Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu has done her calculations. In France alone, the measures taken against the spread of the new coronavirus until April 15 impact some 450 sporting events and nearly 2 million spectators nationwide. Postponements, cancellations and behind closed doors measures continue to fall around the world.
Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 in camera
All matches in the French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championships scheduled for April 15 will be "behind closed doors", the French Professional Football League (LFP) announced on Tuesday. The LFP said in a statement that the modalities of the closed games will be defined at the meeting of its office Wednesday. Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said on Tuesday that all football games between now and April 15 should be limited to 1,000 people.
FC Barcelona - Naples and Bayern-Chelsea without audience
The round of 8 return final of the Champions League football between FC Barcelona and Naples, Wednesday, March 18, will also be played behind closed doors. The Spanish club made this decision following the recommendations of the Catalan government, and agreed to play their 8th-final Champions League comeback behind closed doors, following a meeting of Barça leaders and medical officials with the authorities Catalan toilets this Tuesday morning. According to the Spanish press, the shortfall would amount to around 4.5 million euros for FC Barcelona.
The Bayern Munich-Chelsea meeting, also scheduled for next week, will take place behind closed doors. The Germans had won 3-0 on the way to London. If qualified for the quarter-finals (April 7-8 and 14-15), the meeting in Munich would also be played behind closed doors, according to Bild.
In the morning, Spain also announced that all matches in the next two La Liga days will also be played without a spectator. These include the Seville derby on Sunday and Real-Valence on March 21.
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The Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Naples scheduled for March 18 will be played at the Camp Nou behind closed doors. pic.twitter.com/yLEfVOjtug
The League Cup final postponed?
The final of the League Cup between PSG and Lyon is scheduled for April 4 at the Stade de France, in the middle of the ban on rallies. The event, of which it is the last edition, is likely to gather nearly 80,000 spectators.
According to information from RMC, which we are able to confirm, the postponement of this match will be studied this Wednesday in the office of the League (LFP) and could be validated in the process. Several concordant sources at PSG and OL hope that this meeting will be postponed to a later date at the end of the season. It remains to find the appropriate date.
Ruhr Dortmund-Schalke derby without audience
Dortmund-Schalke, the hot "Ruhr derby", will be held behind closed doors on Saturday, the city of Dortmund announced on Tuesday. For this poster of the 26th day, the huge Signal Iduna Park with 82,000 seats and its "Yellow Wall" will be empty for the first time in the history of this derby, nicknamed in Germany "the mother of all derbies". The Schalke and Dortmund stadiums are some 30 km apart, and these two round-trip matches are highlights of the season each year.
Wednesday at 6.30 p.m., the very first closed-door match in the history of the professional Bundesliga (since 1963) will be another derby, that of the Rhine between Mönchengladbach and Cologne, also deprived of spectators because of fears linked to the coronavirus. It is a late game for the 21st day.
Portuguese sport put under cover
The next matches of the Portuguese football championships in 1st and 2nd divisions will be played behind closed doors. The Portuguese government had recommended Monday evening the cancellation or the postponement of events gathering more than a thousand people in a closed enclosure or more than 5000 people in open spaces.
The Lisbon half-marathon, which was scheduled to take place on March 22 with some 30,000 registrants, has been postponed to September 6, the organizers announced on Tuesday.
Basketball players from Lattes Montpellier give up going to Russia
Basketball players Lattes Montpellier (BLMA), who were to travel to Ekaterinburg for the quarterfinals of the Euroleague, have given up traveling to Russia, following measures imposed by the country to fight the epidemic.
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The City of Moscow issued a decree on March 5 which provides that "all people from so-called risk areas (including France) are subject to 14 days of strict self-isolation." The French Embassy in Moscow strongly recommends to postpone any trip to Russia.
The BLMA was to play Wednesday in Ekaterinburg, double title holder, the first match of its quarter-final (best of three games) of Euroleague.
🚨 [Press release] - BLMA follows government recommendations not to travel to Russia
➡ More info: https://t.co/Fn2ag55VDF#BLMA # GoGazelles🔵⚪ #EuroLeagueWomen pic.twitter.com/HffAdxOVBN
US media banned from changing rooms in NBA
Journalists will be denied access to the locker rooms of the North American basketball (NBA), ice hockey (NHL), Baseball (MLB) and football (MLS) leagues on Tuesday to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Until further notice, only players and employees essential to the teams will have access to the locker rooms of NBA, MLS, NHL and MLB while the North American sports leagues are known to allow media access to the locker rooms after training and meetings. The NBA has already asked franchises to prepare for the possibility of playing behind closed doors.