 The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most significant disruption to worldwide sports, since World War II. Across the world and to varying degrees by countries, sports events have been cancelled or postponed. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were rescheduled to 2021 same as European Championship in Football - Soccer. Supporters have no or few games to watch and players no or few games to play. Only a few countries and territories, such as Hong Kong, Turkmenistan, Belarus, and Nicaragua, have continued professional sporting matches as planned. Regarding leisure sports and activities, we can divide it into 2 categories: children and adults. When on one side adults are affected thru their free time activities such as gym, group sports and gatherings, bar sports, etc., children are affected in a larger scale. As we all know video games and staying in are the sport of the 21st Century for them. At least they had gym class in school but now… schools are closed and they stay inside. It effects their body and mind. It is said that more than 30% world population of children, is getting obese more and more since March 2020. The lack of sport activities is causing depression, heart and lungs disorders and much more among them. And since they are our future… it is wrong. There should be a bigger impact of parents and friends on the situation and we should care. On the other side we have the providers of activities. Gyms, sports halls, multipurpose halls, etc. are closed and loosing revenue. A lot of them will remain closed also after the pandemic since they are not multinationals but privately owned. And no business means no income and no income means out of business. Economy in sports is a relative thing. It depends on people to survive. This is the same for buying goods however, that is another story. But real money is involved in professional sports. The idea of modern gladiators playing on the field, court, etc. is alive since the times of ancient Romans and Greeks. Modern sports act in the same way. The only difference is new sports, technology, ideology, expectations and money. In the acropolis it was an event of receiving an honor or ‘’die’’ trying but today there is no contract signed without amounts of money that we will never see in our lifetime. And that what is it all about – money and fans. It goes together hand in hand , then came covid-19 and things changed in days. Fans were banned from being present at the games, leagues stopped, clubs stated losing money, players, etc. and there was a lot of misunderstanding. In Germany some of the handball players were actually playing with masks, USA and Chez team are banned from World Handball Championship, … And here are some more events that were either canceled or postponed. Events Nature Location Initial date Due date Notes Six Nations Tournament Rugby Europe 1 February - 14 March 2020 Late October 2020 Games suspended after the spread of the virus in Italy The first four MotoGP Grand Prix of the season Motorcycle racing Qatar, Thailand, America and Argentina Early March 2020 Qatar Grand Prix is cancelled, other tournaments are postponed for two months. World Indoor Track and Field Championships Athletics Nanjing, China 13 - 15 March 2020 19 - 21 March 2021 Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix Motorsport Australia, Bahrein, Vietnam, China, Netherlands, Spain From 15 March 2020 The Australian Grand Prix has been cancelled. For the other countries, the competitions have been postponed. A ticket refund is foreseen World Championships Figure Skating Canada 16 - 22 March 2020 Cancelled Cancelled for the second time after the 1961 edition NBA Basketball USA March 2020 Planned for June 2020 Games suspended since 12 March 2020 after the detection of a positive case of COVID-19 Football Championships (League 1, England, Spain, Italy etc.) Football Europe March 2020 A resumption of matches around mid-June is under consideration. A deferral cost of more than 4.38 billion USD for all Big-Five clubs (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France) Golf Masters Golf Augusta, USA 9 - 12 April 2020 12 - 15 November 2020 First Grand Slam stop Paris-Roubaix Cycling France 12 April 2020 1 June 2020 This event has never been postponed or cancelled, except during the two World Wars Olympic Qualification Tournaments (OQT) Handball World 17 - 19 April 2020 Unspecified Possibility of cancellation Le Mans 24 Hours 2020 Motor racing France 18 - 19 April 2020 2 9- 30 August 2020 Ice Hockey World Cup Hockey Switzerland 8 - 24 May 2020 Cancelled The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the Board of Directors have a pandemic coverage Tour of Italy The Giro Cycling Italy 9 - 31 May 2020 October 2020 European Championships Swimming Budapest 11 - 24 May 2020 17 - 30 August 2020 No pandemic cancellation insurance French Open Tournament Tennis France 24 May - 27 June 2020 20 September - 4 October 2020 No cancellation insurance UEFA Euro-2020Championnat d'Europe de Football Football 12 cities in 12 European countries 12 June – 12 July 2020 11 June - 11 July 2021 The costs to be paid by the European body are estimated at more than 300 million USD CopaAmerica Football Argentina and Colombia 12 June -12 July 2020 June 11 - 11 July 2021 Tour de France Cycling France 27 June - 29 July 2020 29 August - 20 September The postponement of the event reassures cycling teams whose business model is based on sponsorship and visibility Wimbledon Tournament Tennis United Kingdom 29 June - 12 July 2020 Cancelled The tournament benefits from a pandemic cancellation insurance. The amount of coverage is of 114 million GBP (143.4 million USD) Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Multi-sport competition Japan 24 July - 9 August 2020 23 July - 8 August 2021 Cancellation insurance underwrote for 24 million USD The World Athletics Championships Athletics Eugene, USA 6 - 15 August 2021 15 - 24 July 2022 Postponed by one year to make way for the Tokyo Olympic Games The main thing is that due to coivd-19 there is no more real ‘’gladiators’’ out there in the sports kind of way. Much of the feeling, desire and will is lost and gone. There just too many things that are making this world change and not just sports. There is just too much influence of covid-19 into all the things that effect our lives. There so much talk about social distancing, wearing masks, and caring about each other that we know it all by heart but what is strange in all of this is that in some sports players can play and games are played and the only difference are the fans which are not present. Why can players be there close to each other and all, but the fans can’t sit and watch from a distance? Well that is just sad. For modern gladiators that is unimaginable except if they ready to lose the ‘’icon’’ effect in the eyes of the fans and nation. If there is something behind all of this it is money which is more prevelant. On the other side we as fans cannot accept the fact not being there for our team, players and country. What will the future bring us? If the pandemic doesn’t end in 2021 sports as we know it could easily lose sense. There will just be more money involved and the plays will not be as ‘’romantic’’ as they were before. For many reasons it is all losing logical sense. Again, money talks and as long as it will things will follow sadly in sports. The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
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2/17/2021
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