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Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (R) jokes with France’s forward Kylian Mbappe during the Nations League football match between France and Portugal, on Sunday.
Franck Fife/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for COVID-19, the Portuguese Soccer Federation revealed on Tuesday.
The Juventus JUVE, -2.22% star, who played for Portugal against France on Sunday, will miss his country’s match with Sweden on Wednesday.
The Portuguese Soccer Federation said Ronaldo was “doing well, without symptoms, and in isolation,” after testing positive on Tuesday morning. The entire Portugal squad was tested, with all other players returning negative results.
The 35-year-old, who has won the Ballon d’Or five times — soccer’s prestigious world player of the year award — has been released from international duty following his diagnosis.
Under Italy’s new quarantine rules, Ronaldo will have to isolate for 10 days, missing Juventus’ next two matches. But he would likely return in time for the club’s eagerly anticipated Champions League clash with Barcelona on Oct. 28.
Shares in Juventus tumbled to six-month lows following the news, before recovering slightly.
The decision to schedule international fixtures, with players leaving their domestic teams to join up with their countrymen around the world, has been criticized within the sport.
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp raised concerns before the international break, and his midfielder Naby Keïta has since tested positive while away with the Guinea national team.
Southampton player Stuart Armstrong tested positive last week, leading to three players, including Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney, missing Scotland’s vital playoff game against Israel.
Tierney has been forced to self-isolate for two weeks and is set to miss Arsenal’s game against Manchester City this weekend. The Scottish defender said he was “disappointed and frustrated” with the situation, and that he had followed all the regulations around social distancing.
