Benjamin Mendy admitted he broke the rules of the coronavirus by hosting a New Years Eve dinner with people outside his home.
The breach came just days after Manchester City’s game against Everton was postponed hours before kick-off due to a virus outbreak in City’s camp.
In accordance with UK government regulations, home mixing has been banned on New Years Eve across the country. Mendy broke these rules by inviting people from three separate households to his Cheshire home.
Mendy’s spokesperson told The Sun: “Benjamin and his partner allowed a chef and two of his partner’s friends to come to his property for a New Years Eve dinner.
“Ben admits that this is a violation of Covid-19 protocols and is sorry for his actions in this matter. Ben took a Covid test and is liaising with Manchester City about it. ”
City added their own statement, which read: “The club are aware of a New Years Eve Covid-19 violation involving Benjamin Mendy and subsequent media reports. While it is understood that elements of this incident were misinterpreted in the report, and the player has publicly apologized for his mistake, the club are disappointed to learn of the transgression and will conduct an internal investigation. “
This is the latest case of Premier League footballers ignoring the lockdown rules. Earlier this week Giovani Lo Celso, Sergio Reguilon and Erik Lamela, as well as Manuel Lanzini of West Ham, were discovered for spending Christmas together. Serbia’s teammates Aleksandar Mitrovic and Luka Milivojevic also broke the rules by attending a New Year’s party.
Due to a rapid increase in cases of coronavirus, the idea of implementing a two-week circuit breaker has been tabled. The idea was supported by Sam Allardyce but was criticized by Jurgen Klopp and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
