Major League Soccer this week lifted the football team training moratorium implemented on March 12th to MLS clubs to resume full training next week.
Hammer Winston Reid still on loan from West Ham to Sporting KC is scheduled to report for full team training next week at Compass Minerals National Performance Center, pending league approval.
MLS Players must complete a physical examination, and all players and staff must complete two Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests 24 hours apart, 72 hours prior to the start of training, and undergo one baseline antibody (serology) test.
Players will be cleared to train by their medical staff only after they have successfully completed their interim physical, completed two negative PCR tests and the serology test.
Players, coaches and select staff must complete PCR tests every other day and only those with negative results will be allowed to attend training.
Serology testing will be performed once every three months. Individual club test providers must be authorized by the FDA and Health Canada. Turnaround time for tests must be no more than 24 hours.
If a player or staff member tests positive, the individual will be isolated. The isolated individual will be tested again at least 24 hours later to ensure the result was not a false positive.
All close contacts will be tested immediately. Contact tracing will be performed at the direction of the club’s task force and local authorities.
A player or staff member that tests positive they may return to training only when cleared by the club’s Chief Medical Officer in consultation with the league medical team.
Any player or staff considered to be in a high-risk category for severe illness related will not be permitted to participate in team training unless cleared by the club’s Chief Medical Officer.
Although a season restart has not been agreed as yet, MLS and the MLS Players Association announced on Wednesday they had reached an agreement to restart games as early as June 24. The agreed-upon plan would see MLS host a knockout tournament in Orlando, Florida, while players are sequestered at Disney World resorts and regularly tested.