Italy orders all sports events to be played without fans

ITALY has ordered all major sporting events throughout the country, including top-flight Serie A football matches, to be played without fans for one month in a bid to curb Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

The move, announced in a government decree, will also affect the Six Nations rugby international between Italy and England, due to be played in Rome on March 14, and the Champions League match between Juventus and Olympique Lyonnais on March 17.

The ban on the public watching sports events, which had already been in force in three regions in the north but has now been extended nationwide, will last until April 3 at the earliest.

Until now, Serie A has preferred to call off games in the affected regions rather than play them in empty stadiums and 10 matches have been postponed as well as this week’s two Coppa Italia semifinal ties.

However, after a meeting of club and Serie A representatives yesterday, Inter Milan chief executive Giuseppe Marotta said that playing without fans could be the only way of finishing the Serie A season.

“Playing behind closed doors could be the only way to complete the championship in the light of the emergency and the restrictions that the government is rightly adopting,” he said as he left the meeting.

“The aim is to finish the championship as normally as possible, without creating a competitive imbalance, but as you can see the scenario is constantly changing.”

Six Nations organisers have postponed the match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin on March 7 but said that all other games would go ahead, including Italy’s game against England in Rome. – Reuters