With the rest of Europe football having taken action to stop the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, the Premier League is expected to follow suit soon.
And players and coaches want to see their bosses do something as fears grow in the face of this global pandemic.
Manchester City and Arsenal’s league clash last night became the first to be postponed, after Gunners players came in contact with Covid-19 positive Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis two weeks ago.
And Man City boss Pep Guardiola believes soccer matches in England will soon have to be played in empty stadiums because of the coronavirus outbreak, but he would prefer the games to be postponed.
Fans across Europe have been barred from attending matches and Guardiola said it was only a matter of time before games in England were affected.
‘POSTPONE GAMES’: City boss Guardiola. Picture: Peter Powell/EPA.
He says: “It happens already in Italy, the league is suspended and in Spain the games behind closed doors. I think it’s going to happen here.
“We have to ask if it works to play football without spectators. If the people do not come to watch the games there is no sense, I wouldn’t like to play in the Champions League, Premier League, cups, without people.”
The Spaniard said City would follow instructions from the authorities.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss adds: “We are here for the people. One games, two games, maybe, but not longer.
“We do it for the people. I would not love to play without people in the stadium.”
Meanwhile, panicked football players have held crisis meetings over the handling of the coronavirus crisis, amid a lack of support from the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).
It is understood at this stage that there is no desire among the players to strike or refuse to play with the World Health Organisation declaring a global pandemic.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/WHO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WHOis deeply concerned by the alarming levels of the #coronavirus spread, severity & inaction, & expects to see the number of cases, deaths & affected countries climb even higher. Therefore, we made the assessment that #COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic. https://t.co/97XSmyigME pic.twitter.com/gSqFm947D8
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros)
Elsewhere Uefa may relax rules which prevent clashes between domestic and European competitions, to help ease potential
fixture congestion.
ICYMI: Man City v Arsenal has been postponed as a precautionary measure
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 11, 2020
➡️ https://t.co/v1WOnC7AXT pic.twitter.com/C6UjVafDwA
European football’s governing body has also set up a taskforce to deal with the issue.
COVID-19 impact on European football:
- England
– no action taken on matches, pre-match handshakes abolished.
- Spain
– all La Liga behind closed doors for the next two weeks.
- Italy
– all football matches suspended until at least April 3 following government order.
- France
– all Ligue 1 matches behind closed doors or with 1,000 people or less until April 15.
- Switzerland
– Swiss football league suspended until at least March 23.
- Germany
– First time in the history of the Bundesliga, matches are to take place behind closed doors.
- Portugal
– set to be limited to 5,000 or less supporters, alternative being discussed is behind closed doors.
- Austria
– all outdoor events of more than 500 people to be ‘cancelled’, likely to see matches moved behind closed doors based on LASK verdict for tonight’s game against Manchester United.
- Holland
– no action taken, all matches remain publicly accessible.
- Belgium
– no action taken regarding marches, banned autographs and handshakes for players with fans.