With football schedules being disrupted across Europe it seems certain that the coronavirus will have an impact on the England national team as well.
In the near future the Three Lions are set to play Italy in a key Euro 2020 warm-up at Wembley but the prospect of the game going ahead will be in serious doubt given the current state of lockdown in Italy, which may prevent Roberto Mancini’s squad from travelling, in addition to the cancellation of Serie A football until the start of April at the earliest.
No plans have been announced at present for games in England to be played behind closed doors so the second of the March internationals, with Denmark visiting Wembley, looks more likely to be played.
With the whole Serie A season in doubt, however, and increasing disruption to the Champions League there must now be a serious doubt as to whether Euro 2020 is able to go ahead on time and in its current form.
UEFA’s decision to host the tournament on a pan-European basis means that preparations for dealing with the coronavirus and its associated restrictions cannot just be confined to one country and dealt with on that basis.
Italy is one of the host nations and, understandably, focus in many countries is on keeping their citizens safe and healthy rather than on the potential logistics of dealing with supporters from across the continent.