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FC Dallas withdraws from MLS tournament following COVID-19 outbreak

FC Dallas pulled out of the MLS is Back Tournament after at least nine players tested positive for the coronavirus. (Omar Vega/Getty Images)
FC Dallas pulled out of the MLS is Back Tournament after at least nine players tested positive for the coronavirus. (Omar Vega/Getty Images)

FC Dallas will not compete in the MLS is Back Tournament after a number of players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19, the league confirmed on Monday evening.

FCD was scheduled to open the World Cup-style event in Central Florida on Thursday, one day after the tourney kicked off. But that match, against the Vancouver Whitecaps, was postponed indefinitely over the weekend after nine players tested positive for the coronavirus. Now MLS has officially pulled the club out of the tourney altogether. The news was broken by TUDN USA’s Nico Cantor.

FC Dallas isn’t the first professional American futbol team to have to drop out of a tournament this summer because of COVID-19. Last month, National Women’s Soccer League side Orlando Pride decided not to participate in the NWSL’s own tourney in Utah after a number of its players were infected.

And FCD might not be the last MLS team to rethink its plans. On Sunday, five players from Nashville SC tested positive upon their arrival in the Orlando area. Like their Western Conference rival, the expansion side’s first match this month, slated for Wednesday, is expected to be rescheduled. At this point, though, its fair to wonder if it ever happens at all.

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