra, which detected seven positives, had to play this Tuesday, and Sunday’s classic is also in danger, as Real Madrid has an outbreak. The white team, for the time being, has postponed its next matches against Joventut de Badalona and against Fenerbahçe.
Real Madrid have had ten affected by covid-19 in the last two and a half weeks: Pablo Laso, Thomas Heurtel, Fabien Causeur, Vincent Poirier, Anthony Randolph, Juan Núñez, Guerschon Yabusele, Ádám Hanga, Sergi Llull and Jeff Taylor. The only first-team players who have managed to dodge the virus are Rudy Fernandez, Edy Tavares, Nigel Williams-Goss and Tristan Vukcevic. To avoid postponing the classic, the Madrid team needs to recover at least five players.
The BasketballChampions League, meanwhile, postponed the match that Baxi Manresa had to play this Tuesday against Hapoel Bank Yahav in Jerusalem. In addition, the Bages team saw the ACB reschedule the date for their matches against Monbus Obradoiro, MoraBanc Andorra and Barça. In total, the set has accumulated 13 positive cases in recent days.
The Joventut de Badalona, which has Pau Ribas infected, already has a date for their match against Real Madrid: Tuesday 4 (9.30 pm). The clashes against Río Breogán and Urbas Fuenlabrada changed time and date, respectively.
Adjusted regulations
The clubs of the ACB, meeting this Monday in an extraordinary assembly, unanimously agreed to extend until January 30 the date scheduled for the end of the first round. The 17th day will be used to determine the classification for the Copa del Rey de Granada 2022. The aim is to facilitate the recovery of postponed matches and competitive equality between all clubs.
If all the scheduled matches have not been played on January 30, the percentage between victories and defeats on January 30 will be taken as the main criterion for qualifying for the King’s Cup, and only the matches corresponding to the first round.
Coronavirus headaches not only affect the Endesa League, as the two Catalan LEB Or teams are also confined. Força Lleida CE underwent antigen tests before the resumption of training this week and detected positive cases of covid-19. Bàsquet Girona is in the same situation, which is why the Catalan duel on Tuesday was postponed. In the Endesa Women’s League, Cadí La Seu postponed its match against Lointek Gernika Bizkaia.
