The deadly Coronavirus is taking the world by storm. Everything has come to a standstill. Big nations like China, Italy and the USA to name a few have been the most affected by the Pandemic as most of the places there have been locked down. All the industries have been hit hard and sports is no exception.
The sports industry around the world presents a grave situation. All the matches around the world have been postponed to a late date and the industry has indeed come to a standstill.
Here’s a look at the sporting events which have been affected due to the Covid-19 Pandemic:
CRICKET:
With almost all the cricket matches around the world getting either called-off or suspended, cricket fans have been suffering through considerable hardship. The much-anticipated series like India-South Africa, New Zealand-Australia and England-Sri Lanka have all been postponed to an indefinite period. However, the fans were hit by a huge blow when the most anticipated tournament of the month, India Premier League was postponed until 15th April. With the situation getting worse with every passing day, we shall have to wait until the next two months or more than that to witness any cricket match.
- TOKYO OLYMPICS 2020
There has been a lot of suspense going on with Tokyo Olympics 2020 as the governing body is yet to decide whether they are going to postpone the tournament or run as scheduled.
Nations like Canada and Australia have already made themselves clear that they are not going to send any athlete to participate in the games if the event begins as scheduled.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier that Tokyo Olympic Games may need to be postponed if the event cannot be held in its complete form due to the coronavirus pandemic. For now, we will just have to wait and watch until the International Olympic Committee comes to a decision.
- Football:
Sadly, there are currently no football matches happening anywhere around the world. Russia recently suspended the football league until 10th April, while the Copa America which was scheduled to be held this year has been suspended until 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Also, the African Nations Championship has been suspended to an indefinite period, while the UEFA in a statement has said that the EURO 2020 tournament has been postponed until 2021. The tournament which was scheduled to be held between this year between June and July will now be held next year during the same months.
The situation has been similar in England, Germany, Italy and France as all the popular leagues in the above-mentioned countries have been suspended until further notice.
FORMULA 1:
After witnessing one of the McLaren team members getting tested positive with the coronavirus, the Formula 1 cancelled the Australia GP without even being started. Add to that, the Bahrain Grand Prix and Vietnam Grand Prix which was scheduled to take place on March 20-22 and April 3-5 respectively have also been suspended until further notice.
5. Boxing:
All the badminton matches have also been hit hard by the disease, as the World Badminton Federation has now cancelled events like Croatian International and Peru International. Also, three continental events – European Championships, Asia Championships and Pan Am Individual Championships too have been called off.
