European Football Hit as Clubs Dump Matches over Coronavirus

Roma announced yesterday they will not be travelling to their Europa League tie with Sevilla on Thursday because their plane from Italy is not authorised to land in Spain.

The last-16 first-leg game in Seville was already due to be played behind closed doors amid coronavirus fears.

On Tuesday, Italian side Atalanta’s Champions League game at Valencia on Wednesday went ahead as planned.

Italy has the most cases outside China with more than 10,000 and the entire country has been placed in lockdown.

Some 60 million Italians have been told to stay at home in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Serie A, along with all sport in Italy, is currently suspended until 3 April, but this does not include Italian clubs or national teams participating in international competitions. In Spain, La Liga games are to be played without fans present until 15 April.

On Tuesday, the Spanish government decided to refuse entry to planes from Italy but Uefa requested an exception on behalf of Roma.

That request was denied by the Spanish government on Wednesday.

Uefa has yet to publicly comment but is expected to reschedule the game.

Meanwhile, Spanish side Getafe are reportedly refusing to travel to Italy to face Inter Milan in their Europa League match on Thursday.

The Spanish (AFE) and Italian (AIC) players’ unions have asked Uefa that games between Italian and Spanish teams be suspended.

The AFE has also called for the suspension of all matches in Spain instead of having them played behind closed doors.

Earlier, Getafe president Angel Torres told reporters his club refused to travel to Italy for their game at Inter, even if it meant they were kicked out of the competition.

The region of Lombardy, where Milan is located, is at the epicentre of Europe’s worse coronavirus outbreak. The match at San Siro is due to be played without fans.

“We’re not going to play, we’re not going to travel to Italy, that has been decided,” Torres told reporters outside the club’s stadium.

“I can guarantee that we will not travel to Italy. Uefa will decide what happens next.”

The first leg of Manchester United’s Europa League last-16 tie at LASK in Austria on Thursday will be played behind closed doors, as will Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 tie at Bayern Munich on 18 March.

Wolves’ Europa League last-16 first-leg match at Olympiakos on Thursday will also be played in a near-empty stadium, as will Rangers’ second-leg tie at Bayer Leverkusen on 19 March in the same competition.

Uefa rejected Wolves’ request to postpone the match in Greece – which the club said was an “unnecessary risk”.

The disease, which can cause a fever, cough and breathing problems, is spreading around the world and has already affected more than 116,000 people.

Scientists have confirmed it takes an average of five days for symptoms to show.

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