Senegal’s national football team was forced to delay its flight to Cameroon for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which gets under way on Sunday, as their preparations for the tournament suffered a further blow after three more players and six members of the backroom staff tested positive for coronavirus.

The Senegalese football federation named the players on Wednesday as Pape Sarr, Nampalys Mendy and Mame Thiam.

They and six members of the management team tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, when the squad was scheduled to fly to Cameroon, the federation said.

Aliou Cisse’s Senegal begin their tournament against Zimbabwe on Monday and with star players including Liverpool forward Sadio Mane and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, they are among the favourites having lost the 2019 final to Algeria.

Africanews