Local football governing body (Ferwafa) has postponed the league match between Marines and Espoir due to Covid-19 positive cases reported in Espoir’s camp.

Marines was expecting to host Espoir on Tuesday, January 18, at Umuganda Stadium but the tests done hours before kickoff showed that the majority of players in Espoir’s squad tested positive for covid-19, forcing the game to be called off.

"Due to Covid-19 reasons, the match between Marine FC and Espoir FC has just been postponed,” Ferwafa announced via their Twitter handle on Tuesday.

Times Sport understands that only six players in the Espoir’s 29-man squad tested negative, while the rest returned their tests positive.

"According to the protocol, there was no number of players required for a match to take place. Updates on the rearrangement of the fixture will be communicated soon,” the federation further said.

Last month, the Ministry of Sports decided to suspend sports competitions and training grounds for one month to curb the risks of spreading coronavirus but clubs from the topflight league protested against the decision, and two weeks later a reversal announcement was made.

The Marines–Espoir becomes the first game to be postponed since the league was given a green light to resume last week.