THE GOVERNMENT IS coming under pressure to get sport played behind closed doors for a month, starting from this weekend.

For the last two weeks, department of health advisers have been in daily contact with the leading sports bodies in the country, instructing them to continue as normal until they are otherwise told.

Now backbench Fine Gael TDs are set to apply pressure on Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and health minister, Simon Harris, to take more severe action. Marc MacSharry, the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on sport, went further, saying the government has to act now.

Deputy MacSharry said: “There is no option but for the government to take drastic action. I know it is draconian and hugely frustrating for all of us who love sport.

“But I would rather be accused of overreacting than not acting at all. It was madness that flights were not cancelled coming in here from Italy when it became clear how widespread the virus was there.

“We have to be responsible. We have to act. We would rather be safe than sorry. We may be talking a month or two months of sport being played behind closed doors. Let’s not wait. Let’s keep out citizens safe because there are a lot of frightened people out there. Let’s do right by them.”

All around the world, a number of leading sports events have been either been postponed or moved behind closed doors. This afternoon the French FA announced that Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 games would be played in empty stadiums from this weekend up until April 15.

So far, the only significant games to have been postponed in Ireland because of the coronavirus have been the men’s, women’s and U20 international rugby games against Italy. Ireland’s Six Nations match in Paris was also postponed. The Ireland/Slovakia Euro 2020 play-off has also been moved behind closed doors.

Now TDs are also pressing for a blanket ban on spectators attending games in Ireland.

One Fine Gael TD told The42: “People are genuinely worried. This goes beyond sport. In all walks of life, people are concerned.

“We all have to play our part in that – and if that means sending sport behind closed doors then so be it. I know that will hit clubs in the pocket. But we’ll pay a bigger price if we wait any longer. The thinking is, shut things down for a month, then hopefully the worst of this crisis will be over.”

Similar decisions have already been taken by Slovakian, Greek, German, French, Spanish and Italian governments, making it almost inevitable that the Irish administration will follow suit at some point.

If it does happen here, then there will be severe financial implications for professional soccer and rugby teams, and also for inter-county GAA teams.

League of Ireland clubs, who are contractually obliged to pay their players throughout the season, would be severely hit by an absence of gate receipts, if a closed-door policy was imposed. It’s likely the players union, the PFAI, would appeal to the government to subsidise the players’ wages if there was a shutdown period.

From a GAA perspective, a closed-doors policy would be preferable to a blanket ban as a wave of postponements would, according to a leading GAA source, leave no room in the calendar for the Allianz National Leagues to be concluded. The GAA source insisted they would abide by any decision the government makes without question.

Rugby’s Champions Cup and Pro14 would also be impacted by a ban on fans – but a behind-closed-doors policy would, at least, allow them run off their fixtures.

The Fine Gael TD, who wished to stay anonymous, also said that legislation should be passed to ensure subscription TV sports channels are made free-to-air during any shutdown period, so that fans who miss out on seeing games live, could see them in their homes. Furthermore, the TD said there should be a blackout on games being screened in pubs.

He said: “We can’t ban people gathering in open-air stadiums and then allow them to watch matches in pubs or hotels. The whole point of a measure like this would be to keep people safe and stop the virus spreading. So, get the games free-to-air, let people watch them in their homes, stop them congregating, whether that’s at a ground or in a pub. We’re better off taking drastic measures now than in a month when it is too late.”