Coronavirus threat: ATP Tour, Australian GP and NBA affected

Several global sporting events have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a pandemic this week by the World Health Organisation.

Below are a few cases.

The ATP Tour has postponed all play for six weeks “due to escalating health and safety issues” arising from the coronavirus outbreak.

All tournaments on the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour are cancelled until 27 April.

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “This is not a decision that was taken lightly and it represents a great loss for our tournaments, players, and fans worldwide.

“However, we believe this is the responsible action needed at this time in order to protect the health and safety of our players, staff, the wider tennis community and general public health in the face of this global pandemic.

“The worldwide nature of our sport and the international travel required presents significant risks and challenges in today’s circumstances, as do the increasingly restrictive directives issued by local authorities.”

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Three Leicester City first-team players have self-isolated after showing symptoms of coronavirus and “have been kept away from the rest of the squad”, manager Brendan Rodgers has said.

Rodgers did not specify which players had been quarantined but added that the club had “followed procedures”.

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The opponents of N Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have requested that their Euro 2020 play-off semi-finals are postponed because of coronavirus.

Bosnia-Herzegovina host Northern Ireland while the Republic are away to Slovakia – both games are scheduled for 26 March.

Ticket sales for the NI game have been postponed but up to 900 NI fans have made travel plans to attend the match.

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This weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix is in doubt after McLaren withdrew when a team member tested positive for coronavirus.

McLaren said the infected team member was now self-isolating in Australia.

The manufacturer added its choice to withdraw was “based on a duty of care” to F1 stakeholders.

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The NBA has announced that all matches will be suspended from Thursday until further notice, after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for coronavirus.

The announcement was made just before the Jazz game against the Oklahoma Thunder was due to start on Wednesday.

The NBA said the player who tested positive was not at the game.

(Source: BBC Sport)