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Even as many North American sports leagues and organizations reacted to alarm over the novel coronavirus by cancelling or spending activities, overseas training continued Thursday for Ottawa’s new professional soccer franchise.

Ottawa Atletico of the Canadian Premier League commenced pre-season camp Wednesday at the compound of its Spanish partner, Atlético de Madrid, and is scheduled to return to North America on April 7.

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The team’s first four regular-season matches are to be played in other CPL cities between April 18 and May 8, with its first home contest against Halifax Wanderers FC set for April 16 at TD Place stadium.

Jeff Hunt, one of the partners in the Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group and separately a CPL franchise partner, said from Spain that only team members were on site at Atlético de Madrid’s compound.

Beyond that, he deferred to the CPL for further comment.

In an email, a spokesperson wrote that the eight-team league was “working with all our clubs in regards to their pre-season training and will share a statement as soon as we have a clear update on Ottawa.”

A media release said the CPL had established a “working committee” to monitor developments and communicate with clubs regarding appropriate measures.

“The health and safety of our players, staff, fans and partners is of the utmost importance as we manage through this situation,” the statement said. “We will continue following the guidelines set forth by our public health authorities and government agencies.

“It is important to note that the CPL’s season does not start until April 11th and we are not playing in public venues at this time.”

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s hockey team travelled to Halifax for the U Sports championships and was scheduled to play its first game against the Acadia Axemen on Friday evening. Following two other opening-round games on Thursday, though, the remainder of the tournament was cancelled.