Coronavirus in sport LIVE: Grand National CANCELLED, Young football coach dies in Spain, and Premier League – The Sun, Thesun.co.uk

CORONAVIRUS NEWS

The Grand National became the latest major sporting event to be cancelled on Monday evening.

The Jockey Club admitted that the April 4 horse race could not go ahead following a government update on mass gatherings.

They stated: “Following the Government’s new public health guidance regarding avoiding social contact and stopping non-essential travel, and its statement that emergency services are withdrawn from supporting mass gatherings from tomorrow, the Jockey Club has decided that it is no longer appropriate to stage the event. ”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke beforehand about his need to divert emergency services away from such events to help the coronavirus crisis.

He said: “We will no longer be supporting mass gatherings with emergency workers as we would normally do.

“Mass gatherings we are now moving emphatically away from.”

Also biting the dust is the Oxford-Cambridge boat race.

The famous university match-up has not been called off since World War 2 but organizers accepted the “unprecedented situation our country and each of us as individuals faces” in cancelling this year Thames trip.

One of the surprise sights of the weekend was the National League matches taking place in football’s sixth-tier.

But they have now called a halt to matches until April.

A statement read: “The National League will continue to monitor the situation, but trusts that its loyal clubs, fans, players, officials, staff, volunteers and sponsors will accept that it has had no other choice but to reach this decision. ”

Elsewhere, the Olympic boxing qualifiers due to take place in London this week are also off.

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• Jamie Gordon
  • (hours ago) (th March)

    MAN DOWN

    The Isle of Man TT is also off this year after organizers weighed up the risk to the public.

    The Isle of Man’s Minister for Enterprise Laurence Skelly MHK, said: “The decision to cancel has not been taken lightly and all options including postponement and delaying the decision have been considered in detail.

    “Representatives from the Isle of Man Government will now discuss the implications with all relevant businesses, businesses and individuals affected by this cancellation, which it recognises will be significant.

    “With the visitor restriction in place for the foreseeable future we wanted to make the decision now to give businesses, visitors and all involved shares time to manage the impact going forward.

    “The Isle of Man and Isle of Man TT are faced with unique challenges regarding COVID – and making this decision will provide certainty to teams, competitors, sponsors and residents of the event and to visitors across the globe.

    “The decision also aims to provide reassurance for our residents and healthcare professionals that the health and well-being of the Isle of Man’s residents is the single biggest priority and focus of this Government.”

    
    Jamie Gordon

    hours ago

    (th March)
    

    ANOTHER CANCELLATION

    Nascar is the latest sport to call off events and there will be no races until May 3 at the earliest.

    Today has seen another raft of postponements as the world gets to grips with the crisis, although there are reports the Chinese Super League is preparing to return to action

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