The situation with Coronavirus is getting out of control, and it seems that there won’t be any international matches played in Europe next week.
Following last night’s matches in the Europa League UEFA decided to suspend all the activities for at least a week.
“In the light of developments due to the spread of Covid-19 in Europe and related decisions made by different governments, all UEFA club competitions matches scheduled next week are postponed,” the European house of football stated.
But that is not all.
Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea’s winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tests came back positive this Thursday evening.
According to Chelsea’s statement, the 19-year old Odoi was experiencing the first symptoms of the virus on Monday. He was quickly separated from all other players and staff members and tested. After the results, one part of Chelsea’s training facilities were closed, and the entire squad self-isolated.
Arsenal’s contest against Brighton and Hove Albion has been canceled, and after this situation, the Premiership board will be meeting early this morning to decided whether to shut down the entire season for some period of time. Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and many more soccer competitions in Europe already suspended their campaigns, waiting for the situation to resolve.
The latest news is saying that all of English soccer will be shut down until April 4.
When mentioning UEFA, some voices appeared which claim that the EURO 2020 competition might be canceled and moved for the next year. The same are saying that the current situation across the continent is very dangerous for both the fans and the players, as the competition takes place in 12 cities all over Europe. The virus might be spread easier due to the higher volume of traveling, and there is a high possibility of seeing a one-year delay.
The top European basketball tiers, EuroLeague and EuroCup, are also suspended, and it seems that they might even change the format of the competition in order to finish the season. But that is all once this alarming situation settles down.
Meanwhile, across the ocean, the situation is not bright also.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has signed a decision to suspend all competition for the next 30 days minimum. This action came following Rudy Gobert’s infection, as well as Donovan Mitchell’s. At the moment, teams who played against Utah Jazz are being tested, but for now, there isn’t any information on whether there are new cases of infection.
“We made this decision to safeguard the health and well-being of fans, players, everyone connected to our game and the general public. This hiatus will last at least 30 days, and we intend to resume the season, if and when it becomes safe for all concerned,” Silver wrote in a letter.
NCAA decided to cancel all the tournaments, and one by one, over the past few days, NHL, Formula One, and many tennis tournaments chose to put on hold their events. This is not the end, and for sure in the upcoming days more sporting events will be canceled.
