National squad anticipates departure from Andorra

The Malta senior squad left Andorra la Vella on Sunday morning, arriving in Barcelona early in the afternoon. The contingent will later take a chartered flight from Barcelona to Riga ahead of the UEFA Nations League Group D1 match against Latvia on Tuesday.

The contingent’s departure from Andorra was anticipated by a few hours as alternative arrangements had to be made for all the members to take another COVID-19 test in Barcelona. This was due to logistical and cross-border issues encountered by the UEFA-contracted company to conduct these mandatory swab tests in Andorra over the weekend due to a surge in COVID-19 cases which led the local authorities to further restrict access to the country.

Photo: Copyright domenic aquilina

As a result, these tests have been carried out at a Barcelona hotel where the Malta contingent will be staying for the coming hours prior to the chartered flight to Riga later in the evening.

All the members of the Malta senior squad have already done three swab tests since the start of the month. At the time of writing, the results of today’s tests are still pending.