The coronavirus outbreak has forced England's Guinness Six Nations match at Italy on March 14 to be postponed.

There was the option to play the Rome encounter behind closed doors, but tournament organisers have chosen to reschedule it for later in the year, which will also be the case for the Ireland-Italy game due to be played this weekend and also postponed because of the spread of Covid-19.

In addition to this, the Women's Six Nations match between Italy and England in Padua on March 15 has been called off, following on from the previous postponements of the Italy-Scotland and Ireland-Italy games in the tournament.

General manager Alexandr Vinokurov said: "With this measurement, we have chosen to protect the health of our riders and staff and to take our responsibility for the society in not further spreading the virus.

"Of course, we would have preferred to participate in all upcoming races, but for now, it's safety first. We still have a long season ahead with many other important races. It was not an easy decision, but we have to protect the cycling family as well as our own families at home."

Meanwhile, FIFA has said it will formally propose postponing matches in the Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers following discussions with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Football's world governing body said in a statement: "For both FIFA and the AFC, the well-being and health of all individuals involved in football matches remains the highest priority, and as such, a formal proposal to postpone upcoming matches in the Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers will now be shared with the relevant member associations."