SportsTottenham Query Postponement Of North London Derby Against Arsenal

Tottenham Query Postponement Of North London Derby Against Arsenal

January 16, (THEWILL) – Tottenham Hotspur have registered their “surprise” over the postponement of the North London derby against Arsenal on Sunday. They have also demanded “clarity and consistency,” claiming that their request to reschedule a match against Leicester earlier in the season was initially denied.

Arsenal requested that the game be rescheduled owing to a number of COVID-19 instances and injuries and, in their favour, the Sunday game was postponed by the Board of the Premier League.

But, teams are mandated to play their matchups if they have 14 players available, including 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper, according to Premier League rules.

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And the Premier League confirmed the postponement with a statement that read: “The decision is a result of a combination of COVID-19, existing and recent injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations. All clubs are able to apply for a postponement if COVID-19 infections are a factor in their request.”

After the rescheduled Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool on Thursday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta indicated that there was a chance the Spurs game would be called off.

As a result of more absences in the aftermath of that goalless draw with Liverpool, the Gunners are down to only 12 fit outfield players, leaving them no wiggle room but to seek a postponement.

However, Tottenham raised some concerns in a statement on Saturday about the postponement that read: “We regret to announce that Sunday’s north London derby against Arsenal has been postponed.

“This follows an application from Arsenal to the Premier League on the basis of a combination of COVID, existing and recent injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

“We are extremely surprised that this application has been approved.

“We ourselves were disqualified from the European Conference League after a significant number of COVID cases meant we needed to reschedule a fixture and our application to move our Leicester fixture was not approved – only for it to be subsequently postponed when Leicester applied.

“The original intention of the guidance – here – was to deal with player availability directly affected by COVID cases, resulting in depleted squads that when taken together with injuries would result in the club being unable to field a team.

“We do not believe it was the intent to deal with player availability unrelated to COVID. We may now be seeing the unintended consequences of this rule.

“It is important to have clarity and consistency on the application of the rule. Yet again fans have seen their plans disrupted at unacceptably short notice.

“We shall once again send food deliveries to the local food banks to avoid unacceptable waste. We are sincerely sorry for our fans – some of whom will have travelled great distances.”

So far this season, 20 Premier League games have been postponed, including one due to significant snowfall.

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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

Jude Obafemi, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

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