As the coronavirus crisis create chaos in the sporting world, Tuesday represents a key day as Uefa meet via a video conference to deal with Euro 2020, Champions League and Europa League, and how best to negotiate the incomplete domestic leagues, which are almost all suspended. Uefa are said to be in a state of “shock” over the pandemic, which has left the condensed calendar, postponing the European Championships may offer a solution for leagues, with 55 representatives set to ‘call in’ with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has effectively cancelled all sport by advising against mass gatherings. Those events that require emergency workers are something “we are now moving emphatically away from”, said Johnson.
Elsewhere the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are receiving calls to be postponed, with British athletes eager for a quick decision so as to limit impact on training. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe still maintains the show must go on, but July now looks like a perilous start date, given the NBA have already loosely put plans in place to return by mid-June at the earliest.
Uefa drop hint Euro 2020 is off
The postponement of Euro 2020 may already have been decided after Uefa cancelled its hotel bookings for Copenhagen, which is one of the host cities.
The DGI-Byen Hotel in the Danish capital informed Reuters over the phone that Uefa had cancelled its rooms a little over a week ago.
While the Marinelyst, which is usually the team base for the Danish national team, said in an e-mail that Uefa had cancelled the rooms booked on behalf of Age Hareideside.
Sri Lanka shuts borders to British travellers days after England cricket tour cancelled due to coronavirus
Joe Root’s side arrived back home on Sunday morning after the two-match series fell victim to concerns over the spread of coronavirus, but many supporters opted to go ahead with the planned vacations.
Things changed on Sunday afternoon when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office distributed the following guidance: “The Sri Lankan Government has decided that people arriving from the UK, or having travelled through the UK, will not be allowed to enter Sri Lanka from midnight on 16 March (1830 GMT 15 March).
Uefa hint Euro 2020 is off
The postponement of soccer’s Euro2020 Championship may already have been decided after UEFA cancelled its hotel bookings for one of the host cities, Copenhagen, Reuters learned from the hotels on Tuesday.
The DGI-Byen Hotel told Reuters over the phone that UEFA had cancelled its rooms a little over a week ago, and the Marinelyst, where the Danish team usually bases itself, said in an e-mail to Reuters that UEFA had cancelled the rooms booked on behalf of the Danish side.
UEFA is meeting with its member federations on Tuesday, where a postponement of Euro2020 to 2021 is expected following the widespread suspension of Europe’s domestic leagues due to the coronavirus.
Diamond League postpones three meetings over coronavirus
The Diamond League has postponed its first three athletics meetings of the 2020 season due to be held in April and May in Qatar and China because of the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Tuesday.
The announcement came after Qatar banned inbound passenger flights and prevented the entry of foreign nationals on Sunday, making the Diamond League the latest high-profile competition to postpone events as the pandemic shuts down world sport.
“Due to the growing number of countries affected by the COVID-19 virus, the first three meetings of the 2020 Diamond League season, scheduled for April 17 in Qatar, May 9 and 16 in China, cannot be held as planned,” it said in a statement.
“The current plan is to stage the Shanghai event on August 13. New dates for Doha and the second meeting in China remain to be announced,” the Diamond League said.
It said although the number of new infections was decreasing in China, preparations for the meetings there were set back by “several weeks” due to travel restrictions.
The organisers said there was a possibility the events in China and Qatar could be held after the Diamond League Final in Zurich on Sept. 9-11.
Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 182,000 people and more than 7,100 have died. Mainland China has more than 80,000 cases with over 3,200 deaths while Qatar has more than 400 cases.
The Kentucky Derby is being postponed from May to September because of growing concern about the coronavirus pandemic, according to a published report.
Citing unidentified sources close to the race, the Courier-Journal of Louisville said Churchill Downs will postpone the Derby from May 2 to Sept. 5, marking the first time in 75 years that the race won’t be run on the first Saturday in May.
A formal announcement will be made Tuesday.
The last time the Derby wasn’t held on the first Saturday in May was in 1945, when the federal government issued a ban on horse racing because of World War II. The ban was lifted on May 8, and the Derby was held on June 9. The only other year the Derby wasn’t held in May was in 1901, when it was raced on April 29.
Flamengo coach Jorge Jesus has tested positive for coronavirus and is under quarantine in Rio de Janeiro while doctors perform a second confirmatory test, he and his club said on Monday.
“It’s true that my test came up positive and it’s also true that I feel normal,” the Portuguese coach said on Instagram. “I feel exactly the same today as I felt a month, a year, two, three years ago. I have no symptoms but the test was positive.”
“I am going to stay under quarantine. I think that in a week or two, God willing, I’ll be back to normal.”
Uefa chief admits organisation face ‘big problems’
A member of Uefa’s Executive Committee Zbigniew Boniek, also the Polish FA president claims there will not be a “final decision” today by Uefa.
“UEFA can’t make a final decision. We can only imagine the hypotheses to work on,” Boniek told Gazzetta dello Sport. “It is not known what will happen, if we are all ready in May and many other components…
“Unfortunately, everything is possible. If you couldn’t play in Poland, in Italy, wherever, I don’t know what would happen with titles and relegations. It’s a big problem. But I don’t think there are possibilities of concluding the season in the autumn.
“It’s better to close it on June 30 and to start over in August. We hope there will be definitive rankings. Otherwise we [UEFA] will have to invent a system that takes into consideration the different possibilities.
“We are in an emergency and extraordinary decisions must be made.”
Uefa meeting over coronavirus pandemic set to be most momentous event in the football calendar
These are abnormal times, as at least some way re-emphasised by the fact the most momentous event in the football calendar this week is not a Uefa fixture, but a Uefa meeting.
It won’t just decide one result, but many results, and potentially the game itself. Football administration: bloody hell. In all seriousness, anyone still invested in the fate of their club’s season should be attuned to this, even as it goes without saying that it pales next to the real-world consequences of the Covid-19 crisis.
Manchester United cancel training amid coronavirus pandemic
Uefa have provided a statement regarding today’s meeting:
In the light of the ongoing developments in the spread of COVID-19 across Europe and the changing analysis of the World Health Organisation, UEFA has today invited representatives of its 55 member associations, together with the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FIFPro, to attend meetings by videoconference on Tuesday 17 March to discuss European football’s response to the outbreak.Discussions will include all domestic and European competitions, including UEFA EURO 2020.
A 21-year-old Spanish football coach has died from coronavirus, having been suffering from a form of leukaemia.
Francisco Garcia, a youth team coach at Malaga-based club Atletico Portada Alta, had an unknown pre-existing health condition that resulted in him being more vulnerable to the virus than usual for an individual of his age, though he was only informed of having cancer after going to hospital with symptoms of coronavirus.
According to Spanish newspaper Malaga Hoy, Garcia was advised to seek further medical help after struggling to breathe, and was told that he had both coronavirus and pneumonia.
Wrestlemania 36 has decided to go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic but the show will be without fans and is to be moved to Orlando, WWE owner Vince McMahon confirmed.
The Showcase of the Immortals was initially set to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida on 5 April.
But the show will now be switched to the training facility Performance Center in nearby Orlando, with the company set to take an enormous financial hit without gate receipts and revenue.
Coronavirus: Premier League to consider finishing season between July and September
The Premier League are investigating finishing the season between July and September, before truncating the 2020-21 campaign, in order to solve one of the many problems caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
Clubs on Friday undertook lengthy negotiations to discuss what comes next, after it was confirmed the competition has been suspended until 4 April.
Most involved merely see that date as a time-buying exercise, however, and there are widespread fears the game across Europe could be locked down until September.
Olympic boxing qualifiers in London suspended due to coronavirus
The European boxing qualifiers for the 2020 Olympics have been suspended after three days of competition due to the escalating coronavirus outbreak.
The qualifiers, which began in London on 14 March and features athletes from over 60 countries, will now resume in May to allow participants to return safely home “amid increasing global travel restrictions and quarantine measures”.
A statement released by the International Olympic Committee’s Boxing Task Force (BTF) read: “Safeguarding the well-being of the athletes, officials and all other participants is a top priority for the BTF.
Grand National 2020 cancelled over coronavirus outbreak
The Grand National, due to take place on 4 April, has been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic, with staging the event behind closed doors “no longer considered a viable option”.
A decision to call off the Aintree meeting, which hosts the sport’s most renowned race, was taken after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced mass gatherings could no longer be supported by emergency services during the escalating Covid-19 outbreak.
The government also advised against all unnecessary contact and non-essential travel, leaving organisers with no choice but to take the “hugely disappointing” decision.
European leagues which saw football go ahead last weekend:
- Russia
- Turkey
- Hungary
- Serbia
- Ukraine
Coronavirus crisis leaves Uefa ‘in shock’ as crucial talks aim to salvage football season
Uefa has been left “in shock” by the Coronavirus crisis, a source close to European football’s ruling body told The Independent as the organisation prepares for a video conference tomorrow to discuss football’s response to the pandemic.
All 55 national member associations, the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FifPro, the global players’ union, will take part in the meeting to express their views during a critical period for the game.
Senior figures at Uefa’s Swiss headquarters are said to be “reeling” at the speed and impact of the disease’s spread. Nyon’s priorities are the European Championship and the organisation’s showpiece club competitions. It is expected that the Euros will be put on hold until 2021.
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Uefa has been left “in shock” by the Coronavirus crisis, a source close to European football’s ruling body told The Independent as the organisation prepares for a video conference tomorrow to discuss football’s response to the pandemic.
All 55 national member associations, the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FifPro, the global players’ union, will take part in the meeting to express their views during a critical period for the game.
Senior figures at Uefa’s Swiss headquarters are said to be “reeling” at the speed and impact of the disease’s spread. Nyon’s priorities are the European Championship and the organisation’s showpiece club competitions. It is expected that the Euros will be put on hold until 2021.
