Football keeps fingers crossed over coronavirus threat

Reports have emerged that the game’s governing bodies have held discussions over the prospect of playing games behind closed doors, if mass gatherings at sporting events are limited by the government.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday revealed that the government are preparing for the possibility of a ‘significant expansion’ of the virus and the government will set out their plans later today.

Measures to contain or slow down the spread of the virus may extend to the cancellation of public events and possible school closures.

Health secretary Matt Hancock says the government is not currently recommending the cancellation of large-scale events but that may change.

He said: “Right now, we do not recommend the cancelling of mass events and schools as well should not be closing unless there is a positive case and the schools have the advice to close. There maybe things we have to do down the line that we don’t want to, but we will need the powers to do that hence proposing emergency legislation.”

The EFL has said that they’re in dialogue with the government over the virus, which has so far infected 39 people in the UK.

A spokesperson said: “The EFL remains in close contact with the Government regarding the ongoing concerns posed by the coronavirus.

“We will continue that dialogue, alongside monitoring the advice issued by the relevant authorities, ensuring Clubs are updated with any developments.”

The Times have reported that the FA, Premier League and EFL have already spoken about how to deal with the situation, if measures are taken to limit mass public gatherings, and that they would hope to complete fixtures behind closed doors and still televise them.