After a few hectic days in Vantaa, Badminton Europe and the Organising Committee of the 2021 European Mixed Team Championships are happy to announce that all players and officials are cleared to take part in the event.
Upon arrival in Finland, everyone went through a PCR-test in the airport – of these, four tests proved to be positive for Covid-19. All of the four (three players and one official) were put into isolation in the hotel to limit risks for further contamination, while further analysis was being conducted.
Further testing was carried out for the four in question, and all positive test cases were analysed in depth. These analyses confirmed that all four had been infected well before the #EMTC21, hence carrying antibodies and therefore not causing any threat to spread the virus inside the ‘green bubble’ in Vantaa. This was announced at 14.30 Monday afternoon by the Vantaa Health Authorities.
-It is with a sense of satisfaction that we can now confirm that we have completed the testing phase and with some relief that all players and officials have been cleared to compete and officiate respectively. We now look forward to some exciting matches this week in Finland, BEC General Secretary, Brian Agerbak, stated.
-My compliments to the teams for coming well prepared to this competition. Also, to the local health authorities and the local Organising Committee, as well as the BEC Events Staff who have dealt professionally with the difficult situation and have taken the necessary precautions. The safety of the players and everybody involved in the event is of the utmost importance to us and it is my hope that everyone feels safe here.
The first matches will be played on Tuesday 16 February at 13.00 local time.