Manchester United’s Europa League match at LASK on Thursday could be played behind closed doors due to fears over the coronavirus outbreak.

Austrian health minister Rudolf Anschober reportedly said on Tuesday that all outdoor events in the country with more than 500 people would be cancelled until mid-April.

The PA news agency understands UEFA has been in contact with both clubs, as well as local and national authorities, ahead of the last-16 first leg in Linz, where local media has suggested the match will be played without supporters.

LASK said in a statement posted on their English Twitter feed: “Health Minister Anschober says that football matches will still go ahead meaning that no @EuropaLeague or @OEFBL games will be cancelled, but may be played behind closed doors.”

Austrian Bundesliga chairman Christian Ebenbauer told www.oefbl.at: “Of course we all prefer to watch atmospheric games with many spectators, but we are experiencing an exceptional situation across the country.

“We fully trust the experts responsible and of course implement the measures to protect the population. Like other organisers, these measures are associated with massive organisational and financial challenges for us and our clubs.

“It’s about missing revenue from ticketing, gastronomy, merchandising and the entire value chain such as service providers and sponsors.

“We want games with viewers, both for economic and mood reasons and above all in terms of sporting fairness. With this in mind, we will exhaust all possibilities and only consider games behind closed doors when there are no other options.”

Indian Wells is the first Premier Mandatory event of the WTA season and is a Masters 1000 event on the men’s tour.

World Snooker confirmed that the attendance in the arena for the Gibraltar Open would be limited to 100 people as a precautionary measure.

The organisers of rugby union’s European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions, EPCR, say the quarter-final ties scheduled for the weekend of April 3-5 are still set to go ahead.

Lancashire County Cricket Club have announced pre-season trips to Dubai and Potchefstroom in South Africa have been cancelled on the advice of relevant health authorities. The club say they are finalising alternative plans on home soil.

The International Judo Federation, meanwhile, has cancelled all Olympic qualification events on the calendar until April 30.