Alpine skiing: Women's World Cup event to go ahead in Italy

[February 26, 2020]    (Reuters) - The women's World Cup alpine skiing races at La Thuile in Italy's Aosta valley are to go ahead as planned, but with a limited number of spectators, because the area has not been affected by the coronavirus outbreak, organizers said on Wednesday.

More than 30 new cases were been reported in Italy's two worst-hit regions overnight taking the total to over 320, officials said. The death toll remained unchanged at 11.

The Italian government has banned sporting events in six regions of the country but will allow Serie A soccer matches to be played behind closed doors at the weekend.

"This does not apply to Valle d'Aosta, the region where La Thuile is located, where no cases of coronavirus infection have been recorded," said the Italian winter sports federation (FISI) in a statement. "As a result, we can confirm that the meeting will go ahead as planned."

It said the crowd would be limited "to safeguard public health" but did not give further details. It added that the Italian team and their staff would be subjected to health checks.

La Thuile, which lies near the borders with France and Switzerland, will stage a Super G race on Saturday and combined race on Sunday.

(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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