Leeds, February 29: Spanish football league La Liga's president Javier Tebas has confirmed that El Clasico match between Real Madrid and Barcelona is not under threat amid the coronavirus outbreak. There has been speculation around the match as to date, 32 cases of coronavirus have emerged in Spain.
"We haven't considered the possibility of postponing the Clasico or any other games, but as of Sunday evening we have opened a coronavirus commission within LaLiga to monitor the situation," Goal.com quoted Tebas as saying."We have a plan in place for different cities regarding whether we can play behind closed doors or not. That situation has not yet arisen in Madrid and neither has the matter of postponing the Clasico," he added.
The La Liga president also confirmed that the federation is considering playing matches inside closed doors and if that also is not possible, then only the matches will be postponed.
"It's one thing to postpone a game and another not to play it. We have been looking at the possibility of playing games behind closed doors and, if that is not possible, then we will postpone," Tebas said.
"If that case arises, we have dates prepared for when we can stage those games. We have presented this plan to UEFA so they can also bear in mind European ties involving Spanish teams. We are working on precaution, not improvisation," he added.
The coronavirus, which emerged in China's Hubei province in December, has now affected people in at least 53 countries and killed more than 2,800 people. Italy is believed to be the most affected European country due to the virus and there are many northern towns that have been put on lockdown in the country. As a result, many sporting events have been cancelled in the country. Serie A matches scheduled for this week will be played behind closed doors in Italy.
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