The 48-year-old Argentine will “respect isolation and is
subject to the appropriate health protocols”, PSG said on Twitter.
His assistants Jesus Perez and Miguel D’Agostino will take
charge of the team for Saturday’s trip to Angers.
Three PSG players had already tested positive for the virus
in the last week – Brazilian Rafinha, Germany’s Thilo Kehrer and French youth
international Colin Dagba.
Former Tottenham coach Pochettino has overseen three PSG
games so far, notably winning the Champions Trophy in Lens on Wednesday thanks
to a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Marseille.
Pochettino took over from Thomas Tuchel and signed a
contract until June 30, 2022 with an option for an additional year.
Tuchel was sacked on Dec 24, reportedly for comments viewed
as critical of the Qatari owners despite having led the team to a maiden
appearance in the Champions League final last season.
Pochettino also played for the Parisians from 2001 to 2003.
France has reeled from more than 2.8 million Covid-19
infections and 69,313 deaths, according to official figures.
From Saturday, a nationwide curfew, starting at 6pm, will be
introduced.
Meanwhile, relegation threatened Lorient’s home game against
fellow strugglers Dijon was cancelled on Friday after a virus outbreak in the
Breton side.
The postponement of Sunday’s game is the first in Ligue 1
since Marseille’s meeting with Nice on November 17 was called off.
“Following advice from the national Covid commission, it was
decided to postpone the match due to the absence of more than 10 of 30 Lorient
players after positive RT-PCR tests,” the French Football Federation announced.
Under protocols agreed at the beginning of September,
matches are postponed if a team does not have 20 players with negative tests
available.
Lorient also confirmed their training centre would close for
a minimum of 10 days after positive tests from youth players and management.
There are fears the virus may have spread after the Lorient
youngsters played a recent friendly against Nantes.
Lorient sit 19th in Ligue 1, are winless in five games, and
are two points and one place behind Dijon.
Strasbourg’s match with Saint-Etienne, scheduled for Sunday
at the same time as the Lorient versus Dijon game, is also under threat of
postponement.
Several players and members of the management team at
Saint-Etienne have tested positive, said the club.
“The PCR tests carried out Tuesday and Thursday revealed
many positive cases for Covid-19 among the players and members of the
management of the squad,” said the club in a statement.
Saint-Etienne are currently in 16th place in the table, five
points off the drop zone with Strasbourg a place and a point better off.
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