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Olympics, Six Nations and Euro 2020: Coronavirus threatens sports events

<span>Photograph: Kimimasa Mayama/EPA</span>
Photograph: Kimimasa Mayama/EPA

Olympics and Paralympics

The IOC president, Thomas Bach, remains insistent that the 2020 Games will go ahead as planned, and athletes should plan for Tokyo “with great confidence”. Another IOC member, Dick Pound, has previously said a final decision could be made as late as the end of May, with cancellation, rather than postponement or relocation, the most likely outcome. The events start on 24 July and 25 August respectively. The athletics world indoor championships, scheduled to take place in China next month, are already off. Thursday’s torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be the first in over 35 years to be held without spectators.

Six Nations

England’s trip to Rome on 14 March to face Italy has been called off, as has France v Ireland on the same date, with Ireland’s men’s and women’s matches against Italy in Dublin already postponed. There are fears that the tournament may not be completed for the first time since 1972, with Wales v Scotland the only match in the final round of the men’s tournament that is currently scheduled to go ahead on Saturday. The foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 led to one match being postponed until September and two moved to October. The Singapore and Hong Kong legs of the World Rugby Sevens have been put back to October.

Related: The spectre of a cancelled Olympics belongs to a different, scarier world | Jonathan Liew

Italy

All sporting activity at all levels in Italy has been suspended until 3 April at the earliest, the Italian national Olympic committee (CONI) has announced. This includes all matches in Serie A, Italy’s highest football division, but does not cover Italian clubs or national teams competing in international competitions such as the Champions League. All last weekend’s Serie A matches were played behind closed-doors.

Euro 2020

The Europe-wide, travel-heavy Uefa showpiece is due to take place at 12 venues, starting in Rome on 12 June. The semi-finals and final will be at Wembley. Uefa say the situation is “under constant scrutiny … we are monitoring it country by country, and football will follow orders of the individual countries”. The Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, remains hopeful the tournament will be unaffected. England’s warm-up against Italy is scheduled for Wembley on 27 March. The FA is following developments.

Football

There is widespread disruption already, with multiple Serie A games postponed and the league now being played behind closed doors until 3 April. La Liga games in Spain will be played without fans until at least 22 March, while France’s Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 will be fan-less until 15 April. PSG’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Borussia Dortmund on 11 March will also have no fans in attendance. Leagues in Portugal, Bulgaria and Romania are also playing behind closed-doors.

The Swiss league, Japan’s J-League, South Korea’s K-League and China’s Super League are all on hold, with pre-season International Champions Cup fixtures set for Asia also called off.

In England, clubs have told players not to shake hands – West Ham’s David Moyes says: “It’s fist bumps only” – while there is speculation that the season could be curtailed on government advice. In those circumstances, there would be no guarantee Liverpool would be named Premier League champions – and the bottom three could escape relegation.

Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have agreed to postpone the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in March and June. However the governing body said some games may still go ahead provided that the safety of all individuals involved meets the required standards and that the member associations due to play each other mutually agree.

Formula One

Race organisers have insisted that the season’s curtain-raiser in Melbourne will go ahead this weekend. Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters is 87 miles from the Italian outbreak in Codogno and anyone living there needs permission to travel. The team said “the key personnel are on their planes”. The second race in Bahrain on 22 March will be behind closed doors, the 5 April race in Vietnam is under review and the Chinese Grand Prix on 19 April has already been postponed.

Racing

Cheltenham starts on 10 March, the Grand National meeting starts on 2 April. Cheltenham organisers say it is, for now, still “full steam ahead”.

Cricket

The ECB insists England’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in March will happen. “It is not considered a high-risk country for further virus spread.” A four-team women’s tournament in Thailand, also featuring Ireland, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, has been cancelled.

Tennis

The high-profile BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells has been cancelled. WTA events in China are off or under review; the final of an ATP Challenger event in Bergamo, Italy, was cancelled. Two Davis Cup qualifiers – Italy v South Korea in Cagliari and Japan v Ecuador in Miki – will be played without fans in attendance.

A spectator wears a protective face mask at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis ATP Championships in Dubai
A spectator wears a protective face mask at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis ATP Championships in Dubai. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

Among other events

Athletics The world indoor championships, scheduled to take place in China this weekend, were called off last month.

Badminton The German Open, Vietnam Open and Polish Open have all been called off.

Baseball A six-team Olympic qualifying competition, due to take place in Taiwan in early April, has been put back to June. The 20 March opening date for Japan’s professional league has also been postponed.

Boxing Olympic qualifiers due to be staged in Wuhan will now take place in Amman, Jordan, next month.

Cycling Following the UAE Tour’s cancellation, the Giro d’Italia in May is among other events now in doubt. This month’s Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo races have been called off.

Darts The PDC has said it currently has no plans to cancel any events, but has told players to avoid shaking hands with their opponents, and may restrict them from giving autographs to fans.

Golf The Masters will begin on 9 April in Augusta, with officials confirming the event is still scheduled to go ahead as planned. Elsewhere, multiple tournaments have been cancelled or moved. The Mena Tour, covering the Middle East and North Africa, has put back all events until at least September.

Ice hockey The Women’s World Ice Hockey Championships, due to take place Canada from March 31 to April 10, have been cancelled.

London marathon Organisers are confident the event will go ahead as planned on 26 April but are “monitoring closely the spread … We are noting government advice.”

MotoGP The first two races of the season, in Qatar and Thailand, have been cancelled. Qatar has imposed travel restrictions on passengers arriving from Italy, where several riders and some teams are based.

Rugby league The Super League match between Catalans Dragons and Leeds on 14 March will take place behind closed doors.

Snooker The China Open ranking event in Beijing, due to start on 30 March, has been called off.

Speed skating The world short track championships, scheduled to take place in Seoul in March, have been called off.

Triathlon The opening event of the World Series in Abu Dhabi has been postponed, but may still be rearranged.