'I would understand': Manchester United will BACK any decision to scrap the Premier League and Europa League over coronavirus, says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
* Manchester United would support a decision to scrap competitions this season
* Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed the stance over the coronavirus outbreak
* United will face LASK Linz in the Europa League last-16 behind closed doors
* With games being called off, there are concerns the season could be scrapped
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Wednesday night said that Manchester United would back any decision to scrap this season's Premier League and European competitions over the coronavirus pandemic.
United will play behind closed doors for the first time in Austria on Thursday night when they face LASK in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie.
It comes against the backdrop of other games in England and Europe being called off due to concerns over the spread of the virus – raising the prospect of the rest of the season being written off.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United would back a decision to scrap competitions
Asked if he would understand were such drastic action to be taken, Solskjaer said: 'I would understand, yes, under the circumstances.
'Of course it's up to the experts to decide. The main concern must be the health of the general public, and the decision that will be made we will back.
'These are difficult circumstances not just for football but society. We have to do what we're told and get on with the game if that's what authorities think we should do.
'We don't know what's going to happen. I think football is for fans. Without fans we are nothing anyway. The game should be always for them. Tomorrow we might get a different message or in two weeks.'
Scrapping the Premier League season could, in theory, mean runaway leaders Liverpool missing out on their first title in 30 years in the most unforeseen circumstances imaginable.
That scenario was put to Scott McTominay, sat alongside Solskjaer at the Linzer Stadion on Wednesday, and the United midfielder gave a diplomatic reply, saying: 'That's a difficult question to answer. We have to be 100 per cent committed to what we're doing and forget about other teams.'
While Thursday night's other Europa League games between Sevilla and Roma and Inter and Getafe have been postponed, the Austrian government have limited the number of people in Linz to 500 including officials and staff from both clubs.
United have had to refund 900 of their fans who bought tickets for the game, although many are still expected to travel to Austria's third city.
The eerie atmosphere on Thursday night couldn't be more different to the raucous scenes at Old Trafford on Sunday when McTominay's late goal sealed victory in the Manchester derby.
Manchester United will play behind closed doors for the first time in Austria on Thursday. United sold 900 tickets for the game but their fans won't be able to watch at the Linzer Stadion
'It would be strange to see Scotty sliding in front of nobody like he did on Sunday!' joked Solskjaer.
'It makes for a stranger atmosphere but we are just going to make the most of it.'
However, it has spoiled what LASK coach Valerien Ismael described as 'the match of the century' for his club and cost them £875,000.
LASK president Dr Siegmund Gruber criticised the move, saying: 'They put the city of Linz under pressure. Why 500? I don't understand this. In Germany it was 1,000. I was at Leipzig (v Tottenham) and they played in front of more than 40,000.
'They passed these measures inside 24 hours which is not a lot of time. I am not very happy with that.'
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