European Cricket League cancelled after Coronavirus outbreak

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London, March 19: Following a Spanish government directive to ban mass gatherings amid growing fears about the transmission of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the European Cricket League (ECL) has been forced to postpone the second-staging of the tournament until 2021.

ECL20 was scheduled to start on May 31 at La Manga Club in Spain, featuring 16 champion clubs from 15 different countries spread over eight days. Over 300 players and officials were due to travel to Spain for the event with thousands of fans also expected to attend from all over Europe.

However, a State of Emergency has been declared by the Government of Spain and further restrictions have been introduced by Murcia regional government due to the spread of the Coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization, Europe is now the epicenter of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

ECL Founder Daniel Weston said: "Pending further developments related to the pandemic, we are forced to make this decision to safeguard the health and well-being of fans, players, officials, teams, media members, staff and the general public. Clearly, the current situation is beyond anybody's reasonable control, forcing this sensible and swift decision to be made in the interests of public health. We are very mindful of the understandable government concerns regarding travel and public events and must play our part in keeping everyone safe and healthy."

Juan Carlos Rodriguez, President of Cricket Espana and International Cricket Council (ICC) General Assembly member supported the rescheduling: "Cricket Espana and the European Cricket League take public health matters very seriously and must take all necessary steps to ensure that everyone has a safe cricketing experience, including teams, stakeholders, sponsors, fans and partners."

The organisers envisage staging the next ECL from May 30-June 6, 2021. Further details on qualification for next year's event will be determined by ECL management after consultation with each respective cricket Federation.