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Coronovirus threatens Champions League match between Barcelona and Napoli

By Ernesto Hernandez

Spectator tribunes remain empty as the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona vs UD Las Palmas is played behind closed doors at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 1, 2017.Barcelona's La Liga match against Las Palmas was played behind closed doors after the Spanish league refused to postpone the match. At least 91 people have been injured in clashes between police and activists in Catalonia over an independence referendum for the region deemed illegal by the Spanish government. / AFP PHOTO / JOSE JORDAN (Photo credit should read JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Spectator tribunes remain empty as the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona vs UD Las Palmas is played behind closed doors at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 1, 2017.Barcelona's La Liga match against Las Palmas was played behind closed doors after the Spanish league refused to postpone the match. At least 91 people have been injured in clashes between police and activists in Catalonia over an independence referendum for the region deemed illegal by the Spanish government. / AFP PHOTO / JOSE JORDAN (Photo credit should read JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Public safety may force the Barcelona-Napoli match to take place without any fans.

The Catalan government are considering having the Champions League match between Barcelona and Napoli take place behind closed doors.

The global pandemic of the coronavirus is being taken very seriously with public safety being pushed to the foreground.

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According to Mundo Deportivo, Gerard Figueras, the Catalan secretary for sport, said that because of Italy, where the country has been hard with the virus, they cannot rule out the match taking place without any spectators.

A decision has yet to be made on the matter but they will be meeting with the club to decide the appropriate action to take.

A number of events, sporting or otherwise, have either been canceled or postponed.

In Italy, Serie A action was suspended for a weekend and the match this past weekend between Inter Milan and Juventus was played behind in an empty stadium.

The Valencia-Atalanta and Getafe-Inter Milan matches are already going to be played behind closed doors.

Football matches are the least important thing when something like this is affecting the entire world. Lost revenue should be the least of anyone’s concerns.

Barcelona do have precedent playing in an empty stadium. The last time they were forced to do that was in October of 2017 following the violence during the Catalan referendum.

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Given how quickly the coronavirus seems to be spreading, more and more events where there is a large gathering of people may be forced to be suspended. But until the virus can be contained, public safety should be put ahead of anything else. As the saying goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

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