BBC
Leicester City’s home Premier League game with Tottenham on Thursday has been postponed because of Covid-19.
The match, scheduled to kick off at 19:30 GMT, is the fourth top-flight game to be cancelled in the past week.
The Premier League said it took the decision because of “an increase in positive Covid-19 cases within Leicester’s squad” on Thursday.
Leicester’s training ground has been closed to help contain the outbreak.
“In light of the new information, Leicester applied [on Thursday] for the fixture to be called off due to an ongoing outbreak within the squad, which has resulted in more players and staff testing positive for Covid-19 today,” read a Premier League statement.
“This has left the club with an insufficient number of players available to fulfil the game.”
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said on Wednesday an initial request to cancel the game had been rejected, with the club expecting to be without nine players because of Covid-related issues and injuries.
Tottenham also wanted the game postponed to use the date to play their Europa Conference League game with Rennes, which was called off last week after a Covid outbreak.
A Leicester statement read: “Given the increase in positive tests among first team personnel, first team operations at Seagrave will now be closed for 48 hours, serving as a circuit breaker to help reduce the risk of further infection.
“First team players and staff will undergo a subsequent round of testing on Saturday.”
Leicester’s next game is scheduled to take place at 12:00 GMT at Everton on Sunday.
Chelsea have also been hit by several positive coronavirus cases before Thursday’s game against Everton, but that match is set to go ahead.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has called for this weekend’s Premier League fixtures to be postponed to let clubs deal with the most recent outbreak.
His comments followed Tottenham’s match against Brighton on Sunday, Brentford’s game with Manchester United on Tuesday and Burnley’s match with Watford on Wednesday being postponed.
Brighton boss Graham Potter questioned how long “football can continue on the path it’s on” after revealing his Covid-hit team wanted Wednesday’s game against Wolves, which they lost 1-0, to be postponed.
