South American World Cup qualifiers postponed over coronavirus travelling restrictions

The World Cup qualifiers set to take place this month across South America have been suspended amid concern over the coronavirus pandemic and strict quarantine restrictions.

A double-header for 10 South American nations were scheduled across March 25, 26 and 30, including Brazil's games against Argentina and Colombia, and the River Plate derby between Argentina and Uruguay.

All 10 countries feature on the UK government's "red list" travel ban, which does not include exemptions for athletes and sportspeople. Any UK-based players who went to South America would face 10 days in hotel quarantine on return.

As such, Premier League teams were expected to prevent their players from travelling so Conmebol have postponed the fixtures.

"The decision is due to the impossibility...of counting on all the South American players," the Paraguay-based confederation said in a statement.

"Fifa will analyse the rescheduling of the round in coordination with Conmebol and the members associations."

Additional reporting by Reuters.