Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on sporting calendar

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the sporting schedule as the number of cases at the time of this report nears 120,000 (and nearing 1,000 in the USA) and the number of resulting deaths is over 4,200.

Various leagues have either suspended play or will stage matches behind close doors such as Tuesday’s Champions League match between Atalanta and Valencia, PSG and Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. 

Also to be played behind close doors are Juventus vs. Lyon and Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea. FC Basel has postponed their Europa League match with Eintracht Frankfurt. Wolverhampton Wanders were seeking the same for their match at Olympiacos after it was learned that owner Evangelos Marinakis (who also owns Nottingham Forest) had tested positive for COVID-19. UEFA has rejected that request. 

Both La Liga in Spain and Ligue 1 will play their entire slates this week behind closed doors. All sport in Italy has been suspended until April 3rd apart from the aforementioned Juventus-Lyon match. There are fears that the Serie A schedule may not be completed.

In the Bundesliga, Wednesday’s match between Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Cologne will be played behind closed doors as well as six of the scheduled nine matches for Matchday 25 including the Revierderby between Dortmund and Schalke. The three exceptions as of now are RB Leipzig-SC Freiburg, Union Berlin-Bayern Munich, and Frankfurt-Gladbach. Germany has reported nearly 1,500 cases—the fourth most in Europe. 

In Major League Soccer, Santa Clara County’s decision to ban large gatherings of 1,000 or more will affect the San Jose Earthquakes’ March 21st home match against Sporting Kansas City. No other matches have been affected at the time of this report.

A full and daily list of sporting events impacted by COVID-19 can be found on the BBC Sport website.

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