La Liga has confirmed that all matches across the top two divisions of Spanish football will be played behind closed doors for the next two weeks due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
It follows on from a report from the Spanish radio station which claimed the league was in contact with all autonomous governments within regions in the nation before making decisions on a case-by-case basis.
However, the league confirmed on Tuesday that no games, starting immediately, will be played in front of fans for at least a fortnight.
“Games will be played behind closed doors from today for at least the next two weeks,” a league statement read.
“La Liga will stay in contact with the Ministry of Health and the CSD to comply with their recommendations and decisions putting the health of fans, players, employees and journalists first.”
The league is following protocol from the Spanish Council of Sports that all sporting events – both professional and non-professional – be played behind closed doors.
It follows similar measures in Italy (where no sport is now being staged due to a lockdown until early April) and France, while measures are in place across a number of other nations.
As outlined by Marca, both legs of Sevilla’s Round of 16 Europa League clash against Roma will be played behind closed doors due to the Coronavirus – following on from similar developments for Valencia’s and Getafe’s midweek European games – against Atalanta and Inter respectively.
Catalan newspaper L’Esportiu reported earlier in the day that Barcelona’s return leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash with Napoli at the Camp Nou was likely to be played behind closed doors.
The report highlights how the Barcelona Marathon scheduled for this month has been postponed until October, with the football authorities now said to be waiting further instruction from governments.
By Monday afternoon, Spain had 1,204 confirmed cases of the virus – with 205 new cases being confirmed between 12pm and 6pm, with many more expected to be confirmed on Tuesday.
The Madrid and Vitoria regions have issued orders to close all education centres for 15 days starting on Wednesday in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus, in a move which affects over 1.5m students.
