Over 80,000 people have already been infected by the 2019 Coronavirus worldwide. This originated in Wuhan, China and has already spread to over 50 countries. There’s no effective vaccine created to combat this virus yet and this is why it remains to be a big threat.
There are already around 2,800 deaths reported involving this virus. In the UK, three more cases of the virus have been confirmed last week and this means that the country already has a total of 19 cases. The spread of the virus is becoming a concern for many businesses and industries.
The football scene is no exempt from this. Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president has spoken about this. As the spread of the virus continues, Infantino is not ruling out having to postpone international matches. He spoke about this in Belfast before Saturday’s AGM of the International Football Association Board.
Infantino said, “The health of persons is much more important than any football game. That’s why we have to look at the situation and hope that it will decrease rather than increase. At the moment it looks like it is still increasing. If games have to be postponed or played without spectators until it is over, then we have to go through that.”
He’s still hopeful, however, that the international friendlies scheduled next month will push through. He also said, “I wouldn’t exclude anything at this moment. I hope we will never have to get into this direction. I think it will be difficult in any case to make a global ban because the situation is really different.”
When he talked about playing matches in closed doors, Infantino appears to be not a supporter of this. He explained, “I don’t think it is sustainable, but that is my personal view. Every competition organizer has to decide what is best for him. In the short term, it can be a solution in order to move on but you cannot imagine a few months of competition with several matches played behind closed doors.”
For years, football fans have been traveling to Europe and other countries just so they can watch their favorite football clubs go against each other. Football is just really considered as the most popular sport worldwide and a match alone could bring in around a hundred thousand people, depending on the size of the stadium.
Football is easily one of the most wagered on sports as well. It is the most wagered on sports worldwide and this includes the UK and European countries. Every league or tournament, football fans would flock land and online sportsbooks to place their bets.
The online betting industry is continuously flourishing worldwide and many online bookies are trying to find many ways to have more people bet on sports. You can check Efirbet in the UK to get to know what promos are available for punters.
With how things are looking, people are most likely to stay indoors and watch matches on TV and just place their bets online to be sure that they are safe from the virus. Even the players are also taking precautionary actions regarding this.
Newcastle players are accustomed to shaking hands with every teammate and member of the backroom staff every morning but this is something that they temporarily no longer do as they follow medical advice.
Steve Bruce spoke of this and said, “There’s a ritual here that everybody shakes hands with everybody as soon as we see each other every morning,” said Steve Bruce as he prepared for Saturday’s home game against Burnley, “but we’ve stopped that on the advice of our club doctor.”
He also added, “Thankfully, we’ve got a superb doctor and he will keep us informed of what we have to do. We’re like everybody else, we’re glued to the TV for where it’s going to go next. Everybody has to be respectful of it, don’t we? It’s been rammed down our throats often enough on TV and the rest of it.”
Infantino also said that the issue seam to still be increasing. His main take is that if games have to be postponed or played without an audience until it is over then they will still go through it. He still thinks that the championship will still go through in June.
Regarding whether the March’s international friendlies will push through, Infantino only said, “I wouldn’t exclude anything at this moment. I hope we will never have to get into this direction.”
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