England’s final match in the Six Nations rugby championship against Italy in Rome on March 14 can go ahead. But it will have to be played without any spectators behind closed doors.
Italy’s prime minister. Giuseppe Conte announced on Wednesday that any sporting event allowed to go ahead in Italy will have to take place behind closed doors until April 3.
No country in Europe has been as badly hit by the coronavirus as Italy. At the last count it had confirmed 2,502 cases of the virus, with 80 deaths.
Rather than cancel all events, the Italian Government have decreed that for the next 30 days, sporting fixtures in regions not severely affected by the virus can take place without members of the public in attendance.
It is not clear as yet whether Italy’s penultimate Six Nations game against Ireland in Dublin is going to be played.
Uncertainty over Ireland – Italy game
It was scheduled to take place on Saturday, but it was postponed last week because of concerns over the virus. With both teams out of the running for the championship, there is a possibility it won’t be played at all.
England, meanwhile, could go into the final round of fixtures with a strong chance of winning the tournament. Even though they’ll face rounding off their campaign at Stadio Olimpico without anyone to cheer them on, they’ll want the game to go ahead
The new decree stated: “Sports events and competitions of all kinds and disciplines, held in every place (in Italy), both public and private, are suspended.
“However, in municipalities other than those listed in Annex 1 of the prime minister’s decree of March 1, 2020, and subsequent amendments, the holding of the aforementioned events and competitions, as well as training sessions for competitive athletes, is still allowed inside sports facilities used behind closed doors, or outdoors without the presence of the public.
“In all such cases, associations and sports clubs, by means of their medical staff, are required to carry out the appropriate checks to contain the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus among athletes, technicians, managers and all accompanying persons who participate.”
It added: “The provisions of this decree have their effect from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic and are effective, subject to different provisions contained in the individual measures, until April 3, 2020.”