Manchester City's game against Arsenal was postponed after players from the London club were put into quarantine, the first Premier League fixture to be called off because of the coronavirus.
Arsenal said players and four staff were isolated at their homes after coming into contact with the owner of Greek club Olympiakos, who tested positive for Covid-19.
"We are strictly following the government guidelines which recommend that anyone coming into close contact with someone with the virus should self-isolate at home for 14 days from the last time they had contact," Arsenal said.
"As a result, the players are unavailable for tonight's [Wednesday's] match against Manchester City and the Premier League has decided the game should be postponed."
The first postponement in the Premier League, which has a worldwide following of billions of TV viewers, follows widespread disruption to football and other sports across the globe.
Arsenal were knocked out of the Europa League by Olympiakos in late February. Vangelis Marinakis, owner of the Greek club and England's Nottingham Forest, announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
But Arsenal said the players and staff who met Marinakis after the game at the Emirates Stadium will return to work on Friday before Saturday's trip to Brighton.
"The medical advice we have received puts the risk of them developing Covid-19 at extremely low," it said.
The Premier League called the move a "precautionary measure" and said there were no plans to postpone any other games.
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Mesut Ozil leads the highest earners at Arsenal, pocketing £350,000 per week. That would have dropped to £306,250 if he had accepted a 12.5 per cent cut. Swipe to see what his team-mates are paid. All figures according to spotrac.com. AFP -
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - £200,000 falls to £175,000. AFP -
Alexandre Lacazette - £182,051 down to £159,294. AFP -
Nicolas Pepe - £140,000 down to £122,500. Reuters -
David Luiz - £125,673 to £109,964. AFP -
Hector Bellerin - £110,000 falls to £96,250. AFP -
Sead Kolasinac - £100,000 down to £87,500. Reuters -
Bernd Leno - £100,000 drops to £87,500. Reuters -
Granit Xhaka - £100,000 to £87,500. AFP -
Sokratis Papastathopoulos - £92,000 drops to £80,500. Reuters -
Shkodran Mustafi - £90,000 falls to £78,750. Reuters -
Lucas Torreira - £75,000 down to £65,625. AFP -
Dani Ceballos - £51,923 to £45,432. Reuters -
Calum Chambers - £50,000 down to £43,750. Reuters -
Matteo Guendouzi - £40,000 to £35,000. AFP -
Ainsley Maitland-Niles - £35,000 to £30,625. Reuters -
Rob Holding - £25,000 down to £21,875. Reuters -
Emiliano Martinez - £21,667 drops to £18,958. Reuters
Football's Serie A and all other sports have been put on hold in Italy, while the top two divisions in Spain and France will be played in empty stadiums for at least the next two weeks.
Uefa's Champions League and Europa League have also been both forced to arrange matches behind closed doors as the epidemic spreads.
Olympiakos host Wolves in Athens this week in the Europa League, in one of the last-16 games that will be played in front of an empty stadium.
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo joined a number of managers, including Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, in voicing disquiet at being asked to play without fans.
"If we have to go we will. But we don't agree - we're not happy to go," he said.
"Behind closed doors doesn't make sense. We're pretending to live a normal life when things aren't normal."
Wednesday's postponement could also frustrate Premier League leaders Liverpool, as a Manchester City defeat would have taken them to the brink of their first top-flight title in 30 years.
