Big Italian League Matches Was Postponed Over Coronavirus

Inter Milan’s home game against Sampdoria is among four Serie A fixtures on Sunday postponed over fears of the spread of coronavirus.

The suspension was announced by Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte at a news conference on Saturday.

“Minister of Sport [Vincenzo] Spadafora intends to suspend all sporting events planned for Sunday in the Veneto and Lombardy regions,” Conte said.

Torino v Parma, Verona v Cagliari and Atalanta v Sassuolo are also suspended.

Antonio Conte’s side, who are third in Serie A, are due to host Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the return leg of their Europa League last-32 tie on Thursday.

More than 600 Ludogorets fans are expected to travel to Milan for the game and the club say they have made a formal enquiry to Uefa and Inter about the situation in the region.

In a statement, European football’s governing body Uefa said it is “in touch with Inter and with local authorities on the matter and there is no further comment to be made at this stage”.

Torino, who play in Turin, which is in the north-west region of Piedmont, announced their cancellation just hours before the match was due to kick off at 14:00 GMT.