Paris -
Updated on March 13th, at 14:55
After Italy and Spain, France, England, and Germany have also suspended their football. All the major European leagues have decided to suspend their activity due to the spread of the coronavirus.
In South America, the matches scheduled for the week of March 15th to 21st of the third round of the Copa Libertadores group stage cannot be played. Additionally, the start of the South American qualifiers for the Qatar-2022 World Cup has been postponed by FIFA.
French League
The professional football league decreed the immediate suspension and "until further notice" of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2.
The final of the Coupe de la Ligue, Paris SG-Lyon, scheduled for April 4th at Stade de France, was postponed to late May. The final of the Coupe de France, Paris SG-Saint-Etienne scheduled for April 25th, is pending based on the health situation.
In Paris, the match between PSG and Borussia Dortmund was played without an audience.
Italian Serie A
In Italy, where at least seven professional players have been infected by COVID-19, the Serie A championship has officially been suspended since Monday at midnight, until at least April 3rd.
Two matchdays were scheduled until that date, the 27th and 28th. In total, if the championship returns on the weekend of April 4th and 5th, it will have accumulated three complete matchdays of delay.
The Coppa Italia is also on hold, with the first leg of the semi-finals already played.
- Manolo Gabbiadini is the second footballer in Italy to test positive for coronavirus.
The match between Juventus and Inter Milan, the Italian classic, was played behind closed doors at Allianz Stadium.
Spanish La Liga
La Liga, initially in favor of playing matches behind closed doors, decided to suspend the matches "at least for the next two matchdays", until the end of March.
The decision came on Thursday after the announcement of the quarantine for the Real Madrid players, following a positive COVID-19 test of a basketball player from the club.
- The economic loss in the Spanish La Liga due to the coronavirus would be more than $753 million.
On Tuesday, at the end of an inter-ministerial meeting, the Spanish Superior Council for Sports requested that all sports federations in the country "play all professional or non-professional competitions behind closed doors for fifteen days".
English Premier League
After resisting the implementation of restrictive measures for a long time, the Premier League finally gave in on Friday and suspended its schedule until at least April 4th.
English football is affected by positive cases of Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta and Chelsea's international player Callum Hudson-Odoi. Meanwhile, three Leicester players with symptoms have been isolated from the first team.
Anfield was filled on Wednesday, March 11th, for the rematch sought by Liverpool against Atletico Madrid.
German Bundesliga
The 26th round of the Bundesliga was initially scheduled to be played behind closed doors, but was ultimately suspended.
The German football league (DFB) announced on Friday the immediate suspension of the championship, for the first time since World War II.
Germany was the last of the five major European leagues to decree the suspension.
The match between Borussia Monchengladbach and Cologne on March 11th was the first Bundesliga match played without an audience due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, the day before, Leipzig played their Champions League match against Tottenham with an audience.
Portuguese Primeira Liga
The Portuguese football league decided on Thursday to suspend the first and second division championships "for an indefinite period".
- Greetings with handshakes are prohibited in the Mexican League as of this weekend.
Dutch Eredivisie
The Dutch league announced the postponement of the next two matchdays; there will be no more matches until April.
Belgian Jupiler Pro League
The Belgian Federation announced that all matches in their championship will be played behind closed doors until the end of the month, as well as the postponement of the Copa final between Bruges and Antwerp, initially scheduled for March 22nd.
Copa Libertadores
The South American Football Confederation suspended the matches of the 2020 Copa Libertadores that were scheduled to be played in the week of March 15th to 21st.
The match between Sao Paulo and Liga de Quito was played with an audience at Morumbi Stadium, while the duel between Olimpia and Defensa y Justicia was played behind closed doors in Asuncion.
South American qualifiers for the Qatar-2022 World Cup
FIFA has postponed the start of the South American qualifiers for the Qatar-2022 World Cup, whose first two matchdays were scheduled for March 26th and 31st, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (D)