No plans by EFL to step back up coronavirus testing programme

The English Football League on Friday night had no plans to reverse its decision to scale back its coronavirus testing programme after worried Premier League clubs began paying for their lower-league Carabao Cup opponents to be screened.

Top-flight teams have taken the drastic step of funding Covid-19 tests for their cup rivals amid fears their own players had been placed at greater risk of infection after the EFL abandoned mandatory twice-weekly tests.

But the EFL was sticking with its decision to allow clubs to screen their players and staff only after each international break or if they developed symptoms, with the league confident they and their families were no more likely than before to fall ill.

A source told the Telegraph Sport 99.5 per cent of tests had come back negative last season, a figure it was argued proved that the protocols in place to prevent the spread of the virus were working and a mass outbreak – which would see fixtures postponed – was unlikely.

The league therefore decided it could not justify the weekly bill of up to £30,000 per club at a time when those teams were losing an estimated £22 million every month from playing behind closed doors and some were at risk of going bust.

The Telegraph has been told the EFL’s position is under constant review by its medical chiefs and could change depending on the number of positive tests after international breaks and from those showing symptoms.

Professor Gabriel Scally, president of the epidemiology and public health section of the Royal Society of Medicine and a key member of the Independent Sage group which holds the Government’s scientific advisory group to account, said any club who could afford it should be testing once a week.

He added of the EFL: “There’s no use basing their decision on the prevalence of the disease when lockdown had really had a major effect.

“We’re now in a different place entirely, with numbers taking off just this last week or two – really taking off.”

Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock on Thursday became the first confirmed Covid-19 case in the EFL since the season began, while his assistant, Kevin Blackwell, on Friday revealed an unnamed player had also tested positive last week following reports a squad member and another employee had done so.

The EFL declined to comment on its testing programme, as did the Premier League, which has scaled back its own mandatory testing programme from twice to once a week for similar reasons.

The Professional Footballers’ Association did not respond to requests for comment.