Wolves wait to hear whether Olympiacos tie must be played behind closed doors
Wolves are hoping to learn in the next 24 hours whether Thursday’s Europa League match at Olympiacos must be played behind closed doors.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men are scheduled to travel to Athens for the first leg of their last-16 tie.
But fans may not be allowed into the Karaiskakis Stadium, after the Greek government decreed all sporting events must take place without spectators for the next two weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Olympiacos were on Sunday in discussions with both the Government and UEFA with more clarification on the situation expected today.
For the moment those Wolves supporters who have already booked tickets and travel for the match have been left in limbo as they await further news. It is understood the club had so far sold around 1,000 of their 1,500 ticket allocation.
There have so far been 73 confirmed cases of the covid-19 virus in Greece and the Government has ordered the closure of schools in addition to large public gatherings.
Meanwhile a patient in Wolverhampton became the fourth person in the UK to die from the disease.
Efforts to stop the spread of the virus has led to the disruption of sporting events across Europe, with Italy ordering all major sporting events to be played behind closed doors for the next month.
In the UK, sports governing bodies and broadcasters have been called to a meeting on Monday with the government to discuss staging events should the outbreak worsen.
The Premier League and EFL have already banned pre-match handshakes between teams and officials, which has now also been extended to UEFA fixtures.
Several clubs have also instructed players not to sign autographs or take selfies with supporters.
Should Thursday's match were to be played behind closed doors it would be the second time during the Europa League campaign Wolves supporters have been locked out of an away fixture.
October’s trip to Slovan Bratislava was also ordered to be played behind closed doors after the Slovakian club were punished for racist chanting by UEFA.
Yet on that occasion the attendance topped more than 21,000, most of them children, after tickets were gifted to local football clubs and schools as per UEFA regulations. Around 200 Wolves fans were permitted into the ground using category one tickets.
