Due to the existence of the EU Schengen Agreement, residents of 26 countries in the Schengen area can move freely, so the severe epidemic in Italy puts the entire Europe and the upcoming European Cup at the same time.
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “Lazy Bear Sports” (ID: lanxiongsports) , Author: Li Jinglin.
108 days before the opening of the 2020 European Cup, the epidemic in Italy has plagued Europe as a whole.
2020 is a big year for sports. The European Cup and the Olympic Games will take place this summer in turns. Just as people were eagerly looking forward to the sports feast, a sudden epidemic disrupted all the steps.
The outbreak from Wuhan soon spread to our neighbor Japan. Due to the sharp increase in the number of infected people, Tokyo’s ability to continue hosting the Olympic Games has also been questioned. Even last week, Sean Bailey, a Mayoral candidate for the British Conservative Party, said that London could host Japan’s 2020 Olympics instead of Japan.
In the history of the Olympic Games, there has never been a precedent for a host to change because of an epidemic. On February 26, Beijing time, according to the Associated Press, Dick Bond, senior member of the International Olympic Committee, said that if Japan ’s new crown pneumonia epidemic is not under control before May, Tokyo originally scheduled to open on July 24 The Olympic Games will face the possibility of being cancelled. Although the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee have responded, saying that the preparations for the Olympic Games are proceeding as planned, and Pound’s words only represent his personal views, the spreading epidemic has brought haze to the Tokyo Olympics.
In fact, the final fate of the Tokyo Olympics may have to wait for the epidemic to develop.
As East Asia spread, the epidemic spread to Europe, and Italy became the most affected country outside Asia. The whole of Europe is in danger, and the European Cup is coming soon,Also marked with a question mark.
The European Cup is scheduled to open on June 13th, which is more urgent than the Olympics. If, according to Pound, Tokyo has two or three months to buffer, there will be less time left for UEFA.
As of February 26, local time, 323 cases of new coronary pneumonia have been confirmed in Italy, and 11 people have died. At present, nine of the 20 Italian regions (Italy’s first-level administrative regions) have confirmed cases. Most of these nine regions are located in northern Italy and connected to continental Europe.
Under the epidemic, both the Serie A and the European War have been affected to varying degrees, especially the Milan doubles and Juventus in northern Italy. Inter and Ludogorec’s UEFA Europa League match will be held empty; Serie A round 26 (this weekend) will also have five games empty, including Juventus vs. Inter Milan ’s “Italian National Derby” “.
In the early morning of this (26th), Naples’ home Champions League match against Barcelona was held normally. Naples, located in southern Italy, has not been affected by the epidemic for the time being, but many fans have already put on masks during the game. Tomorrow morning Juventus will go to Lyon, France, to challenge Lyon away. Although the game can be held as usual, the visit of the Italians has brought some concerns to the local French. The chiefs of Lyon’s two districts expressed their dislike for the Italian team.
Italy has become the worst-hit area in Europe. If it is not controlled in time, it will have a direct impact on the European Cup after 108 days.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Cup, this competition has changed its tradition and will be jointly organized by 12 countries and 13 cities. The opening game was at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, the Italian capital. During the European Cup, as the representative of Italy, Rome will host four games (three group matches and a quarter-final).
At present, with the exception of Italy, there are only 51 cases of infection and 1 death in other countries. In addition to Serie A, the five major European leagues have also maintained normal operations.
If the epidemic does not affect other countries, changing the host city may be a feasible solution. According to UEFA regulations, the capacity of the stadium for the group stage must be more than 50,000, and the capacity for the quarter-final stadium must be more than 60,000. European football infrastructure is relatively complete, and the number of stadiums that can reach the standard is not small. Even if there is no new match city, London as the host city will be similar to the new Wembley Stadium.Emirates Stadium and London Olympic Stadium can meet the requirements of UEFA.
Of course, the above method is only theoretically feasible. In actual operation, it is necessary to weigh the development of the epidemic and the actual situation of UEFA and the host city.
If the epidemic does not control the spread throughout Europe in a timely manner, so that the European Cup will be held as scheduled, this will be a result people do not want to see.
▲ The European Cup finals are held at the new Wembley Stadium in London.
On the 26th, Michel Uva, an Italian member of the UEFA Executive Committee, said: “At present we are closely monitoring the situation in various countries. If the epidemic continues to spread, the European Cup may be closed.”
Closed or open? The economic loss will be huge.
In June 2019, the first stage of the European Cup application for tickets has begun. According to data released by UEFA, in the first week after the application was opened, more than 4.5 million euros from 190 countries were received. Application. Throughout the European Cup, there will be more than 3 million tickets available for fans worldwide to buy.
According to Forbes, UEFA aims to generate 2.5 billion euros in revenue in the 2020 European Cup and it is expected that profits will exceed 1 billion euros. The European Cup will also stimulate the local economy of the host city, with four games held in one stadium, which is expected to bring more than 100 million euros in revenue.
The UEFA sponsors include Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Hisense. If the European Cup is cancelled, it will also be a heavy blow to the sponsors who invested heavily in the early stage.
But from the current situation of the epidemic, the situation is indeed not optimistic.
The most severely affected area in Italy is Lombardy. There are currently 240 confirmed cases and up to 9 deaths. Lombardy is one of the largest regions in Italy. It gathers 1/6 of the country’s population, and its capital, Milan, is the largest city in Italy. The northern part of Lombardy borders Switzerland.
Apart from Italy, confirmed cases have occurred in many European countries, many of which are related to Italy. A Barcelona woman was diagnosed on the 25th and she had been traveling in northern Italy for the past few days. Confirmed cases of travel experience in Italy have also occurred in Austria, Croatia, and France. The outbreak appears to have spread from Italy to Europe.
Because of the existence of the EU Schengen AgreementResidents of 26 countries in the Schengen area can move freely, and tourists with a Schengen visa in any country can travel with them unhindered. On the 25th, health ministers from six neighboring countries of Italy convened a meeting and said they would not close the border with Italy. An EU spokesman said that the Schengen countries were allowed to close their borders for security reasons, but no country has taken such measures at this time. The French health minister said the border blockade was unnecessary and that countries would act together. This move has caused a lot of doubt on Chinese social media. According to China’s experience in this epidemic prevention, people seem to think that such actions by the EU countries are tantamount to letting the virus spread.
From the perspective of epidemiological research, identifying “Patient Zero” is an important part of preventing further spread of the epidemic, especially at the beginning of the epidemic. “Patient Zero” refers to the first person infected with the virus in the epidemic. Locking “Patient Zero” can help people sort out the chain of infection and trace back to close contacts. However, the Italian side has not yet made a breakthrough in tracking the “patient zero.”
In mid-February, the first confirmed Italian patient appeared in Lombardy. The 38-year-old male is a researcher at Unilever. Before the diagnosis, he participated in the marathon and played football. About 150 cases were related to him. However, this person has not been to China. Although he had eaten with a colleague who returned from Shanghai to Italy, the colleague’s nucleic acid test result was negative, which means that he is not a “patient zero”.
Following “Patient Zero” failed to bring a worrying result-the spread of the virus in Italy could have occurred earlier. This has brought more uncertainty and difficulties to the Italian epidemic prevention and control.
In fact, as early as January 31, the Italian authorities responded to the outbreak of China and suspended all flights to and from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. On the 22nd, Italian authorities ordered the closure of 11 towns in Lombardy, Veneto and other places, closed schools, and suspended crowd gathering activities such as fashion week and sports competitions.
▲ Italy blocked towns / Image source CNN.
The grim situation in Italy has strained the whole of Europe. On Monday morning, the Frankfurt stock market’s DAX index fell by 3,26%, and the London stock market fell by 2.65%. Paris CAC 40 also opened 3,03% lower on Monday. Milan’s stock market plummeted by 4,17%.
At the time of release of Rilakkuma SportsA total of 384 cases have been confirmed across Europe.
According to the experience of Wuhan, even South Korea and Japan, the routes of infection and infectivity of the new coronavirus are very amazing. In just two days, the number of confirmed cases in South Korea increased by more than 300. In Italy, the number of infections has soared from double digits to 323 in just a few days.
According to the report of the National Health Commission of China, the newly confirmed cases on the 24th and 25th of the country except Hubei were single digits for two consecutive days. China seems to survive the toughest times. But Japan and South Korea and Europe have just begun the war.
The fate of the Tokyo Olympics and the 2020 European Cup is, to a large extent, in the hands of the governments of Japan and European countries that dominate epidemic prevention and control.