All UEFA competitions including Champions League postponed
The coronavirus outbreak has forced the UEFA to cancel all competitions including the Champions League and Europa League matches due to be played next week. Meanwhile, the draws for the next round, which was set for March 20, have also been postponed. All UEFA Youth League quarter-final matches scheduled for March 17-18 are also cancelled. Here are further details.
Scheduling of postponed fixtures will be communicated
THE UEFA said further decisions on the scheduling of the postponed fixtures "will be communicated in due course". European football's governing body has invited representatives from all 55 of its member associations to a meeting on Tuesday in order to discuss how to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, the scheduling of Euro 2020 will also be discussed at the gathering.
How the Champions League and Europa League got impacted?
In the Champions League, the second leg between Manchester City-Real Madrid and Juventus versus Lyon were already postponed earlier. And now, Barcelona versus Napoli and Bayern Munich versus Chelsea are also postponed. In the Europa League round of 16, two first leg games were already postponed. Six games took place on Thursday. However, the second leg matches scheduled for next week is off.
Premier League follows La Liga and Serie A's footsteps
The Premier League and EFL have postponed all matches until April 3 at the earliest. The Football Association has also postponed England's international friendly matches against Italy and Denmark, scheduled for March 27 and 31 respectively. The measure to postpone Premier League football was agreed at an "emergency club meeting" on Friday. Earlier, both La Liga and Serie A matches were postponed.
How the coronavirus impacted Premier League?
The decision by the FA comes after Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi became the first Premier League player to test positive for coronavirus. Besides him, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also tested positive for the virus. Also, three Leicester City players have also self-isolated themselves after showing coronavirus symptoms. The entire Everton squad has been placed in self-isolation. It has affected Watford and Bournemouth as well.
Ligue 1 gets suspended, Bundesliga's weekend matches to go on
France's Ligue 1 has been suspended until further notice. The matches were set to be held in empty stadiums, however, the decision was made during an emergency meeting. Meanwhile, Germany's Bundesliga will see this weekend's matches be played behind closed doors. However, the league could be suspended as of Tuesday.
Coronavirus has spread across 118 countries
The coronavirus has seen more than 125,000 people get diagnosed with the disease in 118 countries around the world. According to the World Health Organization, the total number of deaths is more than 4,600.
