Professional football in England suspended until early April due to coronavirus
Sunday 15 March 2020 15:02, UK
England's friendlies with Italy and Denmark have been postponed by The FA with professional English football postponed until April due to coronavirus.
Gareth Southgate's side had been due to play Italy at Wembley on March 27 and Denmark four days later as they warm up for Euro 2020, but both games fall within the postponement dates announced by the FA on Friday.
As it stands, there will be little time to fit the fixtures into a busy end of season schedule for the Premier League, although the current schedule pile-up may impact on the date of the final day of the domestic season, which is currently due to be May 17.
A statement read: "The FA, Premier League, EFL and FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship have collectively agreed to postpone the professional game in England until 3 April at the earliest.
"It will also apply to all England team fixtures at every level and all FA competitions including the FA Cup and the Women's FA Cup, along with academy and youth-team matches.
"With respect to the senior men's fixtures against Italy and Denmark at Wembley Stadium, refunds will be processed to all ticket buyers within 14 working days. Monies will be returned to the card used to make the original booking."
Euro 2020 itself is also in doubt with UEFA due to meet on Tuesday, with the competition expected to be delayed from its original start date on June 12.
As it stands, England's first game of the finals is due to be against Croatia on June 14 at Wembley, with two more warm-up fixtures, against Austria on June 2 and Romania on June 7 both scheduled.
