I see Swerland have banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The 6 nations looks in big trouble as well, expect more of this going forward.
Juventus and Inter the biggest game in Italy potentially for years in terms Of title race will be played behind closed doors as well as 4 others games. If Inter win they go 3 points behind with a game in hand. If this virus takes hold in England, we might see LFC win the league behind closed doors. https://www.skysports.com/football/...ie-a-matches-to-be-played-behind-closed-doors
The future of the 2020 Six Nations Championship is set to be decided at a meeting in Paris today, amid fears the coronavirus could wreck this season's edition. An already scheduled World Rugby gathering in the French capital will now also see officials consider if more alterations are needed to the final two rounds of the Championship, with the 7 March meeting between Ireland and Italy in Dublin already postponed by the global COVID-19 outbreak. No replacement date has yet been set, with the Championship scheduled to conclude with matches involving all six teams on 14 March. The Irish Rugby Football Union postponed their match against Italy following consultations with Minister for Health Simon Harris last week. Mr Harris had expressed concerns about the game going ahead due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy. Table-toppers France are the only team left in this season's Six Nations that can complete a Grand Slam. But even if they win their remaining fixtures, away to Scotland this coming weekend and at home to Ireland on 14 March to put the destiny of the title beyond doubt, administrators will still want the Ireland-Italy match, and any other postponed fixtures, to be played rather than called off completely. The IRFU could lose an estimated €10 million in revenue if the Italy match is not played. And with the window for earning ranking points ahead of the draw for the 2023 World Cup in France closing in November, there is a further incentive beyond purely financial concerns to play any held over matches. There is a precedent for rescheduling Six Nations fixtures due to health concerns. In 2001, due to the highly contagious livestock foot and mouth outbreak, Ireland had three matches (against Scotland, Wales and England) rescheduled to September/October of that year. At the time of the postponements, England were one win away from the Grand Slam but lost 20-14 to Ireland when their delayed fixture was eventually played in Dublin, although they did still win the title despite that defeat. But rescheduling matches is now an even harder task, given how much more congested the rugby union calendar has become in the intervening 19 years. For example, every weekend between now and mid-July features existing club matches across European leagues or already scheduled internationals. The first weekend without matches in the English Premiership or the Pro14, the former Celtic League, is 27 June. But that is when summer tours begin, with England meant to travelling to Japan that day, and Ireland to Australia. Premiership Rugby Limited has an agreement with the Rugby Football Union to release England players for any reschedule international fixtures, but that does not apply to representatives of other nations. Sergio Parisse saw his planned farewell to Test rugby wrecked last year when Italy's final pool game of the World Cup in Japan was cancelled as a result of Super Typhoon Hagibis. That led the 36-year-old, a veteran of 142 Tests, to target the Six Nations match against England in Rome on 14 March as a new date for his swansong, even though the Toulon back row, arguably Italy's greatest player, has yet to feature in this season's Championship. The last time the tournament failed to be completed was in 1972, when Scotland and Wales refused to travel to Ireland for matches in the then Five Nations, because they feared they would be a target for terror-group violence.
The Premier League has written to each of its 20 clubs regarding the latest contingency plans for combating the spread of the virus. While there has been no change to fixtures and kick-off times as things stand, it is understood the Premier League, which is liaising daily with the UK Government's public health experts, has asked clubs to consider the implications if large gatherings were banned, resulting in games taking place behind closed doors. It is understood the Premier League's current message is 'business as usual' but that it has advised clubs to increase hygiene levels at stadiums and training grounds, cut down on non-essential visitors and keep face-to-face meetings to a minimum. The Coppa Italia semi-final second leg between Napoli and Inter Milan, which was scheduled for Thursday evening, has become the latest fixture in Italy to be postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. A Serie A statement said: "The president of the Serie A League, having taken note of the order of the Prefect of Naples of 4 March 2020 n. 0069870 which orders the postponement to a later date of the semi-final return match of the Coppa Italia Napoli-Inter scheduled on March 5 at 20.45, announces that the aforementioned is postponed until a later date." The other semi-final return leg between Juventus and AC Milan, which was due to be played on Wednesday, was postponed on Tuesday evening.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 Useful tracker on the numbers if you are travelling soon
It looks like Serie A games will be behind closed doors until early April Also Italy / England in six nations will also be behind closed doors
Here's something I never thought of and is been suggested now. If games get played behind closed doors. Will Liverpool be presented with the Premier Leauge trophy in an empty stadium?
As depressing as it is to say,tomorrow it should be announced that Cheltenam,PL matches,every event that means large numbers of people congregating needs to be cancelled or happen behind closed doors. It's going to end up there anyway and every day that the decision is delayed will result in deaths that might not have happened. I said it in another thread,I read comments from a bloke who worked for the world health organisation that when the decision is finally taken to do what needs to be done,those taking that decision realise it should have happened two weeks before. Italy is a perfect example of that.
Watched Inter Juve for a while last night. Was pretty surreal for a while but then actually forgot there was no crowd as was a pretty decent game
I was listening to some health organization chap on radio one there and he said companies like Vodafone need to step up and make WiFi free to allow people to work from home. He said we are now in the position of Italy a couple of weeks back.
Sporting events in Britain are unlikely to be affected by coronavirus in the immediate future, says Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. Governing bodies and broadcasters will meet with government officials later on Monday to discuss the staging of events behind closed doors if the outbreak worsens and mass gatherings are banned. Dowden told BBC Radio 5 Live: "At this stage we're not in the territory of cancelling or postponing events." He added fans should not be barred. "I was at Twickenham [for England v Wales] with the Prime Minister [on Saturday]," he said. "There was a huge crowd of people there. There is no reason why people should not be going to those events. It is very premature to be talking about things like that." Dowden did add that the advice was based on the current guidance issued by the medical experts. He added: "That is why I asked the chief medical officer to brief the sporting bodies last week and that is why we will be driven by the advice of the chief medical officer as we continue. "I do want to emphasise in relation to sporting events, any talk of cancellation is very premature indeed. At the moment there is no evidence to suggest we should be doing that and we don't have any plans to." However, Andy Holt, the owner of League One side Accrington, said he was concerned about the current situation and that consideration should be given to pausing the football season. "I think we need to get on top of it," he told BBC Radio Four's Today programme, and added there would be "long-term financial ramifications" for his club if fans contracted the disease. "I would be considering pausing the season until we know exactly where this is going and get a grip on it. "I am walking round our club at the weekend and there are 3,000 fans there - I am worried that inviting them altogether at our place is actually putting them in danger." ◾Premier League & EFL ditch pre-match fair-play handshakes ◾Government tells Premier League to 'step up' coronavirus planning ◾Coronavirus sport timeline Three people have died in Britain from the virus so far and 278 people have tested positive as of Sunday. Italy has ordered all major sporting events throughout the country to be played without fans for one month in a bid to curb Europe's worst coronavirus outbreak, while the upcoming Italy v England Six Nations match in Rome has been postponed. It was also announced on Sunday that fans will not be allowed to attend this month's Bahrain Grand Prix because of the outbreak. Within football's Premier League there is a growing expectation that matches may have to be played behind closed doors within the next two weeks, depending on government advice. Attendees are due to discuss logistics and feasibility as well as contracts and rights considerations. The Premier League and EFL said pre-match handshakes between both teams and officials will not take place until further notice because of fears over the spread of coronavirus. The measure came after the government asked the Premier League "to step up its contingency planning". Several clubs have instructed players not to sign autographs or take selfies with fans. On Sunday, European football's governing body Uefa told players and officials not to carry out pre-match handshakes in all its competitions until further notice. IOC steps up coronavirus advice The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stepped up its advice to sports federations on how to deal with the coronavirus. In a letter seen by the BBC, the organisation's sports director Kit McConnell has written to the bodies to offer "further support". Earlier this week, after an executive board meeting in Lausanne, IOC President Thomas Bach insisted he was confident this summer's Olympics in Tokyo would go ahead as planned. ◾Read more: Will coronavirus cancel the Tokyo 2020 Olympics? McConnell tells the federations that the IOC is "committed to the success of Tokyo 2020". And he says that "all potential solutions should be explored" if athletes are at risk of being prevented from competing in qualifying events. "Keeping athletes informed remains critical in addressing the ongoing challenges of Covid-19," McConnell writes. A host of Olympic qualifying events in a range of sports have been cancelled in recent weeks. And some athletes from countries worst affected by the outbreak - such as China and Korea - have been barred from participating overseas because of travel restrictions or quarantine rules. "If, despite all efforts, there is a significant risk to the full participation of teams or athletes in any Olympic qualification event... please bring this to our attention as early as possible and we will work with you to find appropriate solutions," McConnell tells the federations. "In certain circumstances, there may be a need to review the current details of the qualification system. "Where there may be health regulations or entry restrictions which could impact on athlete participation, all potential solutions should be explored. "In some circumstances, we have seen permission being granted for exceptional entry for athletes from areas highly impacted by Covid-19 into countries hosting sporting events. We encourage you to explore possible solutions with your NF (national federation) and LOC (local organising committee)." And in a sign of what athletes can perhaps expect at the Tokyo Games if they go ahead as planned, the international federations are told to work with local health authorities "to organise ongoing health screenings on site, including a temperature check for athletes and entourage upon arrival, pre-competition and during competition, and carry out Covid-19 tests for those individuals arriving from highly affected areas". McConnell explains that other good practises include providing hand sanitisers and masks throughout the event, reminding athletes and entourage to maintain high levels of personal hygiene, including advice on hand washing and minimising physical contact, with increased medical personnel on site.