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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Gareth Bicknell

Coronavirus: Arsenal 'place travel ban' on stars preventing them from flying home

Arsenal have reportedly banned their players from travelling to their home countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gunners postponed plans to resume training on Monday - the same day Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK would be going into lockdown to combat the spread of the deadly virus.

There had been suggestions Arsenal would allow South American player such as David Luiz and Lucas Torreira to return to their homelands.

But the Premier League club have now made it clear no one will be allowed to fly home, according to The Sun.

All Premier League games have been suspended until April 30 at the earliest - although it is expected the top-flight action won't resume until long after that.

David Luiz, Lucas Torreira and Gabriel Martinelli will all be unable to return home to South America (Getty Images)

Arsenal's Spanish, French and German players were already prevented from returning to their home countries with travel restrictions in place across Europe.

Now Luiz, Torreira, Gabriel Martinelli and Emiliano Martinez have all been banned from flying back to South America.

The Gunners lockdown comes after Paris-Saint Germain's Brazilian players Neymar and Thiago Silva flew home hours before Paris was closed down.

Arsenal’s first-team squad were ordered into isolation two weeks ago after manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus.

Arsenal players have been in isolation after manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus two weeks ago (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Their two-week quarantine period ended on Monday, but the club have told players to stay at home and continue to train alone.

The Sun quoted a club source saying: “It has been made clear no one will be allowed to fly.

“At a time when people are being urged to stay at home, it is important we set an example.

“Now is not the right time for the players to train together.”

The number of cases of coronavirus worldwide has reached 340,000, with nearly 15,000 deaths around the globe. The UK death toll has reached 335.

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