Tottenham Hotspur admits COVID-positive test result is a player

Earlier today, Tottenham Hotspur made a public statement on social media and their website announcing that they had a person test positive for COVID-19. The person at Spurs was the only positive test result in the entire league during this fifth round of coronavirus testing, done ahead of the planned restart of Premier League football on June 17.

Tottenham’s release did not specify the name of the person who tested positive, or whether the person was a player or a member of Spurs’ coaching or backroom staff. However, this afternoon the Guardian is now reporting that the positive test is, in fact, a Tottenham player.

The player has been sent to isolation for seven days, after which he will be tested again to see if he still tests positive for coronavirus. Tottenham have no intention of releasing the name of the player, though the Guardian notes that “it is understood he is not a key first-team player.”

We could endlessly speculate on who this person might be, and potentially even rule out some players based on social media photos and videos from training today. We don’t know when the test result came back, and we don’t know at what point the player was removed and put into isolation. “Not a key player” does suggest that it’s not, say, Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min, or any potential starter. It could be a fringe member of the first team squad.

But really, there’s not much point. There’s too much we don’t know and not enough that we do know, and we should also respect the privacy of the club and the player who tested positive. And honestly, it really doesn’t — and shouldn’t — matter.

It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Now, we can all start hoping that the player who just tested positive either registered a false positive result, or has not had ample opportunity to spread the virus to others. Here’s hoping.