Premier League game in England are unlikely to be affected by the Coronavirus in the immediate future, says Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. Governing bodies and broadcasters will meet with government officials later on Monday to discuss the staging of events behind closed doors if the outbreak worsens and mass gatherings are banned.
Dowden told BBC Radio 5 Live: “At this stage we’re not in the territory of cancelling or postponing events.”
He added fans should not be barred.
A Premier League email sent to all clubs last week says that ‘all the available options for completing the season’ will be considered if the situation worsens. The Premier League Email states: “The first team environment is especially crucial: an outbreak affecting the first team of just one club could make completing the season very difficult to achieve.”
Category A is described as being ‘as you are’ or ‘the business as normal’ stage but following today’s meeting we could quickly see a movement towards to category B which would see matches be played behind closed doors.
Category C, the worst-case scenario, would involve ‘cancellation, curtailment or postponement’ of the remainder of the Premier League season and, if the guidance were to change, the clubs would meet in a shareholders meeting.
However, the email also sheds light on the government’s view of how sporting events may impact the transmission of coronavirus and indicate they will not follow other countries in banning major events unless there is evidence to support such a move.
“Sporting events in themselves are not seen by the medical authorities as a major contributory factor in the spread of the virus,” it says.
“They tell us that they want to be guided by the scientific evidence and not be pushed into measures intended for the headlines rather than meaningful impact.
“In their view the evidence so far suggests that the main locations where transmission within the general population is most likely are the home, schools and the workplace, with open air sports events less likely to be a problem than, for example, shopping centres, pubs and restaurants.”
However, the Government’s view is that travel around sporting events and the congregation of fans at pubs could “pose potentially significant risks”.
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