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Four Sevilla players could face action from their club and the authorities after photos shared on social media appeared to show them breaking quarantine rules.
Ever Banega, Lucas Ocampos, Franco Vazquez and Luuk de Jong were pictured in a group of 12 people in photos published — and quickly deleted — by Banega’s partner on Instagram on Saturday.
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The city of Seville remains in “Phase One” of Spain’s gradual relaxation of lockdown measures, in which a maximum of 10 people are permitted at social gatherings.
Sevilla are yet to comment on the allegations, but Banega acknowleged the error on social media on Sunday.
“I want to apologise for what happened yesterday,” Banega said on Instagram. “It was a family get together with teammates but unknowingly, we were wrong. I want to apologise to our club, fans and society in general. It won’t happen again.”
💥 Ocampos, Mudo Vázquez, De Jong y Banega se saltan las normas de cuarentena
⚠️ La mujer de Banega ha compartido imágenes de una reunión ilegal en la fase 1… borradas poco despuéshttps://t.co/obLeV0iR8t Te lo cuenta @sergiofmarca— MARCA (@marca) May 24, 2020
Players in Spain are required to follow strict quarantine rules as part of a protocol for a return to training drawn up by La Liga and approved by the country’s Ministry of Health.
Initially, the league had wanted players to be isolated in training camps to coincide with the group training phase, but that requirement was dropped after talks between La Liga and the players’ union AFE.
Clubs are awaiting the go-ahead to move to full training sessions involving their entire squads in anticipation of a return to competition.
On Saturday, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez gave the green light for La Liga to resume from June 8, with the first game expected to be the derby between Sevilla and Real Betis on Friday, June 12.
Spain has seen over 235,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 28,000 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began.