The state of
● The coronavirus outbreak has decimated the sporting schedule and left major doubts over some of 2020’s biggest events. Scottish football has been halted indefinitely, rugby’s Six Nations has been interrupted, the F1 season has been delayed and already g
● Last week the Scottish football season was suspended “until further notice”. A Scottish FA and SPFL Joint Response Group ruled that all professional, amateur and grassroots activities should be halted.
● In England, the Premier League was suspended until 4 April and the EFL until 3 April at the earliest. Only some National League fixtures took place over the weekend.
● Half of the Vanarama National League was postponed at the weekend, despite the league insisting that it would be played as normal. Games between Harrogate and Solihull Moors, Boreham Wood – who share facilities with Arsenal – and Torquay, Barrow and Wrexham, Woking and Dagenham, Bromley and Chorley and Yeovil and Barnet were postponed along with five games in the National League North, though the South division went ahead unaffected.
● The Irish Football Association suspended the current season in Northern Ireland until at least 4 April. The Football Association of Ireland announced all football activity under its jurisdiction was suspended until 29 March.
● Fifa relaxed rules on clubs having to release players for forthcoming international fixtures and also recommended that “all international matches previously scheduled to take place in March and April should now be postponed until such time that they can take place in a safe and secure environment”. It therefore seems inevitable that the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final between Steve Clarke’s Scotland and Israel at Hampden on 26 March won’t now go ahead.
● England’s two friendlies later this month at Wembley, the Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship were also postponed by the FA. Wales’ international matches with Austria and the United States at the end of March were also called off.
● Uefa announced all Champions League and Europa League fixtures scheduled for next week were postponed, as well as the quarter-final draws for both competitions. That means Rangers must wait to complete the second leg of their Europa League last-16 clash against German side Bayer Leverkusen.
● Uefa has called an emergency meeting for tomorrow to discuss the rest of the season and whether this summer’s Euro 2020 finals can go ahead as scheduled.
● There have been no positive coronavirus tests in Scottish football as yet, although on
Friday three SPFL clubs – Hearts, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Stenhousemuir – revealed that a player in their squad was self-isolating after showing symptoms of the virus.
● In England, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-odoi tested positive for coronavirus. Everton’s entire first-team squad and coaching staff undertook a period of self-isolation after a first-team player reported symptoms consistent with coronavirus, while three Leicester players showed symptoms and were kept away from the rest of the squad. Bournemouth announced five of their employees, including former Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc, were self-isolating having displayed symptoms consistent with the virus.
● In Italy, Juventus defender Daniele Rugani tested positive, as did Fiorentina striker
Patrick Cutrone, on loan from Wolves, and team-mate German Pezzella and club physio Stefano Danielli. All domestic sporting action in Italy – including Serie A matches – was suspended until 3 April.
● Ezequiel Garay became the first Laliga player to announce that he has tested positive for coronavirus, with Valencia later confirming five positive tests among players and staff. Real Madrid players were told to go into quarantine after a member of the club’s basketball team tested positive. Laliga suspended “at least the next two rounds of matches” as a result of the quarantine in place at Real. Barcelona suspended all first-team activity after taking advice from their medical staff.
● Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the top two divisions in France, are suspended until further notice.
● The German Football League confirmed games in the top two divisions had been cancelled from this weekend and will recommend a continued suspension until 2 April.
● In the United States. Major League Soccer announced the suspension of matches for 30 days with immediate effect.
● The South American (CONMEBOL) World Cup qualifiers scheduled for 23-31 March were postponed to a later date.
● The International Olympic Committee remains fully committed to staging the Tokyo 2020 Games as scheduled this summer (24 July-9 August), despite Japan’s Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto suggesting it could be postponed until later in the year. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was insistent it was business as usual. “We will overcome the spread of the infection and host the Olympics without problem, as planned,” he said on Saturday.
● The British Olympic Association still plans to send a delegation of around 55 to Tokyo later this month for a “detailed operational recce”.
● The Greek leg of the Olympic Torch Relay was cancelled the day after the first flamelighting ceremony since 1984 to take place without spectators.
● The Six Nations game between Wales and Scotland in Cardiff scheduled for Saturday was postponed on Friday, joining the games between France and Ireland and Italy against England. It remains to be seen when, or if, the fixtures will be played.
● The Scottish Rugby Union as called a halt to all domestic rugby until 29 March.
● Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors are also idle for now after the Guinness Pro14 was suspended indefinitely.
● In England, following the postponement of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Cup final between Sale and Harlequins, the Premiership is set to be suspended, with officials meeting today to discuss the immediate future of the competition. They are expected to pre-empt government advice and cancel the season until further notice. Yesterday’s Premiership Rugby Cup final was originally given the go-ahead on Friday, only to be postponed following an individual on staff developing symptoms consistent with coronavirus.
● The Super Rugby season was suspended after the decision of the New Zealand government to quarantine people entering the country for 14 days.
● Rugby Australia closed its Sydney headquarters for an “intensive clean” after two members of its Australian Sevens programme showed signs and symptoms associated with coronavirus.
● The Masters at Augusta, traditionally regarded as the sport’s blue riband event and famously won last year by Tiger Woods, below, became the first golf major to be postponed. There has been some speculation that it will be played in September instead but no new date has been set.
● The Players Championship was cancelled along with all PGA Tour events for the next three weeks.
● Five European Tour tournaments have been postponed. Next week’s Hero Indian Open and August’s Czech Masters have joined this week’s Kenya Open and April’s Maybank Championship and China Open in being called off.
● The Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International was postponed with a view to it being rescheduled later in the year.
● The International Cricket Council announced that the sixth series of the
ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 set to begin on 1 April in Florida has been postponed. Scotland were due to compete against the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
● England’s Test series against Sri Lanka was postponed with the touring players returning home.
● The start of the Indian Premier League was postponed from 29 March to 15 April as a precautionary measure.
● The annual Champion County match, regarded as the curtain-raiser to the domestic season, due to be played between the MCC and Essex between 24-27 March at Galle was called off, as was the MCC World Cricket Committee meeting in Colombo scheduled for 28 and 29 March.
● Surrey, Lancashire, Worcestershire, Hampshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Yorkshire and Somerset have cancelled or decided to return early from pre-season trips.
● The final two one-day internationals between India and South Africa will be rescheduled following an agreement between the countries’ governing bodies, while the remaining two
ODIS between Australia and New Zealand were called off.
● Australia Women’s limited-overs tour of South Africa, consisting of three ODIS and as many T20s and due to start on 22 March, will not take place.
● The NBA season was suspended “until further notice” after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus before last week’s game v Oklahoma City Thunder.
● The Giro d’italia, cycling’s first Grand Tour of the season which was due to start on 9 May in Budapest, was postponed. The Strade Bianchi, Tirreno-adriatico, Milan-san Remo and the Giro di Sicilia races in Italy have been called off.
● Fears of two cases of coronavirus at the UAE Tour saw the race cancelled with two stages left.
● Team INEOS are among a host of teams who withdrew from all racing until the Volta a Catalunya on 23 March.
● Cycling’s Women’s Tour, the UK’S Worldtour stage race, was postponed almost three months before it was scheduled to begin in Oxfordshire on 8 June.
● Yesterday, the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) announced the suspension of its calendar until at least 3 April.