Major sporting events including Premier League football matches could be played in empty stadiums as the coronavirus outbreak spreads.

Sports authorities and broadcasters have been summoned by the government to Monday's meeting to discuss contingency plans in case the virus spreads further.

On what could happen to the Premier League, Sky News' sports correspondent Martha Kelner said: "The Premier League is prepared for the possibility that Public Health England will advise that some fixtures this season will have to be played behind closed doors, as has been the case in other European leagues like Italy and Morocco.

"It is understood that the preference in the case of advice that the season be postponed or played behind closed doors would be that it continues without fans permitted inside stadiums."

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce fears it is "pretty inevitable" Premier League games will be played behind closed doors as a result of the outbreak.


He said at his pre-match press conference on Friday: "It's hard to imagine, isn't it? But obviously, they're doing it now in Italy and it's something we're probably going to face...

"People's lives are at stake and we've got to go by the authorities. But it looks pretty inevitable that could be on the cards."

The Premier League is also considering other possible contingency plans.

Coronavirus: How worried should we be?

Kelner added: "That may include advising against, or even a possible ban, on over-70s - the demographic considered to be at highest risk from the spread of COVID-19 - coming inside stadiums."

Such a ban may affect the former England and current Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson, who is 72.

Sky News also understands that the Premier League would consult with broadcasters about televising more matches in the event that COVID-19 causes games to be played behind closed doors.

Image: The Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome's Stadio Olimpico has been postponed

Ministers will go over a wide range of scenarios for all sports in the hope of reaching agreements about a plan to protect the public.

The Premier League has so far not changed any football fixtures but has scrapped the traditional pre-match handshake between players.

Italy, the worst affected country in Europe with more than 4,636 coronavirus cases and a death toll of 197, has already forced all top-flight Serie A games to be played without fans for a month in an attempt to curb the outbreak.

In France, Paris St Germain's Ligue 1 game away to Strasbourg has been postponed following a "prefectural order" issued on Friday by the Grand Est region.

Image: A possible stadium ban, on over-70s, is also set to be discussed

The Six Nations have postponed this weekend's Scotland v France women's match at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow after one of the Scotland players tested positive for coronavirus. The team had recently returned from northern Italy.

Seven members of management and players are self-isolating.

It follows the postponement of the men's match between Italy and England in Rome, which had been scheduled for 14 March.

And this weekend's clash between Ireland and Italy, due to be held in Dublin, is also off.

Meanwhile, players from Danish Super League clubs Brondby and Lyngby are in isolation after they met and hugged former Denmark international Thomas Kahlenberg, who has since tested positive for the virus.

In other developments:

Twenty-one people stranded on a cruise ship off the coast of California have tested positive for coronavirus

Sports authorities and broadcasters are to meet officials for discussions on UK coronavirus contingency plans

Globally, the number of coronavirus cases has passed 100,000 and there have been 3,400 deaths worldwide

London's FTSE-100 has seen its biggest fall of the coronavirus crisis

of the coronavirus crisis Boris Johnson pledges an extra £46m for research into coronavirus vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests in the UK

Donald Trump has signed a bill to provide $8.3bn (£6.4bn) to bolster the capacity to test for coronavirus and fund other measures in the US

Dr Mike Ryan, from the World Health Organisation, says it was "a false hope" coronavirus would disappear in the summer like flu

Officials in the US city of Austin have cancelled the South by Southwest arts and technology festival

A 43-year-old British man tests positive for COVID-19 in Thailand, while the Vatican confirms its first case

Iran's death toll from the virus jumps to 124, as more than 1,000 new cases are diagnosed over 24 hours

The death toll in Italy rose by 49 to 197 on Friday, the largest daily increase in fatalities

Mainland China had 99 new confirmed cases of infections on Friday, down from 143 cases a day earlier

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