The Egyptian Football Association has announced that Arsenal and national team midfielder Mohamed Elneny tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving the results of the PCR tests the team took after their arrival in Togo.

The Pharaohs defeated Togo 1-0 on Saturday in the third round of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, before travelling to Togo to play the fourth round on Tuesday.

The EFA revealed that all the players tested negative except Premier League player Elneny, who is the second Pharaohs player to test positive during the international break after Mohamed Salah missed Saturday’s game after his PCR result came in positive on Friday.

“Immediately, the player, who is in good condition, began implementing the medical protocol for COVID-19, while the mission management headed by EFA board member Mohamed Fadl contacted Arsenal to coordinate Elneny’s medical programme,” read a statement on EFA official Facebook page.

The delegation management also decided, after reviewing the opinion of the medical staff of the national team, to return the player to Cairo in accordance with procedures for preserving the safety of the rest of the players. Since his arrival from England, the player’s results were negative, most recently after finishing the Togo match yesterday and before traveling yesterday to Togo.

“Elneny had taken three PCR tests since he arrived in Egypt, the last of them was directly before travelling to Togo,” EFA statement said.

The Egyptian national team is expected to start the game with substitutes Tarek Hamed of Zamalek and Hamdi Fathi of Ahly in the midfield after losing Elneny and Ahly’s Amr El-Sulaya, who was given the second yellow card in the qualifiers in Togo’s game.

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