Madrid, March 12 The Europa League games between Sevilla and Roma and Inter Milan and Getafe due to be played on Thursday have been suspended by UEFA.
The governing body of European football took the decision after Roma refused to travel to Spain and Getafe President Angel Torres said his club would not travel to Italy as the result of fears over contagion from the Covid-19.
UEFA published its decision in a communique published on Wednesday which reads "as a result of the travelling restrictions between Spain and Italy imposed yesterday by the Spanish authorities, the following #UEL matches will not take place as scheduled tomorrow. Sevilla - Roma and Internazionale - Getafe," Xinhua news agency reported.
UEFA's decision comes a day after the Spanish government decreed that all sporting events in the country, including football matches, have to be played behind closed doors for the next fortnight as a measure to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected almost 2,200 people in Spain, claiming 49 lives.
However, one second division (Liga Smart Bank) game will not be played at all after the regional government of Castilla-Leon (central Spain) announced on Wednesday that it was suspending the game between Mirandes and Numancia.
The authority is worried that even though the game was to be played behind closed doors, fans would still congregate outside of Mirandes' Anduva Stadium as they did ahead of Valencia's Champions League tie against Atalanta on Tuesday night even though that match was also played in an empty stadium.
( With inputs from IANS )