West Ham owner David Sullivan reveals David Moyes had no idea he had coronavirus

West Ham owner David Sullivan has revealed that David Moyes thought nothing of his ‘sore throat’ before the Hammers boss and two other players tested positive for coronavirus.

The Hammers were rocked just moments before their Carabao Cup third round tie against Hull on Tuesday night when Moyes, plus Issa Diop and Josh Cullen tested positive for Covid-19 within an hour of the match.

The clash still went ahead, which West Ham won 5-1, but the headlines were dominated by the decision to give the game the green light despite the risk that the virus could pass.

West Ham manager David Moyes tested positive for coronavirus before the match vs Hull

Issa Diop also tested positive for coronavirus as West Ham were rocked before Tuesday’s game

And on Wednesday morning, Sullivan gave some insight into the news of the small outbreak within the Hammers camp. 

Sullivan told talkSPORT: ‘What we do in the Premier League, every team we are tested three times a week during pre-season and we are now tested once a week so we were all tested on Monday.

‘The results came through at literally 6:30/6:45 last night and unfortunately two of the players tested positive, so the manager had to juggle the the team with who was there and then had to go home and self-isolate, as did the two players.

‘And then the whole team will be retested today to see if we have any more casualties. All the players are fine, I mean they have slightly sore throats. 

‘The manager actually was on fine form this morning, he has had a slight sore throat for a couple of days but he put it down to the fact that he shouts a lot. 

‘He is a pretty hands on manager, coach and he is on the training pitch, screaming and shouting. And he said look “I do get a sore throat occasionally, so I thought nothing of it”. It’s just a minor sore throat and hopefully it doesn’t get worse.’

Josh Cullen has also contracted the virus alongside both Moyes and Diop at London Stadium

‘I think he has to self-isolate for 10 days under the guidelines. We had them all retested last night with a slight hope they test negative and it’s what they call a false positive. But since they have slight sore throats, you have to think every possibility that they do have the virus unfortunately.’

The trio were within the match ‘bubble’ at the London Stadium when they learnt of their positive tests at 6.20pm, before leaving the ground immediately.

Diop and Cullen had both been named in the initial West Ham starting XI when the team lists dropped at 6.30pm, ahead of an update at 6.47pm that they had been replaced by Harrison Ashby and Jack Wilshere. 

The EFL confirmed to Sportsmail that the decision to go ahead was made by the two clubs’ medical departments in consultation with two off-site EFL doctors, and that protocols had been followed. They also pointed to evidence that the risk of transmission between players outdoor is low. 

Alan Irvine, who stood in for Moyes, said: ‘At 6.20pm we suddenly got some info. Immediately at that point you’re thinking we’ve got a game in an hour and 10 minutes so we had to focus on that, and that’s what we did. We had to pick a different team. I had a chat with the players, explained the situation and then we got on with the game. 

Hammers owner David Sullivan (centre) revealed Moyes had no idea that he had coronavirus

‘There was contact in so far as we were in the same area as David. We’d been at the stadium, as we usually get there one hour and 45 to two hours before, so we had been around.

‘We were shocked by the news because we have had so many tests and not had any positive. We do know that the tests are not completely accurate so we will wait and see what happens.’

The fact the game went ahead, even with protocols being followed, raised eyebrows on a day when plans for crowds to return to sporting events in October were shelved by the government amid a rise in coronavirus cases.

A West Ham statement said Moyes, Diop and Cullen were ‘asymptomatic’, but there will now be doubts over their Premier League clash with Wolves on Sunday, while Moyes and the players will have to isolate for 10 days in line with national regulations. 

The Premier League are understood to be monitoring the situation. Hull will face Northampton in League One on Saturday.