ENGLAND’S friendlies with Denmark and Italy at the end of March have finally been scrapped as coronavirus continues to cause havoc to the sporting calendar.
The games were due to take place at Wembley during the upcoming international break on March 27 and 31.
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England were due to play Italy and Denmark in the international break but the matches have been scrapped due to coronavirusCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But this morning the FA, Premier League, EFL and Women’s Super League collectively agreed to suspend professional football in England until at least April 3.
Fans who have bought tickets to the matches will be given a refund within 14 working days.
An FA statement read: “The FA, Premier League, EFL and FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship have collectively agreed to postpone the professional game in England until Friday 3 April at the earliest.
“This action, which will be kept under constant review, has been taken due to the increasing numbers of clubs taking steps to isolate their players and staff because of the Covid-19 virus.
“It will also apply to all England team fixtures at every level and all FA competitions including the Emirates FA Cup and the Women’s FA Cup, along with academy and youth-team matches.
“The decision is being made purely on the number of cases requiring self-isolation and the impact on facilities. Given the steps being taken across clubs, there is no alternative but for today’s action.
“However, all parties are committed at this time to trying to complete this season’s domestic fixture programme and are liaising to establish appropriate options to do so.”
Mikel Arteta and Callum Hudson-Odoi are the two highest-profile names in English football with confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Today Everton and Bournemouth joined Chelsea, Arsenal, Leicester and Watford in putting their squads into self-isolation.
Overseas, Italy remains the worst-affected country in Europe with the country now on lockdown.
Juventus defender Daniele Rugani was the first Serie A player to contract the disease.
Rugani most-recently played in the 2-1 win over SPAL on February 22.
But he tweeted a picture of himself celebrating with the whole Juve squad after the 2-0 win over Inter Milan on Sunday.
Paulo Dybala reportedly contracted coronavirus, too, but Juve denied those claims.
The Old Lady confirmed it is “activating all the isolation procedures required by law, including those who have had contact with him.”
Now 121 Juventus players and staff have gone into self-isolation in an attempt to reduce the risk of spreading the virus within the club and beyond any more.
The FA statement continued: “We are liaising with the National League pyramids (men’s and women’s) and will continue to offer guidance and support. Any decision to continue playing or to postpone their respective competitions is a matter for each league as autonomous bodies within the game.
“With respect to the senior men’s fixtures against Italy and Denmark at Wembley Stadium, refunds will be processed to all ticket buyers within 14 working days.
“Monies will be returned to the card used to make the original booking. The refund process for England’s MU21 and MU20 home fixtures is still to be confirmed.
“Uefa had already confirmed that all Elite Round qualifiers across U17 and U19 age groups had been postponed. Europe’s governing body will meet on Tuesday to discuss further implications for international football including national-team and club competitions.
“We will continue to monitor all Government advice with the situation under constant review, with the priority being the health and well-being of all. Further updates will follow in due course.”
Premier League and EFL suspended for three weeks over coronavirus after crisis talks
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
