UEFA awarded French club, Rennes 3-0 victory in the ECL clash again Spurs which was called off due to Covid-19 concerns
By Kehinde Okeowo
Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa Conference League (ECL) campaign came to an abrupt end after UEFA awarded French club Rennes a 3-0 victory in their Europa Conference League group game that was called off.
Spurs were seriously hit with Covid-19 cases, which prevented them from honoring their last group game on December 9 against Rennes.
UEFA thereafter awarded the match to the French side. As a result, Spurs finished third in the group and crashed out of the competition, while group winners Rennes and Dutch side Vitesse progressed to the last 16 and knockout play-off respectively.
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The European football governing body’s statement reads:
“The Uefa Appeals Body took the following decision: to declare the 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Stade Rennes FC, that was initially scheduled to be played on 9 December 2021, as forfeited by Tottenham Hotspur FC, who is therefore deemed to have lost the match 0-3,”
The match in London had been scheduled to go on but was called off when Spurs manager Antonio Conte confirmed on the eve of the match that 8 of his players and 5 coaching staff had tested positive for Covid-19.
Spurs had to postpone two league games against Brighton and Leicester due to the outbreak of coronavirus, they are one of the hardest hit English clubs by the resurgence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
They were, however, able to play for the first time in three weeks in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool at the Tottenham Stadium on Sunday.