Arsenal has been forced to scrap their preseason training scheduled for the United States of America because of an outbreak of Coronavirus in the travelling group.

The Gunners were due to take part in a two-game Florida Cup in Orlando. Mikel Arteta's side was to play Italian champions Inter Milan on Sunday before facing either Everton or Colombian side Millionarios in the last game.

But a small number of people in the 80-strong travelling party have so far tested positive for the virus causing the cancellation of the tour. They were to depart from Stansted Airport on July 21, 2021.

Those who tested positive will now go into self-isolation while the unaffected will return to their training base at London Colney and be tested regularly as normal. 

Arsenal also recently had an outbreak in their academy but this is a different case since the men's, women's and youth teams have been training in their own separate bubbles.

Read More

  1. Standard Chartered unveils strategic investment insights for H2 2024
  2. Why a 59-year-old Kenyan national will spend 11 years behind bars in a US prison
  3. Equity drives US-Kenya private sector collaboration during Ruto’s recent visit

A club statement last night read:

"Following a small number of positive COVID-19 tests among the planned party to travel to America tomorrow, we have sadly been forced to withdraw from the Florida Cup."

"This difficult decision is based on ensuring the health and wellbeing of our players and staff. We fully understand what a disappointment this is for our supporters in America who were looking forward to seeing us compete in the Florida Cup as part of our pre-season build-up." 

"Our apologies also go to the organisers of the Florida Cup who had done a fantastic job making the preparations, and our partners who had arranged events around our participation in the competition." 

"We are glad to say the members of staff are not currently displaying any COVID-19 symptoms. They are now in self-isolation at home."