Tunisia’s preparations for their final Africa Cup of Nations
group match against the Gambia were thrown into disarray after 12 players in
the 28-man squad contracted COVID-19, the country’s football federation said
Wednesday.
Key player Wahbi Khazri is among the players to test
positive.
“This evening (Wednesday) the players took part in a
training session with 16 players present and the rest absent due to Covid-19
contamination,” the federation said on its Facebook page.
The federation also said: “Tuesday, the tests revealed the
contamination of Ali Maaloul, Aymen Dahmen, Ghailene Chaalali, Mohamed Ali Ben
Romdhane, Wahbi Khazri, Ali Jemal and Mohamed Amine Ben Hmida who have been
isolated from the group.”
Right-back Mohamed Drager has though recovered from the
virus and Tunisia are hoping that five other players, positive since
the start of the tournament, will test negative before Thursday’s game.
Tunisia, the 2004 winners, need to at least draw their final
Group F match to be sure of qualification for the last 16.
The Carthage Eagles bounced back from their controversial
opening 1-0 loss to Mali, when the referee blew the final whistle early, by
thrashing Mauritania 4-0 in their second game.