Surreal scenes in France

There were surreal scenes in the French Pro today in the game between Cholet Basket and ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne.

Lyon’s visiting team had to start the game without three key players; Kevarrius Hayes, Matthew Strazel, and T.J. Parker. All three Americans had previously tested positive for COVID-19.

During the warm-up, Norris Cole also got the result from his testing, and he too had tested positive! Despite that fact, he started the game but was substituted after just 40 seconds and went straight to the locker room.

When coach Frédéric Fauthoux was asked why he let Cole play, he said that was already registered on the score sheet as one of the starting five and had to follow protocol.

The question now is, what will happen to all other players who were on the court today? Could Norris have infected them and maybe also the staff?

This situation is very much like one that occurred in the Adriatic league recently, where a player of Cedevita was notified during halftime that he had tested positive for COVID-19!

Consequently, teams had to go into quarantine, and games had to be rescheduled.

But the real problem here is that it takes too long to get the testing results. Depending on the country and the methodology, it can be a few hours or up to two days. That waiting time obviously has unforeseen consequences.

What is really needed is a test that can produce results within minutes.

In the meantime, European basketball has fallen into chaos. Every hour games are canceled or rescheduled somewhere because players have tested positive and teams forced into quarantine. In the Czech Republic, the league has even been suspended. What’s next?

Surreal scenes in France

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