Club captain Wes Morgan and injured winger Harvey Barnes were among the Leicester City players who breached COVID-19 protocols by attending a party at team-mate Ayoze Perez’s house after their loss to Manchester City last weekend,
The Athletic understands.
James Maddison, Perez and Hamza Choudhury were axed from Brendan Rodgers’ squad this week and were absent for today’s 3-2 defeat at
West Ham United, while the injured pair of Barnes and Morgan also attended the gathering.
It is understood Rodgers held a meeting with his squad the day before the Manchester City game last Saturday, April 3, asking them to be extra careful and professional in the final weeks of the season with Champions League qualification on the line, after defender Caglar Soyuncu was ruled out with COVID-19 contracted while on international duty with Turkey.
After the club heard of Perez’s house party, they reacted immediately to protect the first-team bubble. The players had Monday off as planned but on Tuesday those involved were called into a meeting by Rodgers and told they would not be able to train until they had passed another COVID-19 test and that their punishment would be missing the West Ham match. They were instructed how their week would look and that they would train separately away from the rest of the first-team squad as their colleagues prepared for what was a huge game.
Without key members of their first team,
Leicester fell 3-0 behind and lost at the London Stadium, which cuts the gap between the two clubs, who are third and fourth in the Premier League table, to a single point with seven games to go. Chelsea are a point further back in fifth.
Team-mates are said to be disappointed with their lack of discipline, which has come at a crucial stage of the season as Leicester try to avoid a repeat of the late collapse that cost them a Champions League spot last season. They also have an FA Cup semi-final against Southampton at Wembley next Sunday.
Manager Rodgers tried to stop the incident from overshadowing his side’s preparations for their visit to top-four race rivals West Ham and even said in his pre-match press conference on Friday that England midfielder Maddison, who has only recently returned from a hip injury, was available for selection.
The players, who are tested twice a week, are said to have apologised to their team-mates but will face no further disciplinary action by the club. Rodgers wouldn’t confirm the players involved but said he decided to leave them out of the West Ham game as a punishment rather than fine them.
“It was a breach,” he says. “My objective when I came to Leicester City was to create a standard, on and off the pitch. The standards fell way below what we would expect, in particular at this stage of the season when we are challenging and fighting to finish off a really exciting season.
“That standard and the values we have within the team and at the club fell well below that. The guys who weren’t involved in the squad (today) would have been (but for this issue). As a consequence of their behaviour, they weren’t. I could easily fine players and it is a drop in the ocean now, but then the dynamic isn’t quite right within the squad. I had to deal with that throughout the week.
“That is how strongly I felt about it. It was a very important game for us but some things are bigger than football. Now with experience and a bit more wisdom you have to respect that, you have to respect what the nation are going through. We have to respect what our values are within our team and our club.
“The players are bitterly disappointed. From a personal perspective I was very disappointed too, I have to say. They are good boys and it is not something they are going to get thrown away now. They knew what the consequence was, that they wouldn’t be involved in this game. Now we draw a line under it. They rejoin the squad now to prepare for next week.
“It is gone now and will be ready for the semi-final. I won’t hold it against them. It is not their identity and they have been punished for it. Now we have to look forward.”
A Leicester City spokesman said on Sunday: “The club has made its expectations around adherence to COVID-19 protocols abundantly clear to all its personnel. It is extremely disappointing, therefore, to learn of a breach that had the potential to undermine the efforts of club staff to protect the environments in which our teams train and play. Appropriate measures have been taken to prevent our team bubbles being compromised.
“We wholly expect our people to behave in a way that reflects the national effort and the sacrifices made by our communities to control the spread of the virus. Those involved have apologised for their poor judgment. Our response to the matter will be concluded internally.”
This is the second time the Midlands club have had to deal with a COVID-19 breach this season.
In February, a number of players from the Leicester women’s team and some members of the development squad were disciplined for attending a party.