SINGAPORE - The two cornermen who were to have played a part in a high-profile mixed martial arts event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday night (Oct 30) did not do so after testing positive in their latest polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

In a statement late Friday, the Singapore Tourism Board and One Championship said that the pair "have recovered from Covid-19" but had been kept out of One's Inside The Matrix event as a precautionary measure.

It said: "The two cornermen who have recovered from Covid-19 tested positive on their latest PCR tests conducted yesterday.

"Recovered cases may continue to shed non-viable, non-infectious viral fragments for weeks or even months after infection, which may lead to positive PCR test results.

"While they are past infection cases, and considered to be no longer infectious, as an added precaution, they will not be participating at tonight's ONE: Inside the Matrix event."

The two, hailing from the United States and Russia respectively, tested positive on Tuesday following a serological test which detected the past infections. Prior to the positive test, they had tested negative before flying into Singapore, and had also tested negative upon arriving.

The two individuals were understood to be cornermen of top-billed competitor Aung La N Sang, and a second unidentified fighter who is not part of the event's main six-bout card.

In combat sport, cornermen can be trainers, coaches, cutmen, or training partners, and often spend a lot of time in close proximity to their fighter.