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UEFA postpones Europa League games

Published:Thursday | March 12, 2020 | 12:05 AM
Porto’s Chancel Mbemba (upper right,) and Porto’s goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin (lower right) defend against Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby during the Europa League round of 32 second leg match between FC Porto and Bayer Leverkusen at the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal, Thursday, February 27, 2020.
AP
Porto’s Chancel Mbemba (upper right,) and Porto’s goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin (lower right) defend against Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby during the Europa League round of 32 second leg match between FC Porto and Bayer Leverkusen at the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal, Thursday, February 27, 2020.

MADRID (AP):

Two Europa League matches scheduled to be played in Spain and Italy today have been postponed because of travelling restrictions prompted by the coronavirus outbreak, UEFA said yesterday.

The governing body of European football said the games between Sevilla and Roma in Spain, and Inter Milan and Getafe in Italy “will not take place as scheduled”.

“Further decisions on the two matches will be communicated in due course,” UEFA said.

Italian club Roma had said earlier yesterday they would not make its trip to Seville because “the plane from Italy was not authorised to land in Spain”.

Getafe president Ángel Torres had said that his team would not travel to Italy because he did not want to risk his players’ health by going to an area struggling to contain the spread of the virus.

The spreading virus has affected sports around the world, forcing many professional football games in Europe to be played in empty stadiums and cancelling dozens of other events from tennis to gymnastics. It has also put into question whether Tokyo will be able to host the Olympics in July and August.

On Tuesday, Spain announced that all sports events with a significant number of people must be played without fans while Italy, on Monday, suspended all sporting events until April 3. Italy is the country with the most coronavirus cases in Europe.

For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.