Danish men’s doubles player Joel Eipe has tested positive for Covid-19 upon his arrival in the hotel in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The positive test result was confirmed via a second PCR-test on Sunday, so now Eipe unfortunately will have to go through a thirteen-day quarantine in his hotel room, as per the Covid-protocol for the European Championships. The same will be the case for his doubles partner, Rasmus Kjær, who is considered as a “close contact” of Eipe.

The Danish men’s doubles Joel Eipe/Rasmus Kjær could have made their European Championship debut at the 2021 European Championships which starts on Tuesday 27 April. But instead of walking on court the two players will now be in isolation for the next 13 days.

Joel Eipe was tested positive for Covid-19 in his PCR-test yesterday, Saturday, and a follow-up PCR-test today, Sunday, confirmed the detection of coronavirus.

- It is a shame that Joel (Eipe, ed.) and Rasmus (Kjær, ed.) will not get the chance to play here in Kyiv. They had both been looking forward to it, but of course we are following the championships protocol and the national restrictions here in Ukraine, and that means that they must now be in quarantine at the hotel for the next 13 days. They are of course very disappointed, but they understand the situation, Badminton Denmark's Director of Elite Sports, Jens Meibom stated.

- We have followed all guidelines up to and during the championships and there are none of the other Danish players or us in the staff who have tested positive or show symptoms of coronavirus. Nevertheless, we have chosen, even though it is not part of the protocol or guidelines, to PCR test all Danish players and staff members again on the fourth day after our arrival, so we are absolutely sure that no one else is infected, says Jens Meibom.

Badminton Europe is sad to see the player test positive, but Deputy General Secretary, Jimmy Andersen, assures that the organisation will take good care of the players during their quarantine.

- First of all, we feel sorry for the two players, and we do hope that they will both get through their quarantine in the best possible way. Nobody wanted this to happen, but we shall of course do our utmost to ensure support for the two guys throughout their stay here in Ukraine.

- They were here to play their first European Championships – not to stay in a hotel room for so long. We will monitor the situation thoroughly and stay in contact with both of them constantly. Their well-being is the utmost priority here and we need to make sure that they are well looked after. We wish a speedy recovery for Joel, and we obviously hope that Rasmus has not got infected.

Joel Eipe was the only person in relation to the European Championships who tested positive for Covid-19 after a total of more than 370 tests done on site in Kyiv. On Monday everyone will get tested once more before the official start of the championships in Kyiv.