Norway have told UEFA that they will blank the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Serbia as the global threat of the coronavirus pandemic takes hold.
With nearly 1,000 cases of Covid-19 confirmed, the governing body has seen fit to suspend all football until April.
All schools and universities have been shut until further notice and strong travel restrictions for departures and arrivals have been imposed.
And the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) has clarified that they will not play the fixture on March 26th given the situation in the country, and the fact Serbia’s players would be subject to a period of quarantine on their arrival into the country.
NFF secretary Pal Bjerketvedt “We are not planning for an international match at Ullevaal Stadium that day (March 26th).
“We have informed UEFA of this, with reference to the orders of the Norwegian authorities.
“An extension of the quarantine provisions last Thursday also means that most of the players in question will be quarantined on arrival in Norway for fourteen days and thus be unable to play in the international.”
The winners of the game in Oslo had been due to face the victors of Scotland’s tie against Israel five days later.
However, Bjerketvedt insists the only question now is whether the playoffs will be postponed or cancelled altogether.
He added: “What the NFF has no control over is whether the match on March 26 - the play-off round and the European Championship - will be canceled or postponed.
“We will only know this after a clarification in a telephone conference in UEFA on Tuesday 17th March.”
