All Whites matches in doubt
The All Whites’ friendlies against Oman and Bahrain scheduled for later this month are unlikely to go ahead.
There has been no official confirmation, but understands they are set to join the long list of football matches impacted by the spread of coronavirus.
Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation have moved in recent days to postpone World Cup qualifiers that were set to take place during the March international window.
The two friendlies were set to take place in conjunction with those matches, in Oman on March 27 (NZ time) and in Bahrain four days later.
Bahrain has reported 109 cases of coronavirus, according to the latest World Health Organisation figures, while Oman has reported 18. New Zealand currently has five.
NZ Football referred to an earlier statement when asked for comment, saying it was monitoring the situation and keeping players and staff safe was a priority.
Matches in Italy’s Serie A were played behind closed doors at the weekend, with the league later put on hold as the country went into lockdown, in an effort to try to halt the spread of the virus.
Two of this week’s Uefa Champions League fixtures – between Barcelona and Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund – will also be played in empty stadiums.
It was announced last weekend that fans would not be permitted to attend Formula One’s Bahrain Grand Prix, which is set to take place over the weekend of March 22.
‘‘In consultation with our international partners and the kingdom’s national health taskforce, Bahrain has made the decision to hold this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix as a participants-only event,’’ the organisers said in a statement.
‘‘Given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally, convening a major sporting event, which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travellers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time.’’
On Monday, the Oceania Football Confederation moved to postpone all activity – meetings, tournaments, and workshops – scheduled to take place in the region up to May 6.
That includes the quarterfinals and semifinals of the OFC Champions League; the OFC Under-17 Women’s Championship, which was already postponed last December due to the outbreak of measles in the Pacific; and the OFC Nations Cup qualifying tournament.
The Football Ferns have conceded late to lose 2-1 to Norway in the third-place playoff at the Algarve Cup.
Caroline Graham Hansen took advantage of a bad touch from Rebekah Stott in her own area and fired her shot past Erin Nayler with four minutes to play.
It was the fourth time in their past eight matches that the Ferns had conceded a result-changing goal inside the last 10 minutes
Hannah Wilkinson put the Ferns in front 10 minutes in, but Synne Jensen replied five minutes later, and for a long time it appeared the match would be headed to a penalty shootout.
Tom Sermanni returned to his first-choice XI for the match at Estadio Algarve in Portugal, with Nayler replacing Anna Leat in goal, Claudia Bunge replacing Steph
Skilton at the back after serving a suspension, and Olivia Chance and Betsy Hassett replacing Annalie Longo and Rosie White either side of Wilkinson up front.
Norway were the dominant side in the opening 10 minutes, forcing Ferns centre backs Bunge and Stott to make crucial blocks almost immediately as the game began.
It was the Ferns who struck first however, with their first real attack of the game.
The ball had fallen to skipper Ali Riley just inside her own half, and she went on a surging run to the edge of the Norwegian box before playing a through ball for Wilkinson, who finished with a firsttime