Guardiola Urges Christmas COVID-19 Precautions at Man City

Pep Guardiola. (AP)
Pep Guardiola. (AP)
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Guardiola Urges Christmas COVID-19 Precautions at Man City

Pep Guardiola. (AP)
Pep Guardiola. (AP)

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has asked his players to take all the necessary precautions during Christmas celebrations with their friends and families to avoid a COVID-19 outbreak at the Premier League club.

Fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur had a second match postponed this week after the league agreed to call off Sunday's game at Brighton & Hove Albion due to a number of COVID-19 cases.

Spurs also had their Europa Conference League game against Stade Rennais called off by UEFA after the club said they had 13 positive cases - eight players and five members of staff.

Leicester City were without several players for their Europa League game at Napoli on Thursday due to COVID-19, and Guardiola said he hoped to avoid a similar situation at his side, calling on his players to be vigilant.

"They know they have to be careful, be at home as much as possible. When they go out, social distance and wear a mask. Look at the statistics, the rules from the government. It's still there... and there are setbacks," Guardiola said.

The Spanish manager, whose mother died due to COVID-19 last year, said leaders City cancelled plans for a Christmas party.

"You have to protect yourself, because at Christmas time there's a tendency for more parties, going out more often," added Guardiola, whose side take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

"Everyone at home organizes a party with family and kids. They're going to do it. We're not going to say don't do it, but be careful. The risk is high.

"Look at what happened at Tottenham and Leicester. It can happen here as well, if we don't pay attention. That's a big problem for them, for their health and family, but of course, the team."



Workers Take Down Olympic Rings from Eiffel Tower – for Now

Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
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Workers Take Down Olympic Rings from Eiffel Tower – for Now

Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Tourists sit on the Olympic rings displayed in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

Workers removed the Olympics logo from the Eiffel Tower in the early hours of Friday, returning the beloved monument to its familiar form -- but perhaps only temporarily.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has promised to build new Olympic rings and return them to the landmark as a tribute to the hugely successful Olympic Games held in the capital during July and August.

The proposal has polarized opinion in the French capital and has been criticized by descendants of the tower's designer Gustave Eiffel, as well as conservation groups.

After initially suggesting the new rings should be permanent, Hidalgo has proposed they remain on the city's world-renowned symbol until the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Workers operating multiple large cranes removed the 30-tonne steel rings from between the first and second floors of the tower during the early hours of Friday morning.

They were first installed just under four months ago, on June 7, and will now be melted down and recycled.

The new rings, which the International Olympic Committee is expected to pay for, would be lighter versions of the originals and less prominent, according to a deputy Paris mayor, Pierre Rabadan.

"In my opinion, it would be better to put them somewhere else because it's a Parisian monument and it's not right that it becomes an advertising medium for an event that is now over," Hugo Staub, a French tourist at the tower on Friday, told AFP.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati, a longtime critic and opponent of Hidalgo, has also cast doubt over the idea, saying the mayor's proposal would need to respect procedures protecting historic buildings.

But others felt regret at losing a visual reminder of an enchanted period in Paris and expressed support for the idea of replacements.

"They were a bit large so it's better to put small ones that can remain for a few years," said Gabriel, a French volunteer at the Games, who was at the foot of the tower on Friday. "It would be symbolic and a great souvenir."