NEW YORK, N.Y., December 14, 2020 - New York City FC will travel to Orlando, Florida on Tuesday morning, December 15, prior to the Club’s Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal match against Tigres UANL later that evening.
The Club was originally scheduled to depart for Florida on Sunday, December 13, but due to three players testing positive for COVID-19 during routine testing last week, the decision was made by NYCFC and Concacaf to adjust to same day travel out of an abundance of caution.
Following the original confirmed positive test, all players and staff underwent daily Rapid Point of Care (RPOC) testing and PCR testing which revealed two other positive tests.
The last positive test was returned on Friday and all other First Team players and staff have returned negative tests since then.
A fourth player has continued to test negative, but is deemed a close contact and will not travel to Orlando with the rest of the team.
Traveling roster and departure schedule is pending results of RPOC and PCR testing taking place today.
Should NYCFC progress to the semifinals, the team will remain in Orlando to isolate and conduct further testing under Concacaf protocol.
Additionally, NYCFC has acquired Orlando City SC goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar on loan for the remainder of the season. Stajduhar will join NYCFC at Exploria Stadium and be on the matchday roster for NYCFC.
NYCFC Sporting Director, David Lee, said: “2020 has brought forth a tremendous number of challenges, and every team across the league has needed to adapt very quickly to unique scenarios. Unfortunately, our goalkeeper pool has been greatly affected throughout the past week due to COVID protocols. I’d like to thank both Mason and Orlando City EVP of Soccer Operations, Luiz Muzzi, for being extremely accommodating to our need and helping us navigate this unprecedented scenario.”
NYCFC take on Tigres UANL in the quarterfinal of the Concacaf Champions League on Tuesday, December 15 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando. NYCFC trail Tigres 1-0 on aggregate after the first leg. The game will be broadcast live on FS2 and TUDN at 10:30 p.m. ET.
