The coronavirus outbreak continues to take its toll on football, with it being confirmed that the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League have now officially been suspended.
LaLiga was the latest European league to be placed on hold for the next two weeks after Real Madrid's training complex was placed under quarantine when one of the club's basketball stars tested positive for the virus.
Los Blancos were supposed to play against Manchester City in the UCL next week Wednesday, but that match has now been called off.
Juventus confirmed on Wednesday that defender Daniele Rugani had contracted the virus, with the rest of their squad having since been placed under quarantine. Their match against Olympique Lyon has since been postponed.
Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona had already confirmed that their games would be played behind closed doors, but even some clubs' travels have been affected, as AS Roma will know – they were not allowed to leave Italy for their Europa League fixture in Sevilla.
As a consequence, UEFA have now stepped in and suspended both of its elite club competitions.
"In the light of developments due to the spread of Covid-19 in Europe and related decisions made by different governments, all UEFA club competitions matches scheduled next week are postponed," an official statement on UEFA's official website read.
"This includes the remaining UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 second-leg matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020; all UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 second-leg matches scheduled on 19 March 2020; all UEFA Youth League, quarter-final matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020.
"Further decisions on when these matches take place will be communicated in due course."
UEFA also announced that it is set to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss all competitions, including the 2020 European Championship.
So far, LaLiga and Serie A have been suspended, while Ligue 1 also announced its suspension on Friday and the Bundesliga stated that this weekend's games will be played behind closed doors before its league matches will be suspended from Tuesday.
The Premier League is yet to announce whether or not its games will go ahead and/or be played behind closed doors.
UEFA is yet to make a statement on how the current postponements will impact the 2020 UEFA European Championship, which is scheduled to kick off on 12 June.
