Authorities cancelled one of southern Brazil’s biggest footballing derbies less than 24 hours before kick-off on Saturday after 14 members of one side tested positive for Covid-19. The Santa Catarina state championship restarted on July 8 with four games, including Chapecoense’s 2-0 home win over Avai. “One of the teams had 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and it is necessary for all the players to follow the necessary protective measures,” it said in a statement. It did not say which side had produced 14 positive tests but globesporte.com, a Brazilian website, said it was Chapecoense. Santa Catarina state has recorded 42,026 cases of the new coronavirus, with 485 deaths.

Source: The Star July 12, 2020 21:00 UTC