EFL set for behind closed doors announcement with Bristol City and Bristol Rovers affected due to coronavirus The number of cases in the UK rose to 460 on Wednesday as the World Health Organisation brands COVID-19 a pandemic Football matches in England will be ordered to be played behind closed doors imminently, reports have stated. The number of coronavirus cases in the UK rose to 460 on Wednesday, representing the biggest single-day increase, and experts have warned the number will continue to rise. Across Europe, action has already been taken that sees football matches being played behind closed doors and the Times reports that similar action in the Premier League and EFL could follow as early as today. A meeting of the government’s Cobra committee is expected to officially announce that the UK had moved from the ‘contain’ phase of their coronavirus action plan to the ‘delay’ phase, which could include social distancing measures. As a result, football fans will be unable to attend matches for an unspecified amount of time, and matches will also not be shown in pubs to avoid a congregation of people. Season-ticket holders and other ticket holders will be able to follow the matches via live streams in their home but the 3pm broadcasting blackout will not be lifted, although further coverage during the standard slots will be permitted. The plan may be implemented once the amount of confirmed cases in the UK rises above 500 which, following the rise in cases over the past week, is expected to be surpassed in the latest figures on Thursday. Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis and Juventus defender Daniele Rugani are the latest sporting figures to contract the virus, with the Premier League game between Manchester City and Arsenal being the first in the league to be postponed due to the virus. While no EFL fixtures have yet been postponed, it seems only a matter of time before fans are forced to watch their teams from the comfort of their homes. Bristol City face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood park, Sheffield Wednesday at Ashton Gate and Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in their next three games, with all of these under threat of being played behind closed doors. Bristol Rovers face their games against Ipswich Town and Rochdale at the Mem and their trip to Peterborough United also being played in fan-less stadiums if the ban is to come into place. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/efl-set-behind-closed-doors-3941731
I think its clear that most of us will catch it - we may even have already had it and not realised. All we can do is try and SLOW it down (we won't stop it) to give the boffins more time to develop a vaccine and/or a cure. If that means banning sporting events then I'm afraid so be it.
Can clubs at the lower levels of the EFL afford to play their games behind close doors? I would imagine the cash flow situation would cause more clubs to struggle
