The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Virus affects more events around world
More sporting events around the world have been affected by the spreading coronavirus.
ROME » Sports ground to a halt throughout Italy late March 9 when Premier Giuseppe Conte announced that games and travel will be banned nationwide.
“There’s no reason for the games to continue,” Conte said. “The fans will have to deal with it. We won’t even allow gyms to be used.”
A new government decree that will come into effect March 10 and last until April 3 will stop games in Italy’s top soccer division and preparatory events for the Tokyo Olympics.
Events around the world have been affected by the spreading virus, including Champions League soccer matches and Japan’s professional baseball season. Late March 8, one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world was postponed.
Italy’s top soccer division had resumed on March 8 with five games played in empty stadiums. Twelve rounds remain, with eighttime defending champion Juventus holding a onepoint lead over Lazio.
Serie A has not been canceled since World War II.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.
The NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer are closing access to locker rooms and clubhouses to all non-essential personnel in response to the coronavirus crisis, the leagues announced in a joint statement March 9.
The leagues said they made the decision “after consultation with infectious disease and public health experts.” The NBA, in a call with teams earlier Monday, stressed that the move is not to ban reporters but to ensure the safety of players and staff in those areas.
The statement, in part, read: “Given the issues that can be associated with close contact in pre- and postgame settings, all team locker rooms and clubhouses will be open only to players and essential employees of teams and team facilities until further notice. Media access will be maintained in designated locations outside of the locker room and clubhouse setting.”
The changes, which the leagues say are temporary, will begin Tuesday — though some NHL teams began putting them into use this past weekend. The NBA said interviews with players would continue in different settings, stressing a gap of 6-to-8 feet between reporters and interview subjects.
Sassuolo’s 3-0 win over Brescia inside an empty stadium on March 9 was almost certainly the last Serie A game for several weeks.
Sassuolo striker Francesco Caputo sent a comforting message after scoring the first of his two goals. He displayed a sign that read “It will all be OK. #Stayathome” in Italian.
Anticipating the government’s decree, the Italian Olympic Committee said earlier that the decree will not include international competition “for clubs or national teams,” since it does not govern those. Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta are each competing in the Champions League, while Inter Milan and Roma are still in the Europa League.
But after Conte’s announcement, it seemed likely that games like Juventus-Lyon in the Champions League on March 17 would have to be postponed or moved to another country.
The Italian swimming federation said it was withdrawing its teams from international events and canceled an Olympic qualifying meet scheduled for next week in Riccione.
The Tokyo Games are scheduled to begin in 4½ months. More than 300 Italian athletes qualified for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
In France, police said that the Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes will be played without fans.
It is the second of the four matches in the competition this week to be played in an empty stadium. Spanish authorities previously recommended restrictions on games involving teams from areas in Italy with high numbers of virus cases and said the Valencia-Atalanta match on March 10 will take place without fans in attendance.
Leipzig’s match against Tottenham on March 10 and Liverpool’s home game against Atletico Madrid on March 11 are expected to be played with fans.
The March 11 game in Paris will be the first match with no fans at the Parc des Princes in 10 years. The last time it happened, in March 2010, the decision was taken following crowd trouble during a match between PSG and French rival Marseille.