Coronavirus: Ireland’s Six Nations clash with France postponed
Ireland’s upcoming Six Nations rugby game against France has been postponed, the French sports minister has confirmed.
Roxana Marcineanu today said the final round clash, which was due to take place in Paris this weekend, has been pushed back indefinitely amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak.
France has now recorded more than 1,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, while the death toll has risen to 19.
It comes after Ireland’s game against Italy, which was due to take place in Dublin over the weekend, was also pushed back.
England’s fixture with Italy this weekend had already been postponed. It is not yet clear whether the remaining match between Wales and Scotland will go ahead.
Adam French, consumer rights expert at Which, said: “Fans worried about being left out of pocket as a result of these games being postponed should be entitled to a refund on their match ticket if they cannot make the new date.
“Unfortunately it will be harder to get a refund on any travel or accommodation booked for the match, unless these were purchased as part of a package deal.
It comes as authorities across Europe meet to discuss the fate of sports fixtures due to concerns large gatherings could accelerate the spread of the disease.
France, which has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people, has also said that a Champions League game between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund will be played behind closed doors.
Senior government officials met with UK sporting bodies including the Premier League and Premiership Rugby in London this morning to discuss the impact of coronavirus.
A spokesperson for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said this included a discussion on how holding sports events behind closed doors could work in practice.
“However based upon the current scientific advice from the government’s medical experts there is no rationale to close or cancel sporting events as things stand,” the spokesperson said.
The Premier League last week banned players and match officials from the traditional pre-match handshake until further notice.
But culture secretary Oliver Dowden this morning played down concerns that events would be scrapped entirely. “At this stage we’re not in the territory of cancelling or postponing events,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Dowden added that the was at Twickenham on Saturday for the England v Wales game, which went ahead as planned.
“There was a huge crowd of people there. There is no reason why people should not be going to those events.”