Ghana defender Gideon Mensah tested positive for the deadly coronavirus disease on his return to his Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes this week from national team duties with the Black Stars, Ghanasoccernet.com can exclusively reveal.
The 22-year-old was subjected to the compulsory Portuguese government medical test on arrival in city of Guimaraes from the Black Stars training camp in Turkey where they played two friendly matches.
Mensah becomes the third Ghana national team person to test positive from coronavirus following the Black Stars friendly matches against Mali and Qatar over the past seven days.
The result of the test confirmed that the right-back had contracted the virus while on international duty with the Black Stars and has been put under immediate mandatory quarantine.
Mensah has been completely isolated from his Vitoria Guimaraes team-mates after the discovery of the contagious disease and club doctors will immedaitely observe the strict guidelines to ensure his full recovery.
The defender is the latest person from the Black Stars camp that played in the friendlies against Mali and Qatar over the past ten days to have contracted the deadly disease.
This comes after Besiktas midfielder Bernard Mensah and Black Stars management committee member Jones Abu Alhassan were confirmed to have contracted the virus during the training camp in Turkey.
However what cannot be confirmed is if Gideon Mensah caight the virus on his journey from Turkey to Portugal when return to join his club side as they prepare for the resumption of the league.
He is expected to isolate himself for the next two weeks before he can rejoin his Vitoria Guimaraes team-mates but not until tests have confirmed him to have overcome the deadly virus.
This revelation will raise serious concerns for the Ghana football authorities who would be in the race to discover the full extent of infections in the team when they played the matches against Mali and Qatar.
Fears over the Black Stars were raised when four players from the Mali side were confirmed to have contracted the virus and it was feared it could be spread to the Ghana national team when they played their West African rivals.
The full extent would be known this weekend when all players would have returned to their club sides where they are likely to face more stringent tests.
It will also give the Ghana FA the idea on how to prepare and protect its players and officials during their upcoming matches in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.