Paris Saint-Germain's three-day training camp in Qatar and Saudi Arabia has been cancelled because of the Covid-19 situation in France, the capital club announced Wednesday.
"Given the health situation in France, Paris Saint-Germain has decided to preserve the health of its staff and players by postponing the Qatar Winter Tour 2022 and the friendly match in Riyadh," PSG said.
The tour had been scheduled for January 16-19, culminating in the match against a local team in the Saudi capital.
PSG has been hard hit by Covid, with Argentina star Lionel Messi, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, defender Juan Bernat and midfielders Danilo Pereira, Julian Draxler and Angel Di Maria all having tested positive for coronavirus.
France has suffered more than 125,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, and continues to register thousands of daily new coronavirus cases as the highly contagious Omicron variant drives up infections to record highs.
Elsewhere, Fenerbahce on Wednesday turned to its former manager Ismail Kartal to head the Istanbul side for a second time.
The 28-time Turkish champions joined their Istanbul rivals Besiktas and Galatasaray -- all mired in disappointing seasons -- in switching managerial directions in a bid to revive their title runs.
Fenerbahce parted ways with coach Vitor Pereira in December and now sit fifth in the table, 17 points behind runaway leaders Trabzonspor.
They have also been eliminated from the Europa League, and have won only one of their last five games.
"Our club reached an agreement with Ismail Kartal for the rest of the season," Fenerbahce said in a statement.
Kartal, 60, was coach for the club in the 2014-15 season, when they finished second and qualified for the Champions League.
He won two national titles with the Istanbul club as player in 1984-85 and 1988-89.
