The past week has seen world football taken by the storm called COVID19, or more commonly, the Coronavirus.
The world has seen an extreme and unprecedented situation that obligates almost everyone involved in football to delay or cancel football activities. The Middle East was no different.
Therefore, I gathered a list that reflects the impact of Coronavirus on football in the region, country by country, east to west.
Iran:
A complete suspension of football activity in the country. Iran is one of the major victims of the virus, with above ten thousand infected and hundreds of casualties.
Iraq:
Suspension of football for two weeks, without the agreement of all teams. Iraqi football remains loyal to its essence even in times of crisis.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt:
All matches will be played behind closed doors.
Syria:
Suspended until further notice with immediate effect.
Israel:
A full suspension of all football activity until the end of March.
Morocco:
Matches are played behind closed doors, while the FA decided to withdraw from the forthcoming CHAN 2020 competition in Cameroon.
Tunisia:
Matches behind closed doors.
Algeria, Oman, Bahrain, Sudan:
All these leagues are currently running as usual with no impact of the virus.
Libya, Yemen, Lebanon:
Local leagues are'n’t functioning regularly due to security reasons.
With the Asian Football Confederation’s suspension of the forthcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers, there was a slight hope African football will remain unattached to the virus’s impact, but that isn’t the case.
On Friday afternoon, CAF (Confederacion Africaine du Football), announced that the AFCON 2021 Qualifications planned for the end of March are postponed until further notice.
Meanwhile, the football world is facing mega changes in schedule and plans as the virus, known as COVID-19, keeps spreading and attacks new countries and continents.
This thread will help you to find out which football scene was influenced and how: