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Sport
Ricky Charlesworth

What Championship coronavirus suspension means for Leeds United and how it could affect promotion bid

The EFL has agreed to suspend all games until at least April 3 due to the continuing spread of the coronavirus. It's a move that has prompted a raft of questions about what happens next.

What fixtures have been affected?

The EFL has suspended all games until at least April 3, it confirmed today.

At least the next four Leeds games are being shelved.

This includes Sunday's scheduled trip to Cardiff (March 15), home games against Fulham (March 18) and Luton Town (March 21) and the away game at Blackburn Rovers (April 3).

When will those games now be played?

We don't know. It depends how the spread of the virus progresses over the coming weeks.

Will the rest of the season be played?

That's the plan, but again, it depends how the pandemic continues to unfold over the coming weeks.

We might get a clearer picture of what the contingency plans may be after Uefa's meeting on Tuesday about what is going to happen with this summer's planned Euro 2020 tournament.

The issue at the moment is that there is only so long games can keep being postponed without butting up on the start of Euro 2020, which is set for June 12.

If the tournament were to be cancelled or moved to 2021 - as reports have suggested it will be - then that would free up the summer months and at the very least leave open the possibility that the domestic season could resume at some point.

What will happen if the season can't resume?

That remains to be seen: it could be that the 2019/20 season is voided altogether, it could be that the current league tables are declared to be final, or there could be another solution altogether.

If the tables were to finish as they are now then it would suit Leeds quite nicely as Marcelo Bielsa' side are top of the Championship and would therefore likely be promoted to the Premier League.

However, a decision on this has yet to be decided by the league's governing body.

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