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RENN WILL IT HAPPEN?
Tottenham vs Rennes OFF as Uefa confirm Europa Conference League clash will be rearranged after Spurs’ Covid outbreak
TOTTENHAM’S Conference league clash with Rennes tonight IS off - despite the French side threatening to embarrass the North Londoners.
Uefa decided this morning that it had no alternative but to follow the advice of Public health England.
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That means the match will not take place although Uefa will now have to make a ruling on a revised date.
Under Uefa regulations, all group stage matches must be completed by December 31.
But with Spurs having a full fixture list between now and the end of the month - although it is likely both Sunday’s Prem clash at Brighton and next Thursday’s home game against Leicester will now be postponed - there is no obvious space in the calendar for those provisions to be met.
And even if a date can be found, there is now hugely bad blood between the sides.
Spurs announced last night that the game would not go ahead as a result of the Covid outbreak that has ripped through the club.
In a statement, Spurs said: “We can confirm that our UEFA Europa Conference League Group G home fixture against Stade Rennais will not take place tomorrow (Thursday 9 December at 8pm UK) after a number of positive COVID-19 cases at the Club.
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“Discussions are ongoing with UEFA and we shall provide a further update on this fixture in due course.
“Additionally, following discussions with the Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) and DCMS advisers, the Club has been advised to close the First Team area of its Training Centre at this time, in the interests of the health and safety of players and staff.
“All other areas of the Training Centre remain operational.”
That was a unilateral action by Spurs, on the advice of the health authorities and after boss Antonio Conte had publicly spoken of the fears and anxieties caused by the rapid outbreak.
Rennes, though, accused the Prem giants of putting up a “London fog” to stop the game taking place.
In a bizarre attack, the Ligue 1 side accused spurs director of football operations Rebecca Caplehorn of springing the cancellation on Rennes - and Uefa - in a video conference call.
Rennes said: “In a video conference at 7.45 p.m. between representatives of UEFA, Tottenham and Rennes, the Spurs director of football announced her intention not to play the UEFA Europa Conference League game on Thursday evening.
“This was a unilateral decision which has not been confirmed by UEFA in any way.
“The Tottenham representative did not want to announce the number of her players affected by the Covid when the rule states that a match must be played as long as the team has 13 outfielders and a keeper.
“She argued for a decision by the English authorities without advancing any official document.
“As the match was not officially cancelled by UEFA, Stade Rennais FC upheld their decision to play.
“Faced with this "London fog", we reserve the right to approach UEFA.
“This lack of fair play is all the more glaring as Tottenham had confirmed by email that the match would be held at the start of the afternoon before warning Rennes of their intention not to play just after their landing at London City Airport.”
But Uefa sources have now confirmed to SunSport that the match will not take place on health grounds.
According to Ouest France, Spurs are proposing the match be moved to next Wednesday, December 15.
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But Rennes have hit back, and said: "Rules stipulate that a match must be played as long as a team has 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper.
"This lack of fair play is all the more flagrant given that Tottenham confirmed early this afternoon that the match would be held, before informing Rennes of their intention not to play right after landing at London City Airport.”
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