The Hannover Football Club in the German second division announced the registration of the first case of infection of the new Corona virus to the player in the country that is preparing to hold all the first division matches scheduled this weekend without an audience.
Hanover explained in a statement that his defender Timo Hoppers underwent a test he had infected with the virus, which killed more than four thousand people around the world, and negatively affected various sporting events by postponing, canceling or staying behind closed doors to the fans.
Hanover stressed that he does not expect to record any other cases in his ranks after Hobbers avoided communicating with colleagues and technical staff, but he will examine all concerned as a precaution.
"Once he discovered that one of the people he had contacted at a joint event had contracted the virus, Timo went straight to the doctor and put himself in quarantine," the team's sports director, Gerhard Zuber, explained.
The announcement comes hours after confirmation that all of the Bundesliga matches were held within the twenty-sixth stage this weekend, without an audience.
There were announcements that prevented fans from attending the Bundesliga matches, most notably the "Derby" Ruhr between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04, after the League confirmed that it would leave this matter in the hands of the local authorities.
As of Wednesday noon, it was the only last match left with an audience that brought Leipzig to its guest, Freiburg, before receiving the same fate.
"Although a very limited number of cases have been registered in the Leipzig region, we want to reduce the health risk to a minimum," said Sports Director of Leipzig Oliver Mentslav.
This comes the day after Leipzig allowed his fans to attend his match against Tottenham Hotspur in the second leg of the Champions League final, which resulted in the qualification to the quarter-finals for the first time in its history (Away won 3-0 after defeating the first leg 1-0).
The action to ban the public in Germany also includes the match between the leaders and the champion of the past seven seasons Bayern Munich, with hosts Onion Berlin Saturday.
The 26th stage kicks off Friday with the game Fortuna Dusseldorf and its guest Paderborn, and ends Monday between Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen.
The German League matches joined Spain and France, which announced that they would prevent fans from attending local competitions in at least the next two stages, while Italy, the European country most affected by the virus, stopped all sports activity until April 3.
The Premier League matches have not yet been affected by the procedures, but the Arsenal and Manchester City match that was scheduled for this evening, Wednesday, was postponed, after a number of London club players were isolated after contacting the Greek Olympiacos owner Vangelis Marinakis, who was declared infected with the virus, on the sidelines of the two teams match within "Europa League" competition in late February.