November 4, 2020 – Coach Zoran Mamic and several Dinamo players test positive for COVID-19 ahead of Europa League on Thursday.
On Tuesday, GNK Dinamo announced that coach Zoran Mamic and one player had tested positive for COVID-19.
“GNK Dinamo hereby informs the public that COVID-19 testing resulted in one positive first-team player of GNK Dinamo and two members of the professional staff, including the head coach Zoran Mamic.
They felt mild symptoms upon their return from Russia and were referred for testing, which in their case turned out to be positive,” Dinamo said in a statement.
Thus, Dinamo will play against Wolfsberger without coach Mamic on Thursday, and he will not be on the bench on Sunday in the home game match against Istria in the 11th round of the HNL. This is followed by a representative break.
Even before the game against CSKA, Dinamo had one infected player who did not travel with the team. Zoran Mamic noticed his first symptoms and fever on Monday, after which he went for testing and was positive.
Dinamo’s coach did not appear at the presentation of Dinamo’s “No Surrender” foundation, which was held before the news was announced that he was positive.
But that’s not the end of the bad news for Dinamo ahead of their 3rd round Europa League match on Thursday.
The team was tested for COVID-19 again on Tuesday, according to the regular UEFA protocol. Thus, before the match against Austrian club Wolfsberger, four more players tested positive, bringing the number to five.
“With four positives from before, GNK Dinamo has a total of nine players on the UEFA list who will not play in the match due to COVID-19.”
While assistant coach Damir Krznar should have been on the bench to replace Mamic, there has been a change there as well.
“The test results of several professional staff members are also positive, and Alen Peternac will lead the match from the bench,” Dinamo announced.
Dinamo will play against Wolfsberger Thursday at 9 pm at Maksimir.
Source: GNK Dinamo website, HRT
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.