Gor Mahia forward Tito Okello has been forced to self-isolate after a Covid-19 outbreak in the South Sudan national team leading to the cancellation of their FIFA Arab Cup qualifier against Jordan.Okello was a late inclusion into the squad after South Sudan head coach Ashu Cyprian Besong initially dropped him due to illness that led to him missing a number of training sessions. According to a statement from FIFA, seven South Sudanese players tested positive for Covid-19 including one delegate but fortunately, there was no severe case. “After two rounds of PCR tests, it was confirmed that seven players and one team member of South Sudan were positive, with another five players receiving a reactive test result, which as per the Qatari Ministry of Health, means that these players were likely incubating the virus. Given that another seven players had close contact with those who tested positive, a total of 19 players are currently in isolation,”https://t.co/RxWdytAAKw#ssfaonline— South Sudan Football Association (@ssfa_com) June 21, 2021 “There are no cases presenting severe symptoms and everyone who tested positive is being monitored and receiving the best possible medical care for free through the Qatar national healthcare system,” read a statement from FIFA.The results forced South Sudan to forfeit the clash leading to a 3-0 win for Jordan who advanced to the group stages of the FIFA Arab Cup that is slated for November 30th to December 18th in Qatar.FIFA revealed that the decision was based on Article 5.6 of the competition regulations (“force majeure”) and takes into consideration the need to protect the health of the players and everyone involved in the tournament.This will come as a huge blow to Gor Mahia who will miss the services of Okello for an unspecified number of games with the club aiming to cut the gap between them and table toppers KCB. (function (el) { window.addEventListener(“message”, (event) => { if (event.origin.startsWith(“https://www.sofascore”)) { if (el.id === event.data.id) { el.style.height = event.data.height + “px”; } } }); })(document.getElementById(“sofa-standings-embed-17654-34876”)); Standings provided by SofaScore LiveScore
