As It Stands The Six Nations To Go Ahead Unchanged
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Officials met in Paris on Monday to consider whether more changes to the Six Nations calendar were needed as the number of infections and the death toll from the coronavirus mounts. The organizational leaders have decided not to move any of the other Six Nations' fixtures with Ireland v Italy the only game affected as it stands.
The remaining fixtures in the Championships were expected to go ahead as planned, although changes could not be ruled out amid efforts to contain the coronavirus, organisers said on Monday.
Unless governments monitoring the spread of the virus decide otherwise, the match between Ireland and Italy will be the only postponed match.
"This meeting is about taking stock and assessing rescheduling options," a spokeswoman told AFP.
"So far, apart from the Ireland v Italy match for our senior men's event, all matches are OK to take place but governments might decide otherwise and we need to be prepared for any eventuality."
The spokeswoman did not rule out further changes to the schedule.
UPDATE:
The Six Nations have since released the following statement:
"The Six Nations met today in Paris to address the current situation regarding the Covid19 Virus. Six Nations and its six unions and federations are following the situation very closely with their respective governments and relevant health authorities and will strictly follow any directive given that would impact sporting events.
As it stands today, based on the latest information, all Six Nations matches currently scheduled are set to go ahead.
Six Nations is in contact with FIR and RFU regarding the possibility of relocating the Women’s and U20 Italy vs England matches to another Italian location and we will make a further announcement on this in due course. However, the Italy vs England Senior Men’s match in Rome is planned to go ahead as scheduled.
Six Nations intends to complete all 15 games across all three Championships when time allows but we will refrain from making any rescheduling announcements for the time being while we keep assessing the situation."
Quotes via AFP