With governments imposing lockdowns and travel restrictions amid the global pandemic, sports events continued to postponed, cancelled, or played with spectators. The entire sporting calendar is in disarray as the numbers of coronavirus cases have reached one million worldwide.
The Tokyo Olympics have now been postponed next year. The decision has come at a huge price for competing athletes and loss of revenue for sporting committees around the world. The event’s organisers are still counting the financial cost of the delay as it could increase costs manifold. The new date may also not be feasible for many countries and athletes in the global event.
The Wimbledon tennis champions, the oldest Grand Slam tournament in the world, has been cancelled for the first time since World War II. Many top players including Roger Federer and Serena are shocked by the cancellation as it might be the last time they could have been on the grass court. The French Open in Paris has already been called off and the US Open is also mired in uncertainty. Tennis has been suspended till June 7 with all tournaments in Europe cancelled, while player’s ranking have been frozen.
The cricket world has also been affected by the pandemic. We witnessed how the Pakistan Super League was abruptly called off without no winner. Cricket tours and schedules are being revised amid speculation when or if international cricket will resume. England is considering to host domestic matches behind closed stadiums. The IPL has been further delay until April 15 but even that seems improbable. The coronavirus has impacted the sports but the planet faces bigger problems than the impact of game of bat and ball.
Football, the world’s most popular, has been disrupted as Euro 2020, Copa America, and African Nations Champions have been postponed. UEFA has suspended Champions League and Europa League matches until further notice, while all national team games scheduled for June will not be played. Asia has been worst affected as Asian World Cup qualifiers were canceled and new seasons in China, Japan and South Korea have been postponed.
Other sports around the world including basketball, baseball, Formula 1, athletics, boxing, judo, golf, athletics and marathons have been affected. This will affect amateur and professional players including the loss of competitive sports and income. Footballer Leo Messi has confirmed Barcelona players would receive a cut in salaries during the current season. There could be massive layoffs and the sports world may never be the same even after the pandemic.
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