In view of the coronavirus pandemic, when the 2020/2021 international football cup season begins next week a new protocol will come into force for Hungarian teams who take to the pitch broad and come home, and for foreign teams who visit Hungary, according to an announcement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Saturday.

In a post on social media portal Facebook, Péter Szijjártó wrote: there are “no issues” with countries in the green category. “However, if a Hungarian team comes home from a country that has been placed in the yellow or red category, the players, the coach and the other members of the squad must undergo two coronavirus tests within a space of 24 hours. Until the results of the tests arrive, they may only travel between their homes and the location where they train. Following an away game on Thursday, the tests can be performed on Saturday and Sunday, and the results will have arrived by the championship match at home on Sunday, until which time players will not have to miss training sessions”, he explained.

“If a team from a yellow or red category country arrives in Hungary, the regulations state that the players, the coach and the other members of the squad must have in their possession two negative tests performed within no longer than five days, and with at least a 48-hour period between the two tests”, he stated. “With these regulations, we are doing everything possible to prevent the infection being brought into the country, but are also affording Hungarian teams the opportunity to prepare for the international cup season in a calculable manner, which we hope will last for a long time this year (and next year)”, Mr. Szijjártó wrote.

(MTI/Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)