By Emre Asikci
ANKARA (AA) – The International Champions Cup tournament, a contest that includes several of the world's top football clubs, was canceled Saturday due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The lack of clarity of when social distancing and shelter-in-place restrictions will be lifted and the uncertain international football calendar, with the potential for European domestic leagues and UEFA tournaments being played into August, means planning a men’s International Champions Cup this summer is unfeasible," said tournament organizer Danny Sillman, CEO of the Relevent Sports Group.
He also said that they look forward to holding the cup next year.
This tournament is an annual club federation football exhibition competition. It features several clubs from Europe playing pre-season friendly matches, originally held in Canada and the U.S. and in the years since, also in venues in China, Australia, Mexico, and across Europe.
As of Saturday, the number of novel coronavirus cases worldwide topped 1.72 million, according to data compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.
According to the figures, since the emergence of the virus in Wuhan, China last December, nearly 105,000 people have died while about 390,000 have recovered.
