# Italy bans fans from all sporting events

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italy-bans-fans-from-all-sporting-events/848935>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [March 4, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italy-bans-fans-from-all-sporting-events/848935 "2020-03-04T21:55:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italy-bans-fans-from-all-sporting-events/848935/1 "2020-03-04T21:55:34Z")

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Until April 3rd , impacts all levels of sports

> **[No fans for month in Serie A due to coronavirus](https://www.espn.com/soccer/italian-serie-a/story/4066923/no-fans-at-serie-a-matchesitaly-sporting-events-until-april-3-due-to-coronavirus)**
>
> All sporting events in Italy will take place without fans present for at least the next month due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italy-bans-fans-from-all-sporting-events/848935/2 "2020-03-05T12:03:20Z")

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Will matches still be televised? Will Italians congregate at bars to watch sports on television?

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italy-bans-fans-from-all-sporting-events/848935/3 "2020-03-05T12:11:27Z")

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It’ll be like that White Sox-O’s game a few years back that was played in an empty stadium because of the Freddie Gray riots. It was really eerie, but also kind of cool. Wonder if it feels more like practice to the players.

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**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italy-bans-fans-from-all-sporting-events/848935/4 "2020-03-05T20:45:42Z")

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Strade Bianche was cancelled today, as well - major one day bike race. Milan San Remo (monument bike race) looking v doubtful as it’s only a couple of weeks away, and even the Giro must be under threat, although that is in May. I guess decisive action is needed.

Talk of playing the remaining English premier league games behind closed doors, but nothing official yin that direction - we haven’t seen that sort of preemptive action from the government concerning crowds of any sort yet.

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**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italy-bans-fans-from-all-sporting-events/848935/5 "2020-03-05T23:31:32Z")

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> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> Until April 3rd , impacts all levels of sports
> 
> [No fans at Serie A matches, Italy sporting events until April 3 due to coronavirus - ESPN](https://www.espn.com/soccer/italian-serie-a/story/4066923/no-fans-at-serie-a-matchesitaly-sporting-events-until-april-3-due-to-coronavirus)

I wonder why they went with April 3rd. It’s unlikely that the disease will be controlled by then.