Covid: Welsh professional sport to continue during circuit-breaker lockdown
Last updated on .From the section Wales
Wales' leading professional sports teams will be allowed to continue playing despite the country entering into a national "firebreak" lockdown.
However, elite athletes in sports such as boxing, gymnastics, judo, swimming and athletics who live and train in Wales will see programmes suspended.
The measure announced on Monday is designed to provide a circuit-breaker to the spread of Covid-19.
It will run from Friday, 23 October until Monday, 9 November.
A Welsh Government statement said: "Sportspeople who work and earn a living through sport are allowed to continue working.
"Fixtures involving professional sportspeople are allowed to continue behind closed doors. All participants, such as players, officials, coaches, and broadcasters, are there in a working capacity.
"Like everyone else they can leave home to do so if they cannot work from home.
"However, the elite programme, overseen by Sport Wales, will be suspended during this circuit breaker period."
That means Wales' rugby union Tests in Paris this Saturday and at home against Scotland in Llanelli a week later on 31 October, plus the Pro14 games involving Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets will go ahead. BBC Sport Wales is seeking clarity about Wales women's remaining home Six Nations match against Scotland on 1 November.
Likewise, Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County and Wrexham who play in the English Football League and the National League can fulfil their fixtures, while Wales women's European qualifying match against Norway on 27 October at Cardiff City Stadium can also go ahead.
The domestic Cymru Premier is thought to come under the Sport Wales elite programme and as such could see football fixtures postponed, although BBC Sport Wales is awaiting confirmation from the league.
But sportsmen and women based in Wales who are looking towards realistic ambitions in the Olympics in Tokyo next year and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 will have their competition or training disrupted for more than a fortnight.
Golf and tennis clubs, plus swimming pools and leisure centres will also be required to close during the period of the lockdown.
All community, amateur sport and training is to be suspended during the fire-break lockdown.
