Corona scare: Arsenal players isolated
Many footballers from London club had met Olympiakos chief Marinakis, who has tested positive
LONDON: Arsenal placed some players under isolation and the Premier League postponed the London club’s match at Manchester City on Wednesday, after the owner of Greek side Olympiakos Pireaeus tested positive for the coronavirus.
A number of Arsenal players had met Evangelos Marinakis following their Europa League round of 32 meeting in London on February 27. Marinakis, who also owns English Championship (second tier) side Nottingham Forest, said on Tuesday he had contracted the disease.
The Greek club released a statement on Wednesday saying their players and staff had been tested for the virus and that all tests came back negative.
Arsenal said in a statement the risk to their players was “extremely low”.
“However, we are strictly following government guidelines which recommend that anyone coming into close contact with someone with the virus should self-isolate at home for 14 days from the last time they had contact.
“The players will remain at their homes until the 14-day period expires. Four Arsenal staff, who were sitting close to Mr Marinakis during the match will also remain at home until the 14 days are complete.”
The Premier League said it had no alternative but to postpone the game and complete a proper risk assessment.
“All necessary measures are being taken and the Premier League currently has no plans to postpone any other matches,” it said in a statement.
Globally, more than 116,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus and over 4,000 have died. A host of international sporting events have also been affected.
EUROPA NOT SPARED
PARIS: Manchester United’s Europa League last 16, first leg away to LASK Linz in Austria is one of five matches in the competition set to be played behind closed doors on Thursday. United confirmed on Tuesday that the decision had been made “following guidance from the Austrian government”, with the Alpine country having recorded 182 cases of COVID-19 by Tuesday.
Inter Milan’s home game against Getafe will be played out in an empty stadium, while no fans will be allowed into Sevilla’s match against Roma in Spain.
German club Wolfsburg have confirmed their clash with Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk will be behind closed doors.
However, fellow Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt are set to play FC Basel in front of a crowd.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
LYON:LYON will take on Juventus in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie behind closed doors in Turin next week, the French club’s president Jeanmichel Aulas told AFP on Tuesday.
“We have received a letter from UEFA which tells us that the match will be in Turin and behind closed doors,” Aulas told AFP.
FOOTBALLER POSITIVE
BERLIN:A second division footballer on Wednesday became the first player to test positive for coronavirus in Germany as RB Leipzig became the last Bundesliga side to announce that they would hold their weekend match behind closed doors. Hanover 96 revealed that defender Timo Huebers had tested positive for COVID-19, saying in a statement that they insisted that no further infections were expected, as Huebers had avoided contact with his colleagues.
ITALY SHUT DOWN
ROME: Only the gunfire of two World Wars had previously stopped “calcio” in football-mad Italy. But from Tuesday all sporting events in the Mediterranean country, including the top-flight Serie A league, will be suspended for a month because of the coronavirus crisis. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte made the dramatic announcement as the nation grappled with a disease which has killed 631 and prompted the government to restrict movement for its 60 million citizens.
The suspension until April 3 amounts to the postponement of two championship days, in a league which has already been hit by delays, with four previous matches yet to be played. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss a strategy with four proposed solutions which will be discussed again on March 23. The first would apply if the league resumes on April 3.
In that case, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina said, the federation would “take advantage of all the dates available until May 31,” a week after the season was originally due to finish. Other options include not assigning the Scudetto this season, organising play-offs for the league titles or using the standings up until the moment the season was interrupted, the FIGC said.
FED CUP POSTPONED
The Fed Cup finals that were scheduled to be held in Budapest, Hungary, next month and playoffs that were to be held in various locations worldwide have been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Wednesday. The finals event, originally scheduled to take place from April 14-19 at the Laszlo Papp Sport Arena in Budapest, was postponed after Hungary banned public gatherings of more than 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors.
“After careful consideration and close discussion with the ITF Board, the Local Organising Committee... it is with regret that the ITF has announced the postponement of the Fed Cup Finals,” the ITF said in a statement.