Ministers call in sports chiefs for crunch talks over big match fan ban
SPORTS chiefs and broadcasters will tomorrow hold top-level talks with Government officials on possible plans for staging behind-closed-doors events if the coronavirus outbreak worsens.
Governing bodies and television chiefs have been summoned to Sports Secretary Oliver Dowden’s offices to be given the latest ‘clinical guidance’ relating to holding fixtures.
But reports yesterday said Mr Dowden’s officials would in turn seek advice on the practicalities of staging events without fans if the virus outbreak worsens.
The crisis meeting comes after Italy, hard hit by the Covid-19 outbreak, ordered all major sporting events throughout the country to be played without fans for one month in a bid to curb Europe’s worst outbreak. The upcoming Italy v England Six Nations rugby match in Rome has already been postponed, as was yesterday’s Scotland v France Women’s Six Nations match, after a player was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus.
Scottish Rugby said seven players and team staff were in self-isolation, while the Scotstoun sports campus in Glasgow – where the Scotland game was due to be held – was closed so a ‘deep clean’ could be carried out. Officials said the affected player had used the facilities at the site over the past week.
Last night, Government insiders sought to calm fears the UK was imminently to copy Italy and order major domestic sporting events to be played behind closed doors.
A source insisted that, at present, that was not what medical experts were recommending.
But BBC reports yesterday said that Premier League chiefs were increasingly expecting matches may have to played behind closed doors within the next two weeks.
It is understood that today’s meeting at the Department for Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport will look at holding matches without fans. Football chiefs have admitted the virus threatens to derail the end of the Scottish season. Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the SPFL, said last week: ‘We are taking a pragmatic approach to the situation and have alerted our members to the fact that, if the outbreak affects the first team of even one SPFL club, it could make completing the SPFL season very difficult, so first team players and staff should be extremely vigilant.’
Football’s Premier League and EFL have ditched pre-match handshakes between both teams and officials until further notice.
That came after the Government asked the Premier League ‘to step up its contingency planning’ as well as repeated reminders of the importance of people washing their hands thoroughly. Several clubs are understood to have instructed players not to sign autographs or take selfies with fans.
Separately, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stepped up its advice to sports federations on how to deal with the
Covid-19. In a letter seen by the BBC, Kit McConnell, the IOC sports director, promised ‘further support’ and said ‘all potential solutions should be explored’ if athletes are at risk of being prevented from competing in qualifying events.
‘Keeping athletes informed remains critical in addressing the ongoing challenges of Covid-19,’ Mr McConnell wrote.
The letter came after qualifying events in a range of sports were cancelled – with athletes from countries worst affected by the outbreak, such as China, barred from participating due to travel restrictions or quarantine rules.
However, IOC President Thomas Bach last week insisted he was confident this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo would go ahead.
In a sign the Government wants major sporting events to go ahead as normal, PM Boris Johnson was at Twickenham yesterday to see England beat Wales in the Six Nations. Hand sanitisers were placed outside the stadium.
Last night, a Government source said: ‘The clinical advice is that playing games without fans would not be very effective.’
He suggested that, given the way the virus could spread, sports fans in open-air stadiums were at less risk than people crowded into a pub to watch a match being played behind closed doors.
‘Scotland rugby player is confirmed to have coronavirus’