Scotland v France given the all-clear
Sold-out clash with France has green light
England’s trip to Rome for their final match of this season’s Six Nations goes ahead — for now
Scotland’s six nations match against France at a sold-out Murrayfield on sunday will go-ahead as planned despite the coronavirus outbreak.
after a crisis meeting in Paris yesterday, six nations chiefs emerged to say all remaining fixtures in the tournament are expected to be played with Italy’s trip to dublin this weekend the only one to fall foul of the crisis.
England’s trip to Rome for their final match of this season’s six nations on March 14 was thought to be at risk but goes ahead — for now.
a six nations statement read: ‘the six nations met today in Paris to address the current situation regarding the covid-19 virus.
‘six nations and its six unions and federations are following the situation very closely with their respective governments and relevant health authorities and will strictly follow any directive given that would impact sporting events.
‘as it stands today, based on the latest information, all six nations matches currently scheduled are set to go ahead.
‘six nations is in contact with FIR and RFU regarding the possibility of relocating the Women’s and U20 Italy v England matches to another Italian location and we will make a further announcement on this in due course. However, the Italy v England senior men’s match in Rome is planned to go ahead as scheduled.
‘six nations intends to complete all 15 games across all three championships when time allows but we will refrain from making any rescheduling announcements for the time being while we keep assessing the situation.’
any further cancellations or postponements to matches would throw the tournament into chaos, with games either having to be re-arranged in a desperately tight calendar or voided, which would call into question the validity of an incomplete championship.
despite growing numbers of cases across the globe, six nations bosses are keen to finish their tournament — but they will not have the final say.
as in the Irish case, if governments advise cancellations of ‘mass gatherings’ and rugby matches, then they will have to bend to those wishes.
the sporting world continues to monitor the fast-changing developments of the crisis closely.
While there is ‘no indication’ scottish football fixtures will be affected by coronavirus, the game’s authorities will meet daily to review the situation.
Representatives from the sFa and the sPFl met yesterday with a response group featuring sFa chief executive Ian Maxwell and his league counterpart, neil doncaster, as well as the governing body’s medical consultant, dr John Maclean. It will consider the implications for domestic and international fixtures.
‘We are in regular dialogue with our counterparts in England and leagues in Europe to share news and best practice on what is clearly a serious and concerning situation.
‘at the moment, there have been no indications that match schedules will be affected, but we are monitoring events closely and liaising with the scottish Government to ensure we are as well prepared as possible,’ said doncaster.
south of the border, the Fa and Premier league are exploring the costs and implications of staging games behind closed doors later this season as part of their contingency planning.
Both organisations will be led by the government’s public health advice before making any alterations to the fixture list, but have held talks about what to do if large gatherings are prohibited, with behind-closed-doors games emerging as a possibility.
UEFa chiefs spent ‘just two minutes’ discussing the coronavirus at yesterday’s executive committee meeting in amsterdam despite the potential threat it poses to this summer’s European championship and the Euro 2020 play-offs later this month in which scotland are due to meet Israel and hopefully a potential final away to either norway or serbia.
Glasgow is also one of the host cities for the tournament.
the opening game of Euro 2020 between Italy and turkey is due to take place in Rome on June 12 but UEFa will not be rushed into making a quick decision and will act on the advice given to them by governments.
British cycling chief stephen Park has added to the suggestion that the olympics could take place in tokyo without fans because of the crisis.
the International olympic committee, World Health organisation and leaders of sports federations have discussed the idea of a behind-closed-doors Games as an alternative to calling it off.
senior Ioc member dick Pound claimed the olympics could be cancelled if coronavirus was still around by May. But Park thinks shutting fans out of the Games in July is more likely.
He said: ‘Right now, I’m really confident it will go ahead. You would struggle to find a day when the olympics didn’t take part for any reason.
‘so, will it mean that they might be different? Possibly. look at the World cup skiing in two weeks’ time in cortina, they are doing it on a closed circuit with no fans, and that’s going to an area that doesn’t currently have any infections.
‘so might there be some of those things that happen? Possibly.’