Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Ivaylo Petev has tested positive for Covid-19 only days ahead of their 2022 World Cup qualifier against world champions France, the Balkan nation’s football federation said.
Upon their return from Finland, where Bosnia drew 2-2 in their opening qualifier, the squad were tested and results late Friday revealed that Petev was positive, a federation statement said.
All the players and staff tested negative, it added.
The 45-year-old Bulgarian, who took over the Bosnian team in January, “feels well and has no symptoms,” the statement said.
Bosnia face France in Sarajevo on Wednesday in Group D.
Apart from Finland, the group also contains Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Since independence in 1992, Bosnia have only qualified for the World Cup finals once: for Brazil in 2014.
The country has been struggling with a surge of Covid-19 cases in recent days and has one of the highest global mortality rates per capita, with more than 6,100 deaths in the population of 3.5 million people.