While sports are a major contributor to economic and social development, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the most significant damage to the sporting calendar worldwide in 2020.
To safeguard the health of athletes and others involved, major sporting events at international, regional and national levels were cancelled or postponed. The Olympics and Paralympics, for the first time in the history of the modern games, have been postponed, and will be held in 2021.
The ones that took place were under strict measures to curb the spread of the disease. This meant games being played in empty stadiums, bubbles created for players and staff.
Here is a list of some major sporting events that coronavirus disrupted:
1. Tokyo Olympics
The 2020 Summer Olympics was to be held in Tokyo, Japan, from July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020, with more than 11,000 athletes from 200 countries taking part. It was to be the biggest sporting event of this year, but the steady rise in the number of coronavirus cases led to its postponement. Many athletes and nations had already started withdrawing even before officials in Tokyo took a decision. The Paralympic Games, which too was to be held in Tokyo, was postponed.
The Olympics will now be held from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021. The Paralympics will follow and will be held from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.
2. Tennis
The Wimbledon Championships were canceled this year following the pandemic. Though US Open was played as per its original schedule, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 behind closed doors, COVID-19 concerns did keep a few top players away from the tournament. The pandemic’s intensity forced the French Open to be postponed from its original schedule of May 24 to June 7 and was subsequently held from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4 in the presence of limited spectators, making it the last Grand Slam of the year instead of the usual US Open.
3. Football
Like all other sports, the 2020 football season witnessed a series of suspensions and major changes. The Euro 2020 and Copa América 2020 were postponed till 2021. Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and England’s English premier League resumed mid-year behind closed doors after a few months of suspension.
The 2019-20 UEFA Champions League resumed in August without spectators in stadiums.
4. Cricket
A number of international cricketing tours were either canceled or postponed. The major ones included Pakistan’s tour of England, New Zealand’s tour of Bangladesh, India’s tour of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, and South Africa women’s tour of England. Among the few major series that were played was a rescheduled West Indies tour of England in July, India’s tour of Australia and West Indies women’s cricket team’s tour of England.
The Pakistan Super League (PSL) was being played through its original schedule in March, when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suspended the last four matches and rescheduled them for November.
5. Basketball
The National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended the 2019-20 season on March 11 and restarted it on July 30 with 22 teams and without live audiences.
The Americas Championship (AmeriCup) and the European Championship (EuroBasket), which were to take place in 2021, were postponed to 2022 by Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA). Basketball leagues in several other countries were also similarly affected.
