English Premier League Suspended Due to Coronavirus Outbreak

All major soccer matches across Britain have been suspended until at least the 3rd of April as a result of the spread of the coronavirus.

The English Premier League was due to go ahead this weekend but following a high-level meeting with the game’s top officials, it was decided to postpone all matches for the coming weeks.

This came after a number of players and officials were found to have contracted the coronavirus including Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Earlier this week a number of clubs revealed some, or all, of their playing staff were in self-isolation, this included Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City, Bournemouth, Manchester City, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Soccer has also been suspended in Italy, Spain, France and Netherlands, where some games had initially been set to played behind closed doors, before the decision was made to halt all matches in the hope of reducing the spread of the pandemic.

Currently Liverpool lead the Premier League by a massive 25 points from Manchester City in second place and Jurgen Klopp’s side look set to end a 30-year wait for a first domestic championship.

There are still nine full game weeks left of the current season and if the suspension is lifted in early April then matches would still then need to be played with alarming regularity if there is to be no knock on effects on the summer break and following seasons.

One wonders just how the current campaign could run to completion given the unprecedented situation, especially with the European Championships scheduled to begin in mid-June.