Major sporting and music events face cancellation to stop spread

Football bosses consider playing matches in front of empty stands after Stormzy postpones tour

THE Government’s action plan to deal with coronavirus raises the prospect of major sporting and cultural events being cancelled in an attempt to stem the spread of the disease.

Ministers’ 28-page plan says “population distancing strategies” to try to reduce the risk of the virus spreading further could be implemented if the situation gets worse.

This could include “reducing the number of large scale gatherings”, raising the prospect that events such as the London Marathon, the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, football matches and music and arts festivals could be postponed.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said yesterday it was “far too early to be able to tell” whether the London Marathon will need to be cancelled, but would not rule it out if the spread of the virus became more widespread.

The race is still scheduled to take place in eight weeks’ time, with one million spectators set to line the route, raising fears of the virus spreading through close contact.

London Marathon Events said it is closely monitoring developments.

At the same time European football’s governing body, Uefa, has announced emergency working groups, involving the Premier League and other governing bodies, to cope with a potential fixture pile-up if matches are cancelled.

The Premier League, Football Association and the English Football League have discussed a worst-case scenario option of games being played behind closed doors. Contingency options have also been discussed by officials in the past week in case the Government does order a major shutdown of mass gatherings as has been seen in Switzerland and France.

It is understood the Premier League would consider playing matches in front of empty stands if it allowed the season to be completed.

Individual sports stars are increasingly likely to find themselves caught up in the crisis as the disease gains hold in the UK.

England prop Mako Vunipola will miss the remainder of the Six Nations after going into self-isolation over coronavirus fears, it emerged yesterday.

A spokesman for the

England team said Vunipola had withdrawn from the squad after the England management discovered that he had stopped over in Hong Kong – where there have been around 100 cases of Covid-19 – on his flight back from Tonga at the weekend.

A severe worsening of the coronavirus outbreak could also raise the prospect of the Grand National being cancelled. Thousands of racegoers are set to flock to Aintree in April to watch the famous horse race.

Mr Hancock said that while officials were not currently planning to cancel major events, emergency legislation could be introduced to do so.

He said: “Right now, we do not recommend the cancelling of mass events, and schools as well should not be closing

unless there is a positive case and the schools have the advice to close.

“There may be things we have to do down the line that we don’t want to, but we will need the powers to do that, hence the proposing of emergency legislation.”

Hugh Brasher, events director at the London Marathon, said: “We are monitoring developments relating to coronavirus and noting the updates and advice given by the UK Government, the World Health Organisation and other UK public bodies.”

Britain could also see major artists cancel performances, as has already happened overseas.

The award-winning grime artist Stormzy, left, has postponed the Asia leg of his worldwide tour “due to the ongoing health and travel concerns surrounding coronavirus”.

His fellow Brit-winner Mabel has cancelled the Italian leg of her European tour, on the advice of the Italian health ministry.