With Serie A already shutting its doors until April 3rd, and La Liga announcing on Thursday morning they would be suspending its fixtures for the next two game weeks, it was only a matter of time before more action was taken.
Just a few hours after the the Spaniards made the decision, Marca reported around noon that UEFA are now expecting to suspend the Champions League and the Europa League until further notice, starting immediately, according to Marca.
That means Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Rangers are all expected to see their game on Thursday evening cancelled, leaving travelling fans a bit stranded.
The Red Devils announced they would be paying £350 towards the travel and accommodation of each supporter who had bought an away ticket for the game against LASK, perhaps preempting this decision from the European football body.
There will likely be more to follow on this, and we have to wait and see how long UEFA decide to postpone the fixtures for.
On the plus side, this means Manchester United, Wolves and Rangers players will be fresher for their weekend games against Tottenham, West Ham and Celtic respectively.
We’re sure Steven Gerrard won’t be too unhappy at the situation with such a big fixture ahead…
Update: UEFA have since released a statement, the contents of which doesn’t point towards an immediate suspension:
‘In the light of the ongoing developments in the spread of COVID-19 across Europe and the changing analysis of the World Health Organisation, UEFA has today invited representatives of its 55 member associations, together with the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FIFPro, to attend meetings by videoconference on Tuesday 17 March to discuss European football’s response to the outbreak.
Discussions will include all domestic and European competitions, including UEFA EURO 2020.
Further communication will be made following those meetings.’
