Could Major League Soccer be turning the corner in its bid for a safe return to competitive matches?
Sports Radio 810 WHB host Soren Petro seemed to think so after speaking with Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes during today's conference call with media.
In a candid and wide-ranging discussion, Vermes said Sporting has a plan in place to begin regular virus testing for players, an instrumental step for all MLS clubs in order to progress from voluntary individual workouts to small group trainings and eventually to full-sided practices and games.
"All of our players and staff will be taking tests to see if they actually have the virus," Vermes said. "We will also be taking the antibody test to see if we had it at some point and built up antibodies towards it. We’re not sure if we’re going to do that Friday or Monday.
"The idea from that is that we also have an individual person who does nothing but work on Sporting Kansas City’s testing protocol going forward for small-group training, full team training and games. Each and every team has been requested to go out and search for partners within their (markets). We don’t want to have to do a test and then send it back to New York. We need a much quicker turnaround, so we’ve been working on that as well. We think we have a very good solution in both situations."
Vermes said the club plans to administer tests on-site at Compass Minerals National Performance Center. While Sporting isn't required by MLS to conduct tests at this time, he acknowledges that it will be a vital step in returning to play.
Listen to the full podcast below, courtesy of The Program.
