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Manchester City-Arsenal Match Delayed After Greek Team’s Owner Contracts Virus

The league added that it has no plans to postpone any other matches.

Manchester City-Arsenal Match Delayed After Greek Team’s Owner Contracts Virus
The interior of the City of Manchester Stadium, the home ground for Manchester City football club, in Manchester, U.K.

(Bloomberg) -- A Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal on Wednesday has been postponed after it was announced that the owner of a Greek team who recently played Arsenal has contracted the novel coronavirus.

Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis met Arsenal players and staff after a match at Emirates Stadium 13 days ago. It was announced this week that Marinakis has contracted coronavirus by Nottingham Forest, a U.K. team that he also owns.

Manchester City-Arsenal Match Delayed After Greek Team’s Owner Contracts Virus

“Following medical advice, Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC consider it is necessary to postpone their fixture due to be played this evening, Wednesday 11 March, to give time to fully assess the situation,” the Premier League said in a statement.

The league added that it has no plans to postpone any other matches.

The match delay comes as sports leagues around the world cope with the coronavirus outbreak. U.S. professional leagues have banned outsiders from locker rooms, while some NHL and NBA teams have pushed back against official’s recommendations to keep fans out of stadiums. Japan’s Olympics minister has also said it is possible that the games in Tokyo this summer could be theoretically be postponed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Max Zimmerman in Tokyo at mzimmerman90@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Niluksi Koswanage at nkoswanage@bloomberg.net

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