Soccer leagues and tourneys suspended by coronavirus outbreak

The coronavirus outbreak has forced UEFA to suspend the upcoming Champions and Europa League matches, including the high-profile meetings between Manchester City v Real Madrid, Juventus v Lyon, Barcelona v Napoli, and Bayern Munich v Chelsea.

The UEFA suspensions follow French and German League suspensions, which followed those of the Premier League and Scottish and Welsh leagues, Spain’s La Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie, the USA’s MLS, and Portuguese Primeira Liga, and Italy’s Serie A. The 2020 Euro might also be postponed by a year, said UEFA, which has called an emergency meeting for Tuesday.

CONCACAF has also suspended play and FIFA has vowed to team up with WHO to address the issues attendant to the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, CONMEBOL has yet to address the issue on its website but seems to be indicating that tickets will not go on sale until further notice.

Many wonder what the impact of the coronavirus outbreak suspensions might be upon the global sport.

The BBC has a helpful Health tip section on what you can do to prevent the spread of coronavirus. CNN has a useful article on what to do if the virus appears in your neck of the woods.

Other Football News

In other football news, it took the tempest over the USWNT Pay Dispute to overturn the suspect election of USSF president Carlos Cordeiro, who resigned yesterday. His replacement is vice president and ex-USWNT player Cindy Parlow Cone. One can only hope that the focus of the USSF will not be mired in disputes of any kind and can once again return to the critical tasks of undertaking a comprehensive overhaul of the federation’s structure, top to bottom, including a new philosophy and playing style.

While we are on hiatus, it might be instructive to read the latest strategic plan from FIFA named Making Football Truly Global (though I thought it already was such).