LONDON, United Kingdom, Jun 22 – Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell said they were “gutted” to miss England’s Euro 2020 clash against the Czech Republic on Tuesday after being forced to isolate following contact with an opponent who has coronavirus.
The pair went into self-isolation following interaction after Friday’s 0-0 draw with Scotland with Chelsea team-mate Billy Gilmour, who has Covid-19.
Gilmour tested positive on Monday, but no other Scottish players have been forced into isolation for their Group D clash with Croatia on Tuesday, with Scotland seeking to reach the knockout phase of a major tournament for the first time.
England have already qualified ahead of the Czech Republic’s visit to Wembley but Mount and Chilwell will miss the pool decider and could also be unavailable for England’s last-16 match, depending on where they finish in the group.
Midfielder Mount wrote on Twitter: “I’m absolutely gutted to have to miss tonight’s game. I’ll be cheering on the boys as usual and ensuring that I’m ready to go again when called upon. Come on @England!”
Defender Chilwell posted: “It’s a tough one to take and I’m gutted but I want to wish the boys all the best tonight in the game. I’ll be cheering you all on. I will make sure I am ready for when I can rejoin the squad. Lets go @England!”
The Football Association said both players would now isolate “up to and including next Monday (June 28)”.
“The entire England squad and staff had lateral flow tests on Monday and all were again negative, as was the case with Sunday’s UEFA pre-match PCR tests,” added the statement from the governing body.
Former Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech, now technical and performance advisor at Chelsea, questioned the logic behind such a scenario.
Writing on Instagram, Cech said: “Please could someone help me understand how is it possible Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell — both with negative tests — have to isolate after they got in contact with Billy Gilmour.
“While the entire Scottish team who shared the dressing room, hotel, coach and plane while travelling, dining room, meeting room, is allowed to play the game without any problem because they returned the required negative tests?
“What is the difference between them returning the same test results? It is incomprehensible.”
