All sporting activity in Italy suspended until April 3 due to coronavirus outbreak, Olympic Committee confirms

The Italian Olympic Committee has announced it has suspended all sports in the country until April 3.

The move comes after an outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy, where there has been 366 deaths and over 7,000 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus.

The suspension includes postponing all matches in Serie A but does not cover Italian clubs or national teams competing in continental competitions such as the Champions League.

A definitive answer is expected in the next 24 hours over whether the rugby league match between Catalans Dragons and Leeds, due to be played on Saturday, will go ahead.

The organisers of rugby union's European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions, EPCR, say the quarter-final ties scheduled for the weekend of April 3-5 are still set to go ahead.

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