Romelu Lukaku apologises for Inter Milan coronavirus claim

Inter Milan were third in Serie A when the season was suspended

Former Manchester United striker Lukaku made his claims during an Instagram Live conversation with Belgian TV presenter Kat Kerkhofs on Tuesday.

Inter were stunned by the suggestions as they completed their January games with virtually a full squad of players.

The club are understood to have reprimanded Lukaku.

Sources have told BBC Sport that because the Belgium international apologised, the matter is now regarded as closed.

Lukaku is reported to have said: “We had a week off in December, we returned to work and I swear that 23 out of 25 players were ill. I am not kidding.

“We played against Radja Nainggolan’s Cagliari and after about 25 minutes, one of our defenders [Milan Skriniar] had to leave the pitch. He could not continue and almost fainted.

“Everyone was coughing and had a fever. When I was warming up, I felt a lot hotter than usual. I hadn’t suffered from a fever in years.

“After the game there was a planned dinner with guests from Puma, but I thanked them and went straight to bed. We never did the Covid-19 tests at that moment, so we will never know for sure.”

As of Wednesday, Italy had the highest mortality rate in Europe with over 25,000 deaths from coronavirus. – bbc.com