Coronavirus outbreak: UEFA set to suspend Champions League, Europa League

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is ‘seriously considering’ postponing this season’s Champions League and Europa League as part of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

DAILY POST had reported that UEFA has confirmed that the Champions League round of 16 second-leg tie between Valencia and Atalanta in Spain on Tuesday and Inter Milan’s Europa League home clash against Getafe on Thursday, will be played behind closed doors.

Paris Saint-Germain’s last 16 second-leg tie against Borussia Dortmund in France will be played behind closed doors as well as Barcelona’s tie against Napoli next Wednesday.

According to CAT Radio, UEFA is now seeing the option of suspending both the Champions League and Europa League once the latest round of fixtures has been completed.

The second legs of the Champions League round of 16 fixtures will be concluded by next week Wednesday, where Bayern Munich will host Chelsea in Germany and Barcelona will take on Napoli at the Camp Nou.

The first legs of the Europa League round of 16 fixtures will be played this Thursday, while the return legs are scheduled for next week Thursday.

Coronavirus, which is also known as Convid-19, broke out in Wuhan Province of China late last year has gradually spread through several countries of the world.

Globally, authorities have confirmed more than 92,000 cases of the virus.

The vast majority – 80,552 – are in China where the virus originated. To date, 3,042 people have died in the country.

In January 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Dailypost