The Government is considering banning sporting events in the United Kingdom but will not do so yet.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the country is now moving into the next stage of its planning to combat the spread of coronavirus.

That could include cancelling large gatherings in the near future, although the main reason for doing that would be to ease the burden on public services.

Mr Johnson said at a press conference: "We are considering banning major public events like sporting fixtures.

"The scientific advice is this has little effect on the spread - but it does place a burden on other public services."

Speaking alongside Mr Johnson, Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser, offered a further explanation of why stopping big events would not necessarily work.

He said: "On average, one person infects two or three others.

"You therefore have a very low probability of infecting a large number of people in a stadium and a rather higher probability of infecting people very close to you.

"And that means that most of the transmission actually tends to take place with friends and colleagues and those in close environments - and not in the big environments."

Sporting fixtures around the world, however, have continued to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with many cancelled, including Champions League games, ATP tennis events and most major American sport. 

European football's governing body, UEFA, will also give major consideration to delaying this summer's Euro 2020 tournament until next year.

The body has a meeting of its 55 member associations next week to discuss options for all its competitions, including the Champions League, Europa League and Euros. It is understood all possibilities, including moving the Euros or changing its format, will be considered.

Already next week's Manchester City v Real Madrid and Juventus v Lyon Champions League matches have been postponed, as has "at least" the next two rounds of matches in Spain's LaLiga.