How football has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak so far as Leeds United wait on decision

Leeds United - as it stands - are due to play Cardiff City in the Championship on Sunday afternoon.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The Government is set to move to the “delay” stage of its action plan to deal with the spread of coronavirus with meetings set to take place on Thursday.

Reports have emerged claiming that Premier League and Football League games in England could all go behind closed doors in the near future if any decisions are reached.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As things stand, Leeds United are continuing their preparations for a trip to Cardiff City on Sunday lunchtime with English football set to carry on as normal with no announcement being made over any behind closed doors or cancelled clashes so far... but what has happened elsewhere in the world?

Leeds United fans at Hull City. (Image: Tony Johnson)Leeds United fans at Hull City. (Image: Tony Johnson)
Leeds United fans at Hull City. (Image: Tony Johnson)

Here's a run down...

Juventus announced defender Daniele Rugani tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday night with Serie A currently suspended and Italy on lockdown.

Real Madrid players have been told to go into quarantine after a member of the club's basketball team tested positive for coronavirus.

La Liga has announced it has suspended "at least the next two rounds of matches" as a result of the quarantine in place at Real Madrid.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Premier League clash between Manchester City and Arsenal on Wednesday was postponed as a "precautionary measure" after Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis tested positive for coronavirus.

Marinakis, who is also the majority owner of Nottingham Forest, met Arsenal staff and players after the Europa League tie at the Emirates Stadium on February 27.

Arsenal said none of their personnel who had met Marinakis had reported symptoms, with "a number of players" understood to be in self-isolation for 14 days.

They will return to training on Friday if they remain symptom-free, with the league trip to Brighton on Saturday scheduled to go ahead.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

All Forest's players and staff were given the all-clear after being tested and the English Football League has no immediate plans to postpone any of its fixtures.

The Danish football federation expects the friendly against England at Wembley later this month will be cancelled as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic.

On the continent, all domestic sporting action in Italy - including Serie A matches - has been suspended until April 3, although that does not cover Italian clubs involved in the Champions and Europa Leagues as yet with UEFA meeting on Thursday to discuss potential cancellations of those competitions.

However, Thursday's Europa League ties between Sevilla and Roma in Spain and Inter Milan and Getafe in Italy have been called off due to travel restrictions between the two countries imposed by the Spanish authorities.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

French Ligue 1 games will be held behind closed doors or in front of no more than 1,000 spectators, while the top two divisions in Spanish football will be played without spectators until at least March 22.

All matches in the German Bundesliga this weekend will be played behind closed doors, except RB Leipzig's home clash with Freiburg which does not have any restrictions.

Other matches being played behind closed doors include Barcelona's game at home to Napoli and Chelsea's trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League next week, as well as the Europa League games between Olympiacos and Wolves and LASK and Manchester United on Thursday and Rangers' match at Bayer Leverkusen the following week.

Republic of Ireland's Euro 2020 play-off semi-final in Slovakia on March 26 will also take place in an empty stadium, while the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Federation has suspended ticket sales for their play-off match with Northern Ireland.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

UEFA, however, says it has received no requests to postpone this summer's Euro 2020, which is scheduled to be held in 12 cities across the continent, beginning in Rome.

UPDATE:

UEFA have announced a meeting with all of its associations for March 17, which will discuss all possibilities.

Premier League side Leicester City have revealed that three players are self-isolating after showing symptoms of the virus.

There has still be no announcement in regards to English domestic football, with the Premier League and English Football League still set to host games as normal in the coming days.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.