The question is necessarily in the minds of fans of Olympique Lyonnais: will there be supporters of Juventus Turin Wednesday night at Groupama Stadium to attend the knockout leg of the Champions League between the two teams? Italy is particularly affected by the coronavirus epidemic, especially the north of the country. This football match is not the only sporting event, far from it, to be impacted by the epidemic which started in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. Many sporting events, in Asia but also elsewhere are threatened, have been postponed or are already canceled.
Soccer
Closed matches in Italy
Juventus Turin should anyway be affected by the coronavirus epidemic. The Italian Minister of Sports has indeed announced that the matches of the Italian championship next weekend will be played behind closed doors in six regions of the north of the country. This concerns in particular the meeting between "Juve", leader, and Inter Milan, third, in Turin. The other meetings concerned at the moment are Udinese-Fiorentina, AC Milan-Genoa, Parma-Spal, Sassuolo-Brescia, Sampdoria Genoa-Hellas Verona. And this is probably just the start.
In addition, Inter Milan itself announced that it would hold its Europa League match on Thursday against the Bulgarian club Ludogorets behind closed doors. Finally, FC Barcelona players were subjected to exams upon their arrival in Naples, before the Champions League match between the two teams on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the world
The Chinese football championship, which was due to start on February 22, has been postponed as well as "competitions of all types and at all levels". The national team will however play two qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar against the Maldives on March 26 and against Guam on 31 in closed stadiums in Thailand.
The kick-off for the South Korean national championship, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, has been postponed and no resumption date has been set. In Japan, seven matches of the national cup were postponed.
Cycling
The threat hangs over Milan-San Remo, to be held on March 21. The Italian classic, one of the major events on the calendar, is contested in Lombardy and Veneto, where a dozen cities are in quarantine. It would be the first time that the "Primavera" was canceled outside of war periods.
In addition, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has canceled the Tour de Hainan, UCI ProSeries event, scheduled from February 23 to March 1 on the Chinese island of Hainan
Tennis
The final of the challenger tournament - the equivalent of the 2nd World Division - in Bergamo in northern Italy, which was to be played on Sunday, has been canceled. She was to pit Frenchman Enzo Couacaud against Ukrainian Illya Marchenko
China was forfeited in the Davis Cup, a meeting scheduled for March 6 and 7 in Romania. The Xian WTA tournament, scheduled to be played in mid-April, has been canceled.
Formula 1
The Grand Prix of China scheduled for April 19 in Shanghai has been postponed, and that of Vietnam on April 5 is maintained for the moment.
Rugby
The match between Italy and Scotland in the women's VI Nations tournament scheduled for Sunday 23 February in Legnano in Lombardy has been postponed. The Italian championship matches scheduled for next weekend have been rescheduled, as has the final postponed to June 6. Two matches of Pro14 rugby, a club competition between British, Italian and Irish teams, which was to be played on Saturday, were also postponed.
The Hong Kong and Singapore rugby sevens tournaments, slated to take place in April, have been postponed. The Singapore Sevens will be held on October 10 and 11, before the queen stage of the circuit, from October 16 to 18 in Hong Kong.
Athletics
The Indoor Worlds, scheduled for Nanjing, China from March 13 to 15, have been postponed to 2021. It was to be the first major athletic event of the year, four months before the Tokyo Olympics (July 24 - August 9). ).
Marathon
The Tokyo marathon in Japan scheduled for March 1 has been canceled for amateurs and the Pyongyang marathon in North Korea, which traditionally takes place in April, has also been canceled.
Modern Pentathlon
The 2020 Modern Pentathlon Worlds, qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics which were to take place at the end of May in Xiamen, China, have been relocated to Cancun, Mexico.