Benfica virus outbreak may delay Porto clash 🤒 What do rules say | OneFootball

The viral outbreak affecting the squad and technical team of Benfica has hindered the preparation for the Classic against Porto, scheduled for Sunday at 9:15 pm at the Dragon Stadium. Despite this, the League's regulations only allow the postponement of the match in very specific situations.

Thus, a game can only be postponed if a club does not have 13 players available, including at least one goalkeeper. In cases of contagious diseases, like viruses, the inability to play must be certified by a doctor from the National Health Service.

The club's doctor can certify injuries or illnesses, but needs confirmation from a NHS doctor. The final decision to postpone is up to the President of Liga Portugal and an Executive Director. In case of rescheduling, the match should take place between 5 and 15 days after the cessation of the squad's unfitness, not exceeding the weekend following the last round of the competition.

Despite this framework, the red club, according to collected information, is not considering asking for the postponement of the game, keeping the focus on recovering the athletes in time for the trip to Dragon. Here is what the regulations say in full:

"Without prejudice to the regime provided for in the previous article, a game should be postponed whenever a club does not have, demonstrably, a minimum of 13 players (of which, at least, one is a goalkeeper) fit to play. The unfitness to play must be certified until the beginning of the game, by the following entities or people: a) Directorate-General for Health, in case of positive screening for SARS-CoV-2 and/or prophylactic isolation of squad players; b) National Health Service doctor, in case of an outbreak of another contagious, viral or bacterial disease, that determines inability to play; c) club doctor, in case of injury or illness from other causes, to be confirmed by an NHS doctor in a signed certificate and with his stamp, delivered to Liga Portugal within 24 hours; d) Liga Portugal, through the player's sanction record, in case of compliance with a disciplinary suspension sanction", is explicit in the regulations of the League competitions, where it also attests who has the competence to postpone the match is a doctor".

The decision is in the hands of the President of Liga Portugal and an Executive Director: "The decision to postpone is the responsibility of the President of Liga Portugal and an Executive Director. The postponed game under this regime will be rescheduled for a date to be agreed by the clubs in the two working days following the initial game date or, in its absence, under the terms of paragraph 2 of article 44. In any case, the rescheduling of the game: a) must comply with the requirements of paragraph 5 of article 44; b) must be made for the period between the 5th and the 15th days, counted from the cessation of the squad's generalized unfitness; c) cannot be made for a date after the weekend following the official date of the last round of championships organized by Liga Portugal".

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.