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Coronavirus latest: Athletics and snooker latest sporting events to be hit

Coronavirus latest: Athletics and snooker latest sporting events to be hit
© Reuters
The World Snooker Tour had been hopeful the event could take place behind closed doors.

Snooker’s Coral Tour Championship has been postponed along with the first three Diamond League athletics meetings of the season as coronavirus continues to decimate the worldwide sporting calendar.

The World Snooker Tour had been hopeful the event, which was due to start in Llandudno on Tuesday, could take place behind closed doors.

But a statement read: “WST and ITV Sport have taken the decision to postpone this week’s Coral Tour Championship in Llandudno as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.

“We appreciate this is very short notice and a disappointment for the fans and the television audience, however the assessment could only be made at short notice after yesterday’s announcement from the government which came at 5pm.”

The prestigious Diamond League meetings scheduled for April 17, in Qatar, and May 9 and 16, in China, are likely to be pushed back until after the Olympics.

The Wanda Diamond League said it hopes to be able to stage the planned meeting in Shanghai on August 13.

The other two events could be rescheduled for after the Diamond League Final in Zurich in September, “should the global situation allow”.

European football’s governing body are discussing plans for the rest of the season.

One of the key decisions to be taken by UEFA will be whether to postpone Euro 2020 until the summer of 2021, with the intention of allowing 2019-20 competitions that have been suspended to be completed.

A number of national associations contacted by the PA news agency which are due to host matches this summer are understood to be ready to do all they can to assist, if the consensus is that the tournament be postponed.

Meetings were due to begin on Tuesday morning and an announcement on any decision is not expected until mid to late afternoon.

Meanwhile, Manchester United have scrapped plans to return to training on Tuesday, the PA news agency understands.

In Italy 10 Juventus Women players are self-isolating, although the club say all are asymptomatic.

Notts Outlaws v Worcestershire Rapids – Vitality T20 Blast – Semi Final 1 – Edgbaston
Alex Hales has returned to England (Anthony Devlin/PA)

In cricket the Pakistan Super League has announced the Twenty20 competition has been postponed, on the day the semi-finals were due to take place.

The matches between Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi, and Karachi Kings against Lahore Qalandars, will be rescheduled.

A number of English players, including Alex Hales, Tom Banton and James Vince, would likely have been involved in the semi-finals but they had already left the country due to the pandemic.

Moeen Ali, Ravi Bopara and Chris Jordan were among those expected to feature in Lahore on Tuesday. The final was scheduled to be played on Wednesday.

Melrose Sevens is the oldest competition of its kind in the world which dates back to 1883
Melrose Sevens is the oldest competition of its kind in the world which dates back to 1883 (Chris Clark/PA Archive)

Melrose have postponed their annual rugby sevens – the oldest competition of its kind in the world which dates back to 1883.

The British Boxing Board of Control has announced that “all public tournaments” under its jurisdiction have been cancelled, and the position will be reviewed in early April.

British Cycling has suspending all activities until at least April 30, as has Welsh Athletics.

British Swimming has confirmed that the Diving World Series event scheduled for London later this month has been postponed.

The British Swimming Championships and the British Para-Swimming International Meet – both scheduled for April – have been cancelled.

British Eventing has suspended all fixtures with immediate effect, just a fortnight after the scheduled eight-month season began.

The Land Rover Kentucky Horse Trials in the United States – won for the last two years by Britain’s world number one Oliver Townend and due to be held from April 23-26 – has been cancelled for the first time in its 42-year history.

The final Hillsborough memorial service, which was due to take place at Anfield on April 15, has been postponed.

The families of the 96 Liverpool supporters who died 31 years ago had decided to hold a last service after former police match commander David Duckenfield was cleared of gross negligence manslaughter following a retrial in November.

Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, said: “In light of recent events, a decision was made collectively by the families to postpone our final memorial service at Anfield.

“We wish to keep as many people safe as possible and we believe this is the right approach. We hope to provide an update in the near future on a rescheduled date for the service.”

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