Six members of Belarus Under-21 squad test positive for COVID-19

LISBON (Reuters) - Six members of the Belarus Under-21 squad have tested positive for COVID-19 during a trip to Portugal for a match, a Portuguese government official said on Wednesday.

Belarus had been due to face Portugal on Tuesday in a European Under-21 championship game in Lisbon but the match was postponed.

"Taking into consideration the appearance of three cases, UEFA made the decision to postpone the game and we made the decision to test everyone involved with the Belarusian team," Graca Freitas, head of Portugal's DGS health directorate, told a news conference.

"There were 36 tests and, of those additional tests, three more people tested positive, so right now the Belarusian team has six positive cases."

Belarus played the Netherlands at home on Friday, losing 7-0.

Freitas said there were no plans to allow spectators at soccer matches in Portugal for the time being.

"With regards to the public in the stadiums....it would certainly not happen in the near future," she said.

The new season starts on Sept. 18.

(Additional reporting by Catarina Demony; Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond)