Santos Confirms Neymar’s Positive COVID-19 Diagnosis
While other teams like Spain and Portugal prepare themselves for the showdown final tournaments, on the other side of the world, the Brazilian team finds themselves temporarily stagnant as they are handed some rather unfortunate news. As quoted by Brazilian media, Brazil forward Neymar has been sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19, his club Santos said in a statement. The 33-year-old began showing symptoms on Thursday and was immediately removed from team activities. Limited by injury, he has made 12 appearances for Santos across all competitions this season, contributing three goals and three assists. Medical tests later confirmed the viral infection, the Brazilian Serie A side said on Saturday.
In an official statement, Santos wrote: "With a viral condition that began on Thursday, Neymar Jr. underwent laboratory tests, after evaluation by the Medical Department of Santos FC, which confirmed infection by Covid-19. "The player had already been away from activities since Thursday, when he began showing symptoms, and remains resting at home and undergoing symptomatic treatment, as determined by a doctor." The club did not disclose how long Neymar will be out of action and did not immediately respond to requests for comment from various news outlets. Neymar is already ruled out of Thursday's league match at Fortaleza through suspension.
For no one is this news more disappointing than for Neymar himself. Being suspended due to this medical diagnosis would mean a number of things for him. At the moment, the former Barcelona forward's future at Santos remains undecided, with his contract set to expire on June 30. However, for the time being, the Brazilian superstar luckily will not be missing a single game for Santos due to his infection, as he was already banned for their match against Fortaleza on Friday. Santos' next game will come against Palmeiras almost a month later due to a break for the Club World Cup. The Fortaleza match will be Santos' last outing before the Brazilian league pauses for the June 14th-July 13th Club World Cup in the United States. Limited by injury, he has made 12 appearances for Santos across all competitions this season, contributing three goals and three assists.
