Forest owner catches virus in blow to English football
Players ‘shook hands’ with Greek benefactor European calendar is plunged into chaos
Coronavirus threatened to plunge English football into chaos last night after the owner of Nottingham Forest became its first major figure to test positive for the deadly disease. Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Olympiacos, is so far the highest profile football name in a crisis that saw Wolves write to Uefa to request the postponement of their Europa League game against the Greek side tomorrow.
That request was rejected last night amid fears it would be the first of another wave of matches called off, with the Italian football federation yesterday warning its season may not resume and putting forward alternative options, including staging play-offs, not crowning a champion or declaring the current standings final.
The Spanish Footballers’ Association also demanded their country join Italy in suspending all domestic football after forthcoming La Liga games were ordered behind closed doors. That could force Uefa to suspend the Champions League and Europa League before the quarter-finals, given the number of Spanish and Italian teams left.
Games involving Manchester United and Chelsea yesterday became the latest in the last 16 to have a fan ban imposed. Wolves’s match had already been subject to a supporter lockout before Marinakis announced his positive test yesterday amid a Greek embargo on supporters attending sport. The entire Olympiacos squad and staff were expected to be screened for the virus, with Marinakis having been in close contact with their players after their last-32 triumph at Arsenal less than two weeks ago, when he was filmed celebrating with them in the away dressing room.
He also attended Forest’s Championship defeat by Millwall on Friday night, at which he was said to have shaken hands with the squad.
It can be revealed that one of Marinakis’s guests at the match was the super-agent Mino Raiola, whose star-studded stable is headed by United midfielder Paul Pogba.
Forest said they were “seeking advice from medical professionals and the relevant governing bodies to ensure the correct measures are taken” after Marinakis’s positive test, which could have far-reaching implications. Millwall confirmed that senior club representatives who came into contact with Marinakis on Friday “have all begun a period of self-isolation”.
Given the incubation period of the virus, players and staff from several of their and Olympiacos’s recent opponents may be at risk.
Arsenal, who are due to travel to Manchester to face City in the Premier League tomorrow night, played down concerns they and their own recent opponents – who include West Ham and Portsmouth – might also be impacted, saying their players were screened every 48 hours. England’s Euro 2020 warm-up game against Italy remained on yesterday, despite the latter’s subsequent friendly against Germany in Nuremberg being ordered to be played behind closed doors and the Italy women’s team being recalled from the Algarve Cup in Portugal.
Spectators will also banned from the first leg of the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off in Slovakia, while Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey was set to miss Wales’s warm-up matches this month due to the lockdown in Italy.
Paris St Germain striker Kylian Mbappe was tested for the virus yesterday after suffering a sore throat but was given the all-clear, However, he might miss tonight’s Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund, which will be played behind closed doors.
Fans will not be allowed to attend La Liga fixtures until the end of the international break. Ligue 1 did the same until April 15, while two Bundesliga matches were ordered to be played behind closed doors.
The crisis could mean Premier League games are played on Champions League nights to avoid having to scrap either the club season or the Euros. European top-flight leagues and cups are not allowed to play on Uefa match nights, without receiving special dispensation to do so, under an agreement with the governing body.
The Premier League is likely to attempt to stage matches behind closed doors if the Government bans mass gatherings in the UK.
However, that would require the support of players, something La Liga and Serie A have both now failed to secure. As exclusively revealed by The Daily Telegraph last week, playing behind closed doors lower down the leagues – where clubs depend on match-day revenue – could mean a number of teams going bust. It can now be disclosed that one solution to the problem being considered is extending the League One and Two seasons into the start of Euro 2020.