Three Tottenham players and West Ham's Manuel Lanzini are thought to have broken the government's tier 4 rules after an image of them was posted to Instagram.
Along with Lanzini, Spurs stars Giovani Lo Celso, Sergio Reguilon, and Erik Lamela were pictured at a gathering of friends and family at Christmas, which a friend reportedly posted to Instagram.
There are 11 other adults in the image, as well as two children and a baby. All the players are based in London, where people were not allowed to meet indoors at Christmas due to Tier 4 restrictions.
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In other areas of the country, up to three families were allowed to mix on Christmas Day.
Lanzini also posted a picture of himself with his family in the same house.
Replicas of the Ligue 1 and Coupe de la Ligue trophies in the background have led some to believe that the gathering took place at Lo Celso's house, as he won those competitions while at PSG.
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An image from that house on New Year's Eve was tagged as London.
There have been rumours that Lamela and Lo Celso have since tested positive for Covid-19, but with Reguilon making it onto the bench for their game with Leeds on Sunday this is unlikely. The Spaniard would likely be isolating if the pair had contracted the illness.
Since Christmas, both Lamela and Reguilon featured in Spurs' 1-1 draw with Wolves on 27 December. Reguilon played for 63 minutes and Lamela came off the bench in the 84th minute.
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Lanzini played in all three of West Ham's games against Brighton, Southampton, and Everton.
Tottenham and West Ham have reacted to the news, the Daily Mail reports, with Spurs stating: "We are extremely disappointed and strongly condemn this image showing some of our players with family and friends together at Christmas particularly as we know the sacrifices everybody around the country made to stay safe over the festive period.
"The rules are clear, there are no exceptions, and we regularly remind all our players and staff about the latest protocols and their responsibilities to adhere and set an example. The matter will be dealt with internally."
West Ham stated: "The Club has set the highest possible standards with its protocols and measures relating to COVID-19 so we are disappointed to learn of Manuel Lanzini's actions. The matter has been dealt with internally and Manuel has been strongly reminded of his responsibilities.
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"Guidance- To keep on top of the rising cases of Covid-19 across the country, the Club has taken the action of further deep cleaning Rush Green as part of our stringent measures which have been in place since the pandemic started.
"Manuel Lanzini has returned a negative test since the photo was taken, with just one player (Ryan Fredericks) currently self-isolating in line with Government and Public Health guidelines, which the manager confirmed last night at Everton."
Featured Image Credit:Topics:ย Football News, Football, Erik Lamela, Sergio Reguilon, West Ham, tottenham
