This weekend’s Vancouver Whitecaps match could be in jeopardy after several players experienced gastrointestinal symptoms during their trip to Mexico for the Concacaf Champions Cup Final.
The MLS Western Conference-leading Whitecaps (9-1-5) have had significant difficulty preparing for the Seattle Sounders this week, which is set for Sunday night at BC Place.
Whitecaps players and staff landed back in Vancouver at 6:23 a.m. on Monday, and the gastrointestinal symptoms ramped up over Monday and Tuesday. The club says 75 players and staff flew back with more than 50 per cent experiencing a variety of symptoms.
“Not only have we lost the game, we have picked up some form of a virus, and we’re dealing with that right now,” said Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster. “I think everyone is in a good place, and we’re now more or less working day-to-day with the situation evolving and changing.”
It’s hard to know exactly what impact this outbreak had on players during the match against Cruz Azul. The shocking performance that Vancouver displayed was hard to stomach.
“I don’t think anyone had symptoms that were even close to the symptoms that we have seen Monday and Tuesday,” said Schuster. “It feels like something happened after the game, on the flight, in the plane, it was transmitted. My answer to that is that it is unlikely that it was already there during the game.”
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The nine Whitecaps players who are currently on international duty travelled separately to join their respective national teams, and they appear to have been far less impacted. Pedro Vite (Ecuador) and Andres Cubas (Paraguay) both played 90 minutes for their countries on Thursday night.
“Everyone who was not travelling back with the team is absolutely fine,” Schuster added. “We had (co-owner) Steve Nash and his son there, they flew to Colorado, and I was on my way to Buenos Aires, all of us are good. That is a little hint that it might have been something that happened after the game.”
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch had harsher words for Concacaf, saying Vancouver players were “poisoned.” Sam Adekugbe, Jayden Nelson and Ali Ahmed are all available to play for Canada on Saturday, but apparently not fit enough to play 90 minutes.
Despite having their own chef in and sending two staff members to Mexico City prior to the team travelling last Friday, Vancouver was not able to avoid a nasty illness. In terms of what players and staff ate and drank, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact source of the virus.
“I really don’t want to speculate because it leads to accusations of who was responsible for that, was it provided by our opponent, or whoever,” Schuster said. “We actually had two post-match meals, and there was more food provided at the airport.”
The Whitecaps had a scheduled day off on Tuesday, cancelled training on Wednesday, and had a modified closed session on Thursday. There have been no new cases in the last 24 hours. Players will be tested on Friday at the National Soccer Development Centre.
The club has been in close contact with Major League Soccer, the league medical staff, national team staff, Vancouver Coastal Health, and the local infectious disease consultant.
A decision on whether Sunday’s match will go ahead has not yet been made, but if they have enough healthy and fit players available, the club indicated it would prefer to play.
“We wanted to make it clear to the league that we’re not making anything up,” Schuster said. “It’s a real problem that we’re dealing with, that it’s something that we picked up on the trip.”
Schuster added that return-to-training protocols are “pretty clear.”
“If the safety and health of the players who play would be at risk, then the league has the right to cancel the game. Is that the case? It’s obviously up for discussion.”