It’s business as usual in Britain despite Covid-19
LONDON: Sporting events in Britain will go ahead as planned despite drastic measures being taken elsewhere in the world to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to ministers.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the BBC on Monday that it would be “premature” to cancel fixtures as officials from a number of sports gathered in London to discuss the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“There’s no reason for people either not to attend such events or to cancel them at this stage, but we keep it under review,” he said.
The global sporting calendar is being badly disrupted by the virus, which has infected more than 110,000 people worldwide, with over 3,800 deaths.
France’s Six Nations match against Ireland in Paris on Saturday has been postponed — the third game of the tournament to be called off.
The decision means that Saturday’s Wales v Scotland match in Cardiff is the only remaining match on the Six Nations programme, leaving the tournament unfinished, with the identity of the champions uncertain.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League home game against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday will be played behind closed doors.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said senior government officials had held a “constructive meeting with sports and broadcast partners” as part of contingency planning. “This included a discussion of how staging sporting events behind closed doors could work in practice, should the situation change and become necessary,” the DCMS said.
“We will remain in regular dialogue with sports governing bodies and broadcasters.”
Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney, who was at the meeting, said: The basic message coming out of today is ‘let’s not panic’. Let’s monitor the situation and carry on as normal.”
Premier League executive director Bill Bush refused to speculate on the possibility of matches being played behind closed doors.