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Reuters
Reuters
Business

Leicester games to go ahead despite local lockdown

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup - Quarter Final - Leicester City v Chelsea - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - June 28, 2020 General view inside the stadium before the match, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Rui Vieira/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Leicester City's matches will go ahead as planned and they will continue to train at their Belvoir Drive facilities despite a stringent lockdown in the city after a spike in local COVID-19 cases, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.

Leicester, in England's eastern Midlands, accounted for 10% of all positive coronavirus cases in England in the past week, prompting police to enforce a local lockdown.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told Sky Sports that Leicester's matches could be moved to a neutral venue or postponed depending on the situation in the city but the club said the lockdown would not affect their operations.

"All parties remain entirely satisfied that, through the continued implementation of our COVID-19 operations plan, the club’s football operations can continue to safely function under existing protocols," Leicester said in a statement https://www.lcfc.com/news/1702353/leicester-city-statement/press-release.

"In doing so, there will be no greater risk posed to club personnel, visiting teams or our surrounding communities. Consequently, first team training will continue at Belvoir Drive and our forthcoming Premier League fixtures remain unaffected."

Brendan Rodgers' side, who are third in the standings with 55 points, have three home games remaining -- against Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Manchester United.

(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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