Ligue 2: how Chambly tries to break the chain of contamination

It was the start of the fight in Chambly. Since January 22 and the first reported case, that of Thibault Jaques the team captain, the number of infected people within the Picard group has continued to swell. This Monday, and while waiting for the next tests on Wednesday, five players in the workforce are positive. They are Oumar Gonzalez, John Popelard, Sébastien Flochon, Shaquil Delos and since this Sunday Lucas Camelo. Within the technical staff, Florent Routier, positive for two weeks now, as well as Gaharo Doucouré, two deputies to Bruno Luzi, are also affected. A third case was discovered Sunday in the person of Kevin Denicourt, the physical trainer. To this list of eight people, we must also add Maxime Malovry, the community manager of the club.

Day after day, Chambly is becoming a potential cluster. Sportingly, the situation began to deteriorate with the two terrible defeats conceded last week at Châteauroux (4-0) and against Sochaux (1-4). Again barrage (18th), Chambly must tackle a next trip this Saturday in Clermont (4th). “We alerted the LFP to let them know that there was a risk of having more than ten players tested positive,” said Fulvio Luzi, president of Chambly. For now, this is not the case. This makes Bruno Luzi, the coach, say: “We are in the worst case scenario. That is to say, you have a lot of infected players. It circulates well around you but not enough to postpone a match. Somewhere the championship is skewed. “

The club has strengthened its health protocol

To allow a match to be postponed, more than 10 covid-19 positive players are needed out of the entire workforce of 30 players, list updated every month. “The process of postponing the match is triggered on the 11th contaminated player, specifies Thierry Bertrand”, the club’s general manager.

For the only Ligue 2 team, currently affected by Covid-19, Chambly must adapt. All the more so as the club suffers the wrath of the British variant of Covid-19, with one exception near Thibault Jaques, the first to be infected. “The English variant is more contagious than the first strain of the virus,” explains Thierry Bertrand. This probably explains the rapid increase in the number of infected cases in the workforce. This is why our obsession is first of all to break the chain of contamination and to stabilize the number of contaminated people. “

To achieve this, Chambly has strengthened the health protocol, imposed by the LFP. The first axis concerns the changing rooms: henceforth they are limited to a maximum of six players, just as there can only be four players simultaneously in the showers. “Regarding carpooling, a means of transport used by many players, we insisted on the compulsory wearing of the mask,” recalls the CEO. Finally, the whole convivial aspect of group life has been put aside, such as table tennis.

“In recent weeks, we have found that the two trips to Grenoble and Châteauroux had caused the most contamination, says Bertrand. This is a bit normal because it is often on the move that we spend the most time together. This is why for those who come to Clermont-Ferrand on Saturday, we have made the decision to take single rooms and no longer double rooms. Obviously, this has a cost, but the health of the players is more important… ”