Government tells sporting bodies ‘show must go on’
Ministers call for calm amid coronavirus crisis Wolves match in Greece will be closed to public
The Government will resist ordering that sport be played behind closed doors until the 11th hour, after telling the Premier League and governing bodies that “the show must go on” amid the escalating coronavirus crisis.
Ministers are determined to buy more time despite Wolverhampton Wanderers last night being told they will play their Europa League tie at Olympiacos in an empty stadium on Thursday.
Italy has suspended all domestic sport until April, but UK governing bodies, along with Sky Sports, BT Sport and the BBC, were told at Whitehall crisis talks that there was “no trigger point” for suspensions.
Ministers are increasingly likely to ask broadcasters to make games free-to-air should a shutout be decreed, The Daily Telegraph understands, but such a scenario remains unlikely within the next fortnight.
Several senior sporting figures cast doubt on the “keep calm and carry on” message, with clubs known to be preparing for the possibility of taking a huge financial hit.
All sport, including Serie A, in Italy was suspended until at least April 3 last night by the country’s Olympic committee. The ban does not cover national teams, but sources said the Euro 2020 warmup game against England at Wembley is certain to ban away fans.
Wolves, meanwhile, announced that the club shared the “disappointment of all of our supporters who will be affected” by Uefa’s decision that their match in Greece would be played without fans, following a two-week stadium shutout ordered by their government.
Another day of uncertainty also included these developments:
• The Six Nations match between France and Ireland was postponed, but tournament organisers confirmed that Wales v Scotland would go ahead on Saturday.
• The Indian Wells tennis tournament, a combined ATP and WTA event which is one of the biggest and most important outside of the grand slams, was cancelled.
• The Grand National was at “increasing risk” of being forced to be run behind closed doors.
• Paris St-germain v Borussia Dortmund will be played behind closed doors in the Champions League this week, but authorities in Germany have confirmed fans will be allowed into the RB Leipzig v Tottenham Hotspur game tonight.
• Leeds Rhinos confirmed they did not know if their Super League game against Catalans in France would go ahead, due to the ban on gatherings of more than 1,000.
The Government, meanwhile, retained a cautious approach, telling the Football Association, Rugby Football Union, UK Sport and the England and Wales Cricket Board that ministers would resist rushing into cancelling sporting events without scientific basis.
A source said of the meeting: “It was constructive, opening the discussion, with nothing definitive coming out, but it was sensible to get everyone in the room. The message was that the show goes on.”
There was no talk of football’s 3pm Saturday broadcast blackout being lifted, but other implications being considered by the Government included the possibility that pubs should stop showing live matches to avoid large gatherings.
Jonathan Van-tam, deputy chief medical officer, is said to have expressed concern there was even more risk of the virus spreading in packed pubs than in stadiums.
There is no chance of any nationwide behind-closed-doors sanctions being announced at least for the next week, which means racing’s Cheltenham Festival will definitely go ahead as planned.
Sporting bodies were promised daily updates by the Government, and the FA could yet raise the option of abandoning the 3pm television blackout for broadcasters, if it was agreed by the Premier League and English Football League.
All matches involving EFL clubs could be made available via the
‘Based on current advice from experts there is no rationale to close or cancel sporting events’
League’s ifollow service, which is usually blocked on Saturdays. Sky and BT could be asked to show all Premier League matches free, but block their signal into pubs.
A spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the meeting “included a discussion of how staging events behind closed doors could work in practice, should the situation change and become necessary”.
“However, based upon the current scientific advice from the Government’s medical experts, there is no rationale to close or cancel sporting events as things stand.”
Despite the meeting, England’s game against Italy on March 27 at Wembley is under increasing doubt after the country placed up to 16 million of its people in quarantine. England’s other warm-up match against Denmark four days later could also be called off.
The virus continued to wreak havoc with sporting events over the weekend, with spectators banned from attending the second race of the Formula One season, the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20-22. The Chinese GP, scheduled for Shanghai next month, was postponed indefinitely last month.
Uefa has joined the Premier League and EFL in banning prematch handshakes at all its matches, including this week’s Champions League and Europa League ties.