South American football's governing body CONMEBOL on Thursday suspended the next round of Copa Libertadores fixtures due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
The Copa Libertadores is the South American equivalent of Europe's Champions League, although the 2020 edition only began in January and is still at the group stage.
"Committed to the prevention of COVID-19 and faced with the risk of its spread, and to safeguard delegates, referees, officials, press and fans, (CONMEBOL) has taken the decision to suspend the 2002 Copa Libertadores matches in the week of March 15-21," said the governing body in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, FIFA accepted a request from CONMEBOL to postpone two upcoming rounds of South American qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Latin American countries have been stepping up measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Several countries have announced two-week isolation periods on travelers arriving from the worst affected countries, while others have closed schools or banned festivities.
Costa Rica has suspended its football league while Argentina has called off its MotoGP in April as well as the South American Swimming Championships, an Athletics Grand Prix meeting, the Fencing World Cup and an Olympic boxing qualification tournament.
Brazil's Flamengo are the reigning Libertadores champions following a dramatic 2-1 victory over then-holders River Plate of Argentina in last year's final in Lima.
World Cup qualifiers called off
FIFA has delayed upcoming South American World Cup qualifiers due to the coronavirus crisis, world football's governing body announced on Thursday.
"Matches originally scheduled to take place during the international window of 23-31 March 2020 are postponed to later dates," FIFA revealed.
The decision follows a request from CONMEBOL, South American football's governing body, to FIFA on Wednesday, to restage the matches at a later date.
The CONMEBOL letter said it expressed the position of its 10 members: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Many of the South American players selected for their national sides play in Europe, where the deadly disease is rapidly spreading.
FIFA's statement added that it would "continue to assess the situation in relation to COVID-19".
It said it would decide whether further changes to the schedule of South American World Cup 2022 qualifiers were required "always with the aim of protecting the health and safety of all individuals involved".
The fate of the Copa America meanwhile is unclear.
The June 12-July 12 competition is due to be staged in Argentina and Colombia between the South American national sides with also invited Australia and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar.