South African footballer ‘tests positive’ for Covid-19

Sithole, who plays for Belenenses SAD in Portugal’s Primeira Liga, was named by renowned Portuguese football publication A Bola, after a club statement on their Facebook page on Tuesday said that “a player from the U-23 team had a positive result in the Covid-19 detection test.

“We inform that, in the context of the preparation for the resumption of work, a player from the under-23 team of Belenenses SAD had a positive result in the Covid-19 detection test. The protocols developed for this purpose are being observed. We hope for a quick recovery of the player, who had no symptoms of the disease,” read the full Belenenses SAD statement.

The club did not name the player, but A Bola say it is the 21 year-old midfielder Sithole, who graduated from the KZN Football Academy, before moving to Sporting Lisbon in 2017. In 2018, Sithole, who has also featured for the South African Under-20 side,  joined Vitoria SC, and in 2019 he moved to Belenenses, where he is yet to play for the first team, but has made 22 league appearances for the Under-23 side.

Portuguese sides have just resumed training following a nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic

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