Saturday, February 29, 2020

CORONAVIRUS: JUVENTUS V INTER MILAN AMONG FIVE SERIE A MATCHES POSTPONED

Credit: Getty Images





Five Serie A matches this weekend have been postponed because of coronavirus, including Juventus' game at home to Inter Milan.

Matches at Udinese, AC Milan, Parma, and Sassuolo have also fallen victim to the outbreak of the virus in Italy.

The games were initially going to be played behind closed doors, but Serie A took the decision on Saturday morning to call them off.

All five fixtures have been rescheduled for Wednesday, 13 May.

As a consequence, the Coppa Italia final, which was scheduled for the same day, has been moved to the following week on Wednesday, 20 May - four days before the end of the domestic season.

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Four of this weekend's five postponed fixtures were due to take place on Sunday with the match at Udinese due to kick off on Saturday at 17:00 GMT.

Italy has put towns in the north into lockdown after more than 300 people were infected, 12 of whom have died.

It follows last weekend's disruption when four Serie A games in Milan, Bergamo, Verona, and Turin were suspended and Serie B side Cremonese drove 300 miles to Ascoli, only to be sent home upon arrival.

Then on Thursday, Inter Milan's Europa League victory over Ludogorets was played behind closed doors at San Siro Stadium.

This weekend's games at Lazio, Napoli, Lecce, and Cagliari will go ahead with supporters as normal, but Sampdoria's match on Monday is yet to be decided upon.

Victory for Lazio against Bologna would move them to the top of the table, two points above defending champions Juve, who have won the last eight titles.

On Saturday, France announced a ban on indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people to prevent the spread of the virus and Sunday's Paris half-marathon was canceled - but football matches were not affected.

Serie A matches postponed: Juventus v Inter Milan, Udinese v Fiorentina, AC Milan v Genoa, Parma v Spal, Sassuolo v Brescia

Serie A matches to be played with fans: Lazio v Bologna (Sat, 14:00 GMT), Napoli v Torino (Sat, 19:45), Lecce v Atalanta (Sun, 14:00), Cagliari v Roma (Sun, 17:00)

Still to be decided: Sampdoria v Hellas Verona (Mon, 19:45)

Has coronavirus affected the Premier League?
Newcastle and West Ham both announced on Friday that handshakes had been banned between players at training, on the advice of their medical teams.

But all teams took part in the pre-match handshakes before Saturday's kick-offs in the Premier League.

Southampton boss Ralph Hassenhuttl did say the club had told players not to sign autographs for fans.

"I still hope this virus will not be that big. You have to keep your hands clean and try to avoid contact. Let autographs go," he said after Saints lost at West Ham.




Credit: BBC

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