River Plate report COVID-19 outbreak before Boca Juniors clash

BUENOS AIRES - River Plate's hopes of winning the Argentine league title suffered a setback on Saturday when 10 players were diagnosed with COVID-19.

The news came 24 hours before River were due to meet rivals Boca Juniors in the single-leg quarterfinal stage of the Primera Division.

The Buenos Aires club said those who tested positive were: Paulo Diaz, Federico Girotti, Enrique Bologna, German Lux, Robert Rojas, Nicolas De La Cruz, Rafael Borre, Bruno Zuculini, Tomas Castro Ponce and Franco Petroli.

"The rest of the tests on players and coaching staff gave negative results," read a statement on River's official website."

It added that plans for the squad to prepare for Sunday's match at a hotel in Buenos Aires had been scrapped to minimize contagion risks.

Argentina has reported 3.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases, more than 69,000 of which have been fatal.