By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The upcoming EuroLeague game between Olimpia Milano and Real Madrid Tuesday (March 3) in Italy will be held behind closed doors and without any media presence in the Forum according to Luca Guazzoni of Italian News Agency ANSA.
The city of Milan is located in the Lombardy area, one of the two regions in Italy most affected by the coronavirus outbreak, together with Veneto, also in the northern part of the country. As of early Sunday (1/3) morning, there have been more than 1.000 reported cases and 29 deaths in Italy.
The Italian Federation has suspended all domestic league action while two scheduled EuroLeague Women games have been postponed.
After the initial report, EuroLeague Basketball officially announced that the game between Milano and Real Madrid as well as the Brescia – Reyer Venezia EuroCup match will be played behind closed doors.
Per EuroLeague:
Milan-Real EuroLeague games and Brescia-Reyer EuroCup game to be played behind closed doors
The AX Armani Exchange Milan-Real Madrid game for Round 27 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season and the Germani Brescia Leonessa-Umana Reyer Venice game for Round 6 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 will be played behind closed doors.
Euroleague Basketball has taken this decision based on regulations applying World Health Organization and national administration guidelines that are currently in place in the Lombardy Region of Italy and in consultation with Euroleague Basketball’s Medical Officer. To guarantee the safety and security of participating players, coaches and referees, to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and to maintain the regularity of the competition the home team has set a special health security protocol for the game, while no individuals – including fans, VIPs, journalists nor additional club staff members – will be allowed to access the arenas. As a result, traditional media availability activities surrounding the game have also been cancelled. Only the minimum necessary individuals – including players, coaching staff, referees, unified scorers, TV production company personnel and arena operations staff – will be permitted access to the arenas. Euroleague Basketball will continue to monitor the situation in the Lombardy Region.