March 12 – La Liga in Spain has been suspended for “at least the next two rounds of matches” as a result of the Real Madrid squad going into quarantine because of the coronavirus.
The next two rounds of matches in the top two leagues were already due to take place without spectators on the advice of the national health ministry.
But the decision to turn that into postponements came after Real Madrid put its squad into quarantine following a member of the club’s basketball team testing positive for the virus on Thursday.
“The recommendation has been made to quarantine both the basketball first team and the football first team, given that the two squads share facilities in Ciudad Real Madrid,” a Real statement said.
La Liga added: “Given the circumstances that are coming to light this morning, referring to the quarantine established in Real Madrid and the possible cases in players from other clubs, La Liga considers it appropriate to continue to the next phase of the protocol of action against COVID-19.”
The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) had already announced that it had postponed the Copa del Rey final between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao, originally set for April 18, in order to guarantee the match could be played in front of spectators. The Spanish second division has also been suspended and La Liga said it will “revaluate” the situation following the completion of quarantine “in the affected clubs and other possible situations that may arise”.
Real are due to play at Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday and so far there is no indication that this, too, will be called off.
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