Is there a real risk that all football in Europe will be paralyzed?

Is there a risk that European football has to stop completely? Yes. At the moment only Italy has taken action, with the suspension of all its sports championships, but it is possible that very soon it will not be the only one. Spain, like France, has decreed that its leagues be played behind closed doors. Ligue 1 is "closed" until April 15. In the Spanish case, during the next two weeks, although it may be for a longer period. And the Federation already plans to postpone the dispute of the Cup final so that it can be held with public in the stands.

Liverpool-Atlético may be the last match played with the public in European competitions for a while. On the 26th, Spain receives Germany in one of the last friendlies before the European Championship. On the 29th the Spanish team will play as a visitor in the Netherlands and it has not yet been determined whether there will be an audience in those two games.

Health authorities recommend telecommuting to stop the expansion of the coronavirus, but footballers do not have that possibility. Their work should be done in the place intended for it, so the only possibility to reduce the risk to a minimum is the suspension of all tournaments that are disputed in Europe. That is what the soccer unions in Italy and Spain have requested.

At the moment, together, they have requested that the matches between teams of the two countries are not disputed. There are four European qualifiers between Italians and Spaniards. On Tuesday Valencia-Atalanta was already played, but the other three can still be stopped. The AFE (Association of Spanish Footballers) has already asked the sports authorities to suspend the Spanish championship.

UEFA decided that it was the countries themselves that would regulate what would happen with their championships. He did it when the coronavirus seemed a local problem, with the focus on China and only a few and localized infections in Europe. But for weeks it has become a transnational problem and the dispute of European competitions is complicated.

Spain has banned the entry of flights from Italy and, in the event of an emergency, Getafe refuses to travel to Milan to face Inter on Thursday. He could request a special permit from the Ministry of Development and travel on the same Thursday morning and return immediately after the game, but refuses to do so. The Swiss government has banned the return match dispute between Basel and Eintracht in Frankfurt next week.

Problems accumulate and, meanwhile, clubs are taking steps to limit the effects of the coronavirus. Barcelona, ​​for example, has decided to play behind closed doors the matches of all its teams, in all different sports sections and in all categories during the next two weeks, suspend the tournament that would be played between all the academies that have spread throughout the world and also suspend the friendlies of all lower categories.

In France, Mbappé has already undergone a test to check if it was infected with coronavirus, although it has been negative. And while the players continue to travel and play their matches. As if nothing happened, but without spectators in the stands. That is, as if everything happened.