Shanghai Sports Federation suspends all sporting events casting doubt on F1 Grand Prix

The Shanghai Sports Federation has recommended that all sports events in China’s largest city be suspended until the ongoing Coronavirus epidemic is declared over, putting several sporting events at risk of cancellation or postponement.

The suspension could impact Formula 1’s Grand Prix of China, which is currently scheduled to take place in Shanghai on the weekend of 17th to 19th April.

With China’s General Administration of Sport having previously advised rights-holders to consider cancelling all events as far as the end of March, F1 organisers had remained hopeful its Grand Prix will be able to go ahead as planned.

Amid concerns that the virus is continuing to spread and that events further into the year will be impacted, F1 managers are due to meet later this week to discuss options for the race.

The Shanghai Sports Federation said in a statement that it intends to “strictly implement the requirement that the municipal sports bureau no longer organise events during the epidemic” and has advised organisers and rights-holders planning to host events in the city to “suspend all sports events until the epidemic is over”.

It added “organisations should also implement a daily hygiene management system and strengthen health education to urge employees to protect themselves.”

Earlier this week, Formula E cancelled its race in Sanya, which had been set for 21st March, while World Athletics has postponed its world indoor championships, scheduled to take place in Nanjing on 13th to 15th March. World Snooker Tour also confirmed on 31st January that the China Open, set to take place in Beijing between 30th March and 5th April, would be postponed.

Today, it was confirmed that 12 Asian Football Confederation Champions League games involving Chinese teams due to take place in the coming weeks were to be postponed, while several other major events have been affected.

Concerns about the Coronavirus have seen all of Macau’s 41 casinos close down for two weeks as of midday today, in efforts to contain the spread of the virus.