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Following a French ban on public gatherings exceeding 1,000 attendees in the wake of the coronavirus, Zénith Paris, the venue of Paris Eternal’s upcoming home games, is canceling or postponing all events taking place on-site until April 15. That’s three days after the Parisian Overwatch League team’s homestand weekend was scheduled to take place.
On March 8, French minister of health Olivier Véran issued a ministerial decree banning events or gatherings with more than 1,000 people in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease. Only events deemed to be “useful to the nation,” such as protests and ones related to public transportation, will be allowed to take place.
“Consequently, producers of shows are forced either to postpone or cancel all the events planned at the Zénith de Paris – La Villette until April 15, 2020,” the venue said in today’s announcement. “The whole team is mobilized and we will get back to you as soon as we have the instructions to allow us to give you reliable and complete information for each show.”
Paris Eternal confirmed its April 11 and 12 home games will be canceled. There is currently no word on if the matches will be rescheduled for a later date.
This isn’t the first time the Overwatch League has had to deal with cancelations, however. Earlier in the year, the league canceled homestands set to take place in China due to rising concerns over the coronavirus, including the Shanghai Dragons home games scheduled during week two. Later in the month, the league canceled all March games set to take place in South Korea, including Seoul Dynasty’s homestand and the makeup games from the previously cancelled Chinese matches.
France has confirmed over 1,600 cases of COVID-19 and 30 disease-related deaths. Worldwide cases have soared to 116,000 with death tolls reaching over 4,000.
Update 3/11/2020 at 12pm CT: Paris Eternal confirmed its April 11 and 12 home games will be canceled. There is currently no word on if the matches will be rescheduled for a later date.
