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| Bramall Lane, Sheffield, Britain |
The coronavirus outbreak has decimated the sporting schedule and left major doubts over some of 2020’s biggest events.
A range of sports have had to take action to prevent the spread of the virus, with postponements hitting the Premier League and EFL until early April and all football in Scotland postponed with immediate effect.
The Guinness Six Nations, London Marathon and Formula One have also been affected, as has golf after The Masters was postponed.
With Euro 2020 and the Olympics on the horizon, the PA news agency takes a sport-by-sport look at the impact of the coronavirus.
Football
– The Premier League was suspended until April 4 and the EFL until April 3 at the earliest.
– All Scottish football was suspended with immediate effect and the Irish Football Association suspended the current season in Northern Ireland until at least April 4. The Football Association of Ireland announced all football activity under its jurisdiction was suspended until March 29.
– England’s two friendlies later this month at Wembley, the Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship have also been postponed by the FA. Wales’ international matches with Austria and the United States at the end of March are also both called off.
– UEFA announced all Champions League and Europa League fixtures scheduled for next week were postponed, as well as the quarter-final draws for both competitions. UEFA called an emergency meeting next Tuesday to discuss the rest of the season and whether Euro 2020 can go ahead as scheduled.
– FIFA relaxed rules on clubs having to release players for forthcoming international fixtures and also recommended that “all international matches previously scheduled to take place in March and April should now be postponed until such time that they can take place in a safe and secure environment”.
– Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi have tested positive for coronavirus, with the Gunners’ Premier League clash with Brighton on Saturday postponed.
– Everton’s entire first-team squad and coaching staff are undertaking a period of self-isolation after a first-team player reported symptoms consistent with coronavirus.
– Bournemouth have announced five of their employees, including goalkeeper Artur Boruc, are self-isolating having displayed symptoms consistent with the virus.
– West Ham manager David Moyes is self-isolating, the PA news agency understands, after coming into direct contact with Arteta during their match at the Emirates Stadium last weekend. It is understood the measure is purely precautionary, with Moyes showing no symptoms of the virus.
– Harrogate’s home match with Solihull Moors in the Vanarama National League on Friday night was postponed, as was Saturday’s clash between Boreham Wood – who share facilities with Arsenal – and Torquay and Barrow v Wrexham in the same competition. Four games were postponed in the National League North, though the South division went ahead unaffected.
– Juventus defender Daniele Rugani tested positive on Wednesday night, while three Leicester players have shown symptoms and were kept away from the rest of the squad.
– Real Madrid players have been told to go into quarantine after a member of the club’s basketball team tested positive for coronavirus. LaLiga suspended “at least the next two rounds of matches” as a result of the quarantine in place at Real.
– Barcelona have suspended all first-team activity after taking advice from their medical staff.
– All domestic sporting action in Italy – including Serie A matches – were suspended until April 3. Thursday’s Europa League ties between Sevilla and Roma in Spain and Inter Milan and Getafe in Italy were called off due to travel restrictions between the two countries imposed by the Spanish authorities.
– Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the top two divisions in France, are suspended until further notice.
– The German Football League confirmed games in the top two divisions had been cancelled from this weekend and will recommend a continued suspension until April 2.
– Major League Soccer announced the suspension of matches for 30 days with immediate effect.
– The South American (CONMEBOL) World Cup qualifiers scheduled for March 23-31 have been postponed to a later date.
Olympics and Paralympics
– The International Olympic Committee remains fully committed to staging the Tokyo 2020 Games as scheduled this summer, despite Japan’s Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto suggesting it could be postponed until later in the year.
– The British Olympic Association still plans to send a delegation of around 55 people to Tokyo this month for a “detailed operational recce”.
– The Greek leg of the Olympic Torch Relay was cancelled the day after the first flame-lighting ceremony since 1984 to take place without spectators.
Rugby Union
– The Six Nations game between Wales and Scotland in Cardiff on Saturday was postponed on Friday, joining the games between France and Ireland and Italy against England.
– The Guinness PRO14 was suspended indefinitely.
– Sunday’s Premiership Rugby Cup final between Sale and Harlequins was originally given the go-ahead on Friday, only to be postponed following an individual on staff developing symptoms consistent with coronavirus.
Formula One
– The season-opening Australian Grand Prix was called off along with the races in Bahrain, Vietnam, China and Holland. Formula 1 have said they hope to start the season at the end of May.
– McLaren had already withdrawn from the Australian race earlier on Thursday after a member of staff tested positive for the illness. It is understood the team member reported symptoms associated with the virus in the Albert Park paddock on Wednesday morning.
Formula E
– Formula E temporarily suspended its season.
Nascar
– Nascar postponed its race events in Atlanta (March 15) and Miami (March 22).
Motorcycling
– The opening four races of the MotoGP season in Qatar, Thailand, the United States and Argentina were called off. The Qatar race was cancelled, while the other three have been moved to later in the season, which is now due to get under way in Spain on May 3.
Golf
– The Masters at Augusta, traditionally regarded as the sport’s blue riband event, became the first golf major to be postponed.
– The Players Championship was cancelled along with all PGA Tour events for the next three weeks.
– Five European Tour tournaments have been postponed. Next week’s Hero Indian Open and August’s Czech Masters have joined this week’s Kenya Open and April’s Maybank Championship and China Open in being called off.
– The Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International was postponed with a view to it being rescheduled later in the year.
Cricket
– England’s upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka was postponed with the touring players returning home.
– The start of the Indian Premier League was postponed from March 29 to April 15 as a precautionary measure.
– The annual Champion County match, regarded as the curtain-raiser to the domestic season, due to be played between the MCC and Essex between March 24-27 at Galle was called off, as was the MCC World Cricket Committee meeting in Colombo scheduled for March 28 and 29.
– Surrey, Lancashire, Worcestershire, Hampshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Yorkshire, and Somerset have cancelled or decided to return early from pre-season trips.
– The final two one-day internationals between India and South Africa will be rescheduled following an agreement between the countries’ governing bodies, while the remaining two ODIs between Australia and New Zealand have been called off.
– Australia Women’s limited-overs tour of South Africa, consisting of three ODIs and as many T20s and due to start on March 22, will not take place.
Basketball
– The NBA season was suspended “until further notice” after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus.
Cycling
– The Giro d’Italia, cycling’s first Grand Tour of the season which was due to start on May 9 in Budapest, was postponed. The Strade Bianchi, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo and the Giro di Sicilia races in Italy have been called off.
– Fears of two cases of coronavirus at the UAE Tour saw the race cancelled with two stages left.
– Team INEOS are among a host of teams who withdrew from all racing until the Volta a Catalunya on March 23.
– Cycling’s Women’s Tour, the UK’s WorldTour stage race, was postponed almost three months before it was scheduled to begin in Oxfordshire on June 8.
Tennis
– The high-profile BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were due to compete, was called off.
– The ATP announced a six-week suspension of the men’s professional tennis tour due to “escalating health and safety issues”.
– The Miami Open tennis tournament, due to start on March 23, was cancelled after a ban on mass gatherings in Miami-Dade County.
– The Volvo Car Open in Charleston (April 4-12) was also been called off. Next month’s Fed Cup finals in Budapest and Fed Cup play-offs, due to be held in eight different locations, were postponed, while China’s Xi’an Open (April 13-19) and Kunming Open (April 27-May 3) were cancelled.
Racing
– Racing in Ireland will be closed to the public until March 29.
Athletics
– The London Marathon was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The 40th edition of the race, due to take place on April 26, will be held on October 4. British Athletics will stage an Olympic trial at a closed location in April.
– The Manchester Marathon, due to take place on April 5 with 26,000 runners, has been postponed with a new date to be set in due course.
– The Paris Marathon, which was due to take place on April 5, was postponed until October 18 and the Rome Marathon, scheduled for March 29, as well as the Boston Marathon, slated for April 20, were cancelled.
– The World Indoor Championships, which had been due to take place in Nanjing in China this month, were rearranged for March 2021.
– The International Triathlon Union moved the 2020 ITU Paratriathlon World Championships, planned for May 2, from Milan to Montreal. It later announced that all activities would be suspended until April 30.
Rugby League
– The Betfred Super League match between Catalans Dragons and Leeds in Perpignan on Saturday was postponed after one of the Rhinos’ players was put into self-isolation after showing symptoms of coronavirus.
Boxing
– Top Rank announced the postponement of its shows at Madison Square Garden on March 14 and 17. Belfast featherweight Michael Conlan’s bout against Colombian fighter Belmar Preciado at the Hulu Theater on St Patrick’s Day has therefore been scrapped.
– All events scheduled for March in Japan were cancelled.
Snooker
– The £1million China Open, scheduled to start in Beijing at the end of March, was cancelled. The attendance in the arena for this week’s Gibraltar Open was moved behind closed doors.
Ice skating
– The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, scheduled for March 13-15, were called off. The World Figure Skating Championships in Quebec, planned for March 16-22, were also cancelled.
Judo
– The International Judo Federation cancelled all Olympic qualification events on the calendar until April 30.
Darts
– The Professional Darts Corporation cancelled the Premier League double-header in Rotterdam, the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen and the European Darts Open in Leverkusen, which were all scheduled for later this month, plus next month’s German Darts Grand Prix in Munich.
Ice hockey
– The NHL was paused with 189 regular-season games remaining. The Stanley Cup play-offs were due to start the week of April 6. Britain’s Elite League cancelled the rest of its season.
Press Association
