Tottenham irked as Arsenal gets Sunday's Premier League derby called off

Spurs statement: 'The original intention of the guidance was to deal with player availability directly affected by COVID cases, resulting in depleted squads that when taken together with injuries would result in the club being unable to field a team'

COVID case: Arsenal's Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard

Tottenham have called for “clarity and consistency” from the Premier League after Arsenal’s request to call off the north London derby because of a lack of senior players available was granted on Saturday.

“We are extremely surprised that this application has been approved,” Tottenham said in a strongly-worded statement released a few hours after the announcement of the postponement of Sunday’s match.

The decision was reached because Arsenal has fewer than the required number of players — 13 outfield and one goalkeeper — available because of a combination of COVID-19 cases, injuries and players away on international duty at the African Cup of Nations.

However, Arsenal also recently decided to let two players go out on loan and has one player out suspended in Granit Xhaka. There is only one declared absentee because of the coronavirus — Martin Odegaard — although there might be others from the latest round of testing.

“The original intention of the guidance was to deal with player availability directly affected by COVID cases, resulting in depleted squads that when taken together with injuries would result in the club being unable to field a team,” Tottenham said.

“We do not believe it was the intent to deal with player availability unrelated to COVID.

“We may now be seeing the unintended consequences of this rule. It is important to have clarity and consistency on the application of the rule. Yet again fans have seen their plans disrupted at unacceptably short notice.” 

On Friday, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said he would be aggrieved if he discovered that rival Premier League clubs were abusing coronavirus postponement rules after his club’s request to call off a match — against Wolverhampton on Dec. 19 — was rejected despite seven COVID-19 cases in their squad.

Asked if he thought some clubs were attempting to push the limits on postponements with tactics such as including general injuries and Africa Cup of Nations absentees, Tuchel replied: “I strongly, strongly hope that’s not the case, because otherwise I would be very, very angry.” 

Arsenal-Tottenham is the 21st Premier League game postponed since Dec. 12, mainly due to players having to isolate, and it is causing a backlog of fixtures for the second half of the season.

“What started out as postponements due to a pandemic has now become about clubs not having their best team,” Gary Neville, the former Manchester United and England defender and now TV pundit, said on Twitter. “The Premier League must stop this now, draw a line in the sand and say all games go ahead unless you have an exceptional amount of CV cases. It’s wrong.”

Callum Chambers (injured), Cédric Soares (injured), Kieran Tierney (injured), Takehiro Tomiyasu (injured) Granit Xhaka (suspended) Thomas Partey (AFCON) Mo Elneny (AFCON), Emile Smith Rowe (injured), Bukayo Saka (injured), Ødegaard (Covid), Nicolas Pépé (AFCON) and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (AFCON) are all out for the game, according to reports.

In a statement, the league said: “Following a request from Arsenal FC, the Premier League Board met today and regrettably agreed to postpone the club’s away fixture against Tottenham Hotspur, due to be played at 4.30pm on Sunday 16 January.

“With Arsenal having fewer than the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper), the Board accepted the club’s application. The decision is a result of a combination of Covid-19, existing and recent injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations. All clubs are able to apply for a postponement if Covid-19 infections are a factor in their request.

“The League apologises for the inconvenience and disruption caused to supporters who would have attended or watched the game – we are fully aware that postponements disappoint clubs and fans. The League aims to provide as much clarity as possible, but unfortunately, postponements sometimes have to be made at short notice, as safety is our priority. Where possible, the League will endeavour to keep supporters updated if games become at risk.” 

An Arsenal statement added: “We know how much this match means to our fans around the world, but the Premier League has made the decision to postpone the match, due to many players across our squad currently being unavailable as a result of Covid-19, existing and recent injuries, in addition to players away with their countries at Afcon.” 

The postponement leaves sixth-placed Spurs with four games in hand on the top two sides in the league, with Manchester City 23 points ahead of them and second-placed Chelsea better off by 10 points. Arsenal, who occupy the slot above their local rivals, are two points ahead of Spurs but to date have played two more matches.

Additional reporting: Associated Press