Italy and Juventus defender Daniele Rugani became the first top-flight player to test positive for COVID-19 as the escalating concerns about the spread of the deadly virus led to more mayhem in European football on Wednesday. 

Juventus, whose star-studded squad boasts five-time world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, confirmed in a statement that Rugani has fallen victim to the coronavirus and "is currently asymptomatic," but the club is "currently activating all the isolation procedures required by law, including those who have had contact with him." 

Rugani has spent the last seven years at Juventus apart from a two-year loan spell at Empoli. He has played just three league games this season, most recently against Brescia on February 16 and SPAL on February 22.

The 25-year-old was on the bench in Lyon for the Champions League last 16, first-leg clash on February 26 in France and the team's last game against Inter Milan in Serie A on March 8. 

Juventus had held a training session earlier on Wednesday but the Turin giants stressed that Ronaldo did not take part as he had traveled to Madeira and would remain there "awaiting developments related to the current health emergency."

Inter, meanwhile, announced later in the day that "all competitive activities have been suspended until further notice" as a result of Rugani's positive test. "The club is currently taking steps to put all the necessary procedures into place," read a statement. 

Italy's 60 million residents are in lockdown in a desperate bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus that has killed 827 in the country and infected 12,000 people, including several Serie C players.

Bundesliga sealed off 

Elsewhere in Germany, second division club Hanover 96 revealed that defender Timo Huebers had tested positive for COVID-19. The club's full squad and training staff were being tested as a precaution. 

"As soon as he found out that someone with whom he had been at an event was tested positive, Timo went straight to the doctor and put himself into isolation," said Hanover's sporting director Gerhard Zuber. 

Due to the worsening coronavirus situation, RB Leipzig became the last Bundesliga side to announce that they would hold their weekend clash with Freiburg behind closed doors.  

It means that all weekend Bundesliga games will be played without fans after similar announcements involving title rivals Bayern Munich and Moenchengladbach earlier on Wednesday. 

On Sunday, German health minister Jens Spahn called for all events with more than 1,000 people to be canceled "until further notice." But the decision to close stadium doors rests ultimately with regional authorities and is made on a case-by-case basis. 

Other games affected in North-Rhine Westphalia this week include the Ruhr derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke and the Rhine derby between Moenchengladbach and Cologne. 

The latter game, scheduled for Wednesday night, will be the first in the history of the German league to be played without fans.

Europa League in limbo

In addition, Spain's Copa del Rey final, due to be played on April 18, was called off and French media reported that the League Cup final between Paris St Germain and Olympique Lyonnais had also been postponed. 

Spain was due to hold a meeting on Thursday to decide whether La Liga matches, which are to be played behind closed doors for at least two weeks, should be postponed altogether following a request from the players' union. 

UEFA was forced to call off Thursday's Europa League round of 16 first-leg matches between Inter Milan and Getafe at San Siro and Sevilla against AS Roma at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium. 

AS Roma said they could not travel after the Spanish government banned flights from Italy while Getafe refused to go to Milan, saying they were prepared forfeit the tie.  

With the second legs due to be played next week, it is unclear how the ties will be resolved. "There is the possibility that the tie will be played as a one-off match on a neutral ground," said the Getafe Director General, Clemente Villaverde. "In any case we will accept whatever decision is taken by UEFA." 

Wolfsburg's game against Shakhtar Donetsk will be played behind closed doors, as will the match between Olympiakos and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Greece. 

On Tuesday it was announced that Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis – also the owner of English club Nottingham Forest – had tested positive for coronavirus. He said he was taking "all necessary measures" and "feeling well."

Wolves asked that the match be postponed, but said on Tuesday night that UEFA had rejected that request. "Our position is that the trip poses unnecessary risks to our players, staff, supporters and the families of all who travel, at such critical and uncertain times," Wolves said. 

Manchester United's game away to LASK Linz in Austria will also be played behind closed doors in line with the guidance of the Austrian government. The news will be a disappointment to supporters of the Austrian club hoping to see their team spring a surprise. 

That leaves just two matches set to take place before a crowd: Istanbul Basaksehir against FC Copenhagen in Turkey, and Rangers against Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox. 

Leverkusen have already announced that the return leg next week "was set to be played behind closed doors" after health officials in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia called for events bringing together more than 1,000 people to be postponed.

International ramifications 

North Macedonia's federation said it had written to UEFA asking for a postponement of their team's Euro 2020 playoff match at home to Kosovo on March 26. 

Besides a government ban on spectators, the federation said there was a potential problem with players arriving from countries in a high-risk zone being ordered into quarantine. 

North Macedonia have three Italian-based players – Ilija Nestorovski, Elif Elmas and Goran Pandev – while Kosovo's Amir Rrahmani, who plays for Verona, would also be affected. 

Chile's health minister said that top players Alexis Sanchez, based in Italy, and Arturo Vidal, based in Spain, would both be quarantined if they returned home for this month's World Cup qualifiers. Several other Chilean players are also based in Italy and Spain. 

The opening two rounds of the South American competition are due to take place this month. Chile's first home game is against Colombia on March 31, although there was no mention of whether the quarantine would apply to Colombian players. 

Argentina's government has banned all international sporting events this month, although the national team's World Cup qualifier at home to Ecuador on March 26 is not affected at this stage. Argentina and Colombia are due to jointly host the Copa America in June and July. 

South American governing body CONMEBOL said it had been asked many questions about the qualifiers but emphasized that the final decision lay with FIFA. 

(With input from agencies)