Manchester City’s Premier League clash against Arsenal has become the first football match in England to be postponed amid fears over the deadly Coronavirus outbreak.
The match, which was set to take place on Wednesday evening, has been called off after Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis tested positive for Covid-19.
Marinakis – who is also owner of English Football League club Nottingham Forest – was at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on February 27 to watch Olympiacos take on the Gunners in the Europa League.
Wolves are incensed that their Europa League game against Olympiacos is still set to take place on Thursday, albeit behind closed doors.
The Premier League club had asked European governing body UEFA for the last-16 clash to be postponed.
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Manchester United’s Europa League game against LASK in Austria on Thursday is also set to go ahead with no fans in the stadium.
And Chelsea’s visit to Bayern Munich on March 18 is among four Champions League matches supporters will be locked out of.
The others are Valencia vs Atalanta (March 10), Paris Saint Germain vs Borussia Dortmund (March 11) and Barcelona v Napoli (March 18).
Across the world, more than 110,000 have been infected by Coronavirus, and 3,800 have died.
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While the Manchester City vs Arsenal game is the first Premier League match to have been postponed as a result of the outbreak, the virus has had a more far-reaching effect on sport in Europe and beyond.
In Italy, all sport has been called off until April 3, while Spanish La Liga games are taking place behind closed doors.
Matches are going ahead without spectators or being called off in France, Germany, Switzerland, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Slovakia, among other countries.
FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation have agreed to postpone the Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June.
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New seasons in the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean professional leagues have been postponed, as well as Asian Champions League matches involving Chinese clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai SIPG.
In rugby union, three matches in year’s Six Nations championship have been postponed, holding up the conclusion of the tournament until later this year.
In Formula One, the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai has been postponed, while the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead on March 22 without fans.
The World Athletics Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13-15, have been postponed until next year. The Paris and Barcelona marathons have also been postponed.
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In North America, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League have temporarily restricted locker room access to players and essential staff.
Other sports worldwide which have seen events called off or moved include golf, moto GP, tennis, rowing, table tennis and cricket.
