SEATTLE, Wash. – On the eve of its MLS Cup Playoff game against against Los Angeles FC Tuesday, a Seattle Sounders FC player has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced Monday night.

All other Sounders FC players and members of the club’s technical and support staffs have returned multiple negative test results and do not have symptoms.

Upon receiving an initial positive test result, the player immediately self-isolated and was placed into the necessary medical protocol.

He is to remain in isolation until he is medically cleared and is being monitored daily by the club’s medical staff. Because this player was not a close contact of other members of Seattle’s roster or technical staff, Sounders FC’s medical staff has determined that risk to the overall team has been managed, the team said.

According to a Sounders FC press release, it has also been conclusively determined that this latest positive test is unrelated to the club’s Nov. 13 announcement. Since that time, Sounders FC has implemented the appropriate contact tracing procedures, adopted a daily testing regiment, while also altering training sessions under the direct supervision of team medical personnel and in compliance with Major League Soccer protocol, the team said.

The standard MLS testing protocol requires all MLS players to undergo Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests every other day, including the day before each match. The confirmation of a positive COVID-19 case occurs when an individual receives two consecutive positive test results. Since Sounders FC’s announcement on November 13, the club has been testing its personnel daily.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.