Chelsea’s Champions League clash at Bayern Munich and Manchester United’s match at LASK will both take place behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Blues travel to Germany next Wednesday for the second-leg of their last-16 tie with the German champions, while the Red Devils are in Austria this Thursday for the first-leg of their last-16 Europa League clash.
COVID-19 has affected sporting events across the globe and on Monday Italy went into total nationwide lockdown with the country recording 9,172 cases and 463 deaths.
The number of cases in Spain surpassed 1,000 by Tuesday morning, and Spanish authorities advised that football should be played with no spectators for a minimum of two weeks.
“According to information from the High Council of Sports (CSD), LaLiga Santander matches will be played behind closed doors, starting today [March 10] and for at least the next two weeks,” read a statement.
“LaLiga will continue to be in permanent contact with the Ministry of Health and the CSD to follow its recommendations and/or decisions, prioritising the health of fans, players, club employees, journalists etc, due to the COVID-19 health crisis.
“For weeks, LaLiga has been working on alternative plans in co-ordination with UEFA in case health authorities decide to suspend any match, creating a plan to play these matches.”
Austrian health minister Rudolf Anschober said on Tuesday that all outdoor events with more than 500 people would be not be allowed until mid-April.
Various Champions League matches – including PSG vs Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona vs Napoli and Valencia vs Atalanta – are confirmed to be played behind closed doors, while Olympiakos vs Wolves in the Europa League has the same measure in place.
Olympiakos’ owner Evangelos Marinakis, who is also the majority owner of Nottingham Forest, announced on Tuesday he has contracted the virus.
In a statement on social media website Instagram, Marinakis wrote: “The recent virus has ‘visited’ me and I felt obliged to let the public know.
“I feel good as I take all the necessary measures and I discipline to the doctors instructions. I strongly advise all my fellow citizens to do the same. I wish all a quick recovery.”
It is understood Marinakis was at Forest’s match against Millwall last Friday and met players and staff before the match, while he also took pictures with fans at the City Ground.
Sports bodies met with government ministers in the UK on Monday at a meeting chaired by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to discuss contingency plans in relation to Covid-19.
There has been talk Premier League and EFL games could be played behind closed doors but Gary Neville, the joint-owner of Sky Bet League Two side Salford, has joined those rejecting that as an alternative.
“I do NOT support matches played behind closed doors,” former England and Manchester United defender Neville said on Twitter.
“If it’s necessary to shut down stadiums the associations must find a way of delaying the season and playing the games when it is safe to do so to protect the revenues for clubs that require this income to survive.”
The Super League match between Catalans Dragons and Leeds, due to be played in Perpignan on Saturday, will now take place behind closed doors.
The France v Ireland Six Nations match was postponed on Monday. Ireland had been due to play the match in Paris on Saturday, but it will now not go ahead on the advice of the French government.
As it stands, the Wales v Scotland match is the only game in the final round of the Six Nations due to go ahead as originally scheduled, after the Italy v England game in Rome was postponed last week.
World Health Organisation’s definition of coronavirus
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
The French health minister Olivier Veran announced on Sunday evening that all gatherings of more than 1,000 people are now prohibited in the country, meaning Ligue 1 matches must be played behind closed doors or in front of no more than 1,000 spectators.
All domestic sporting action has been suspended in Italy after prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced at a press conference that the whole country would be on lockdown from Tuesday morning.
The country’s national Olympic committee (CONI) originally made the announcement on Monday, but CONI’s jurisdiction does not cover Italian clubs or national teams involved in international competitions, such as football’s Champions League.
Other sporting events abroad continue to be affected by the outbreak and organisers of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells have announced that the event will not take place.
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Kim Clijsters were among the players set to take part in the tournament which was due to start in California on Monday.
Indian Wells is the first Premier Mandatory event of the WTA season and is a Masters 1000 event on the men’s tour.
World Snooker confirmed that the attendance in the arena for the Gibraltar Open would be limited to 100 people as a precautionary measure.
The organisers of rugby union’s European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions, EPCR, say the quarter-final ties scheduled for the weekend of April 3-5 are still set to go ahead.
Lancashire County Cricket Club have announced pre-season trips to Dubai and Potchefstroom in South Africa have been cancelled on the advice of relevant health authorities. The club say they are finalising alternative plans on home soil.
The International Judo Federation, meanwhile, has cancelled all Olympic qualification events on the calendar until April 30.
Furthermore, Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix has been postponed from its original April 19 date, while the Bahrain GP on March 20 will take place with no fans in attendance.
