Getafe refuse to travel to Italy for Europa League match against Inter Milan

Getafe set to stay home and not travel to Italy for Europa League match due to the COVID-19 threat.

Getafe became one of the first sides to refuse to travel because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Their president came out and said that they will not fly to Italy to take on Inter Milan in the Europa League.

According to Diario AS, President Angel Torres said,

"“Unless it changes a lot before the morning, Getafe will not travel to Milan. We have asked UEFA to look for an alternative venue for the Milan game,” he said.“We don’t want to go into the middle of the coronavirus, we don’t need to. We have asked for help too from the Spanish federation to demand that the game be suspended.”"

Torres went on to say that he does not care if their failure to show up means that they forfeit the tie. He does not want his team to take unnecessary risks.

This comes after Serie A decided to suspend the league until April 3 because of the outbreak.

The match between Getafe and Inter Milan was scheduled to take place behind closed doors it makes little sense to still play a Europa League match considering the domestic league was put on hold.

But Getafe is not the only team who will not travel for a Europa League match.

According to The Guardian, the match between AS Roma and Sevilla is set to be postponed after their flight from Italy was not authorized to land.

Matches all over Europe are beginning to be suspended or gone ahead without any supporters. Getafe were one of the first teams to flat-out refuse to travel despite the consequences their stand might have.

Given how quickly COVID-19 has spread, clubs are going to think twice before traveling because of it. It will be up to UEFA to decide how to handle this situation because teams are going to put the health of their players and staff ahead of a competition.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.