Mainz, Germany, March 4, 2022 (AFP) - An outbreak of Covid-19 within the Mainz squad has caused Sunday's Bundesliga game against Borussia Dortmund to be rescheduled for March 16, the German Football League said Friday.

"We only have 14 players and no goalkeeper registered for the Bundesliga," Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel said Friday as the club filed its request for a postponement.

German league rules state that a match can be postponed if a team has fewer than 16 players available, one of whom must be a goalkeeper.

Nineteen members of the first-team set-up have tested positive, including 13 players and head coach Bo Svensson.

Dortmund team manager Sebastian Kehl said the decision to postpone the game was "understandable" and that the health rules in place allowed for "a fair competition".