Barcelona's Spanish defender Jordi Alba celebrates after scoring a disallowed goal during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on March 7, 2020. (LLUIS GENE / AFP)

MADRID - Games in Spain's La Liga Santander and Liga Smart Bank (second division) will be played behind closed doors for the next two weekends as part of the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Spanish government confirmed on Tuesday.

The decision taken by the government does not affect just football, but all professional sports to be played in Spain over the next fortnight, with sports such as basketball and handball also affected.

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The measure is similar to that recently adopted in Italy in an attempt to deal with the crisis

The measure is similar to that recently adopted in Italy in an attempt to deal with the crisis.

The decision was made shortly after it was decided in a meeting between FC Barcelona, the Catalan regional government and regional health authorities that Barca's Champions League game at home to Napoli, scheduled for March 18th, would also be played without supporters in the stadium - a move Barca President, Josep Maria Bartomeu commented could cost the club up to 6 million euros (around US$6.5 million) in lost revenue.

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Among the La Liga matches affected this weekend are Real Madrid's home game to Eibar on Friday night and Barca's trip to Mallorca on Saturday, while the following weekend Real Madrid's home game against Valencia will also be affected.

Spain has so far over 1,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 35 deaths.