Game over: Covid-19’s final whistle on world of sport

THE English Premier League have announced that all games have been cancelled until April 4 following the global outbreak of coronavirus. The Championship, League One and League Two have all been postponed, following a meeting held on Friday. The situation became more pressing when Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea midfielder Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for the disease. In addition, three Leicester players are being tested and Everton’s squad is in self-isolation after a player reported symptoms of the virus. European football’s governing body Uefa also announced that all next week’s Champions League and Europa League ties had been postponed, while England’s cricket tour of Sri Lanka was cut short.

As of Friday, here are some of the global sporting events that had already been affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus.

English Premier League clubs were preparing for the football season to be suspended after the Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday night and their match on Saturday against Brighton was postponed. A Chelsea player also tested positive while a number of clubs also had players and officials in self isolation after coming into contact with people suspected to have the virus.

Spain’s La Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie, Portugal’s Primeira Liga and USA’s Major League Soccer have been suspended over coronavirus concerns. There will be no action in the Spanish top flight for “at least the next two rounds of matches” as a result of the quarantine of the Real Madrid squad. Netherlands’ top two leagues have also been suspended for the same period.

The 2020 Major League Soccer season — which started less than two weeks ago — has been suspended for 30 days.

La Liga took action after a Real Madrid basketball player, who shares training facilities with the football club, tested positive for the virus. Real’s match against Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday was postponed on Thursday.

“The recommendation has been made to quarantine both the basketball first team and the football first team, given that the two squads share facilities in Ciudad Real Madrid,” a Real statement said.

The Spanish second division has also been suspended and La Liga said it will “revaluate” the situation following the completion of quarantine “in the affected clubs and other possible situations that may arise”.

Real, who are second in La Liga, were due to host Eibar on Friday and had already cancelled all pre-match media duties.

Dutch crowds ban prompts

Eredivisie

In a statement, the Eredivisie said: “All matches in the Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Divisie (second tier) have been suspended for the next two match days because of the coronavirus outbreak.”

Ajax currently lead the top flight on goal difference from AZ Alkmaar. It follows the Dutch government’s ban on events of more than 100 people.

The suspension of Major League Soccer in America comes a day after the National Basketball Association announced its intention to halt its season.

A statement from MLS commissioner Don Garber read: “Our clubs were united today in the decision to temporarily suspend our season — based on the advice and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and other public health authorities, and in the best interest of our fans, players, officials and employees.

“We’d like to thank our fans for their continued support during this challenging time.”

Portuguese football changes decision

The Portuguese football chiefs had announced games would be played behind closed doors before announcing a full suspension, for an indefinite period, just a few hours later. The decision was made following a meeting that included members of the league, national federation and players’ union.

Italian sport hit hard The coronavirus outbreak, now declared a pandemic, has led to widespread disruption of sporting fixtures around the world.

In Italy, all sport is suspended, including Serie A until 3 April, with the country in lockdown.

Juventus and Italy centreback Daniele Rugani says he is “fine” after testing positive for the virus, and Reuters have reported that the entire Juve squad will spend two weeks in quarantine. Two Europa League last-16 first-leg fixtures scheduled for Thursday were postponed and a number were played behind closed doors, including Manchester United’s trip to LASK.

NBA suspended until further notice after Utah Jazz player tested positive for coronavirus.

Australia will play their three upcoming one-day internationals against New Zealand behind closed doors because of coronavirus concerns. The Australia women’s team will now not travel to South Africa for their scheduled series. England players will not be using handshakes to greet people or stop for selfies with the fans during their ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. England players will be preferring fist-bumps over handshakes with their teammates or the opposition through the course of this tour.

The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, but event organisers say they are hopeful they will manage to run the event “at some later stage”.

Just a week before MotoGP were meant to kick off their 2020 season, Qatari authorities tightened their conditions for passengers from Italy and Japan entering the country as the coronavirus situation seriously worsens in those countries. Flights directly from Italy would be immediately quarantined for 14 days, which led to the cancellation of the MotoGP opening race that was scheduled for 8 March.

France v Ireland has joined England’s game with Italy on the Six Nations coronavirus scrapheap, with reports claiming the crucial deciding matches will be postponed until October.

England’s match with Italy had already been postponed over coronavirus fears. It is believed that both matches will instead take place in nearly eight months time, with the provisional date of October 31 set. The fate of Wales vs Scotland, the only other game on the final weekend, was unclear.

The current Guinness PRO14 season has been suspended in response to the evolving Covid-19 outbreak. In statement, organisers of the league said since the Pro14 is an international league, cross border travel is inevitable and that brings with it unique challenges. With governments in Italy and Ireland already putting in place clear directives and restrictions around public activities and travel, the decision to suspend the competition is appropriate. It is in the best interests of everyone that games are not played at this time. The suspension has been directed by the board of Celtic Rugby DAC and will be remain under constant review. — Online