Liverpool face an investigation after the players who tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of their League Cup semi-final against Arsenal subsequently returned negative results.
That match was postponed after Liverpool claimed to not have enough fit players to fulfil the fixture. However, a number of other clubs have now filed a complaint with question marks raised about the scale of the outbreak at Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp has since admitted that all but one of the positive results were actually false positives. Many now want answers when Liverpool knew this information. Had it been before the Arsenal match, the game could have proceeded as planned.
The match at the Emirates was called off less than 48 hours before scheduled time, causing immense inconvenience to fans of both clubs who had bought tickets for the game and made travel arrangements.
Some pointed out that when a similar situation arose in the Carabao Cup last season, when Tottenham Hotspur were given a bye into the fourth round after Leyton Orient were unable to play their game following a Covid-19 outbreak in their squad. The League Two side had to forfeit the match.
The upset clubs want the matter investigated, as a number of them have also requested postponements after suffering Covid-19 outbreaks in their own squads, only for those appeals to be subsequently turned down.
If it is found that Liverpool failed to fulfil a fixture without good cause, they potentially face severe punishment. Some have even suggested that it was a deliberate ploy to get the game with Arsenal called off so that injured players would have a chance to recover before they had to face the Gunners in the two-legged tie.
It has been reported that Liverpool underwent two rounds of testing before requesting postponement. The first indicated that there were a number of positive cases in the squad, which was confirmed by the second round, conducted by an independent laboratory.
However, after the postponed match, a third round was undertaken. That showed that the players who tested positive were actually negative, with the exception of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Medical experts opined that the chance of a succession of false positive results is unlikely in the extreme.