Gloom widens as focus shifts to saving lives
Silent stadiums and empty venues made for a gloomy weekend for sports fans but the fear on Monday was it could get worse amid the widening coronavirus pandemic.
With governments opting for stringent bans on the size and number of public gatherings, most big sports events across the world have been suspended or scrapped.
What happens next may become clearer on Tuesday when Uefa officials meet to discuss whether football’s showpiece European championships, the year’s biggest sporting event along with the Tokyo Olympics, should go ahead.
Hope that the event would be spared an Europe-wide virus lockdown was hard to sustain as the death toll and the number of Covid-19 cases spiralled and the continent became the new epicentre of the disease.
The fact became even clearer when Chinese footballers from Wuhan, where the virus emerged in late 2019, were seen fleeing back home from Europe, where they had initially exiled themselves to escape the illness.
The public mood is also apparently shifting from disappointment that sport has been sacrificed, to support for measures aimed at staying healthy and saving lives.
A social media backlash hit organisers for allowing the showpiece Cheltenham Festival to go ahead last week with more than 250,000 spectators attending, one of the few recent events to have escaped bans.
The shift in mood was illustrated too by the apology from Rudy Gobert, the Utah Jazz centre and the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to test positive for the coronavirus.
He made light of the virus when the subject came up at a media conference a week ago — two days before he tested positive and the entire NBA season was suspended.
“I wish I would’ve taken this thing more seriously and I hope everyone else is going to do so because we can do it together. Take care and stay safe,” the 27-year-old Frenchman said on Sunday.
Many European governments are taking no chances about the spread of the virus and there are those who believe football’s Euro 2020 tournament, scheduled to take place in 12 countries across the continent from June 12 to July 12, should also be postponed.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini said on Sunday the focus should be on saving lives. “Let’s wait to see what Uefa decides. Right now the priority is to save lives,” he said.
The Azzurri are set to host the opening match in Rome on June 12, but for the moment all sport has been suspended, with the nation’s 60-million inhabitants in lockdown.
“The fact is that the problems we are having now other nations will have shortly,” said Mancini, the former Manchester City and Inter Milan boss.
“First of all we need to protect people’s health; we have to wait for the peak. Then when this situation begins to ease off we could start talking and decide everything later.”
Europe’s top football competitions have already suspended their seasons and Liverpool’s first stab at winning the Premier League after a 30-year wait passed them by on Monday.
They could have picked up the trophy at Goodison Park if Manchester City had lost to Burnley on Saturday.
Meanwhile, there are signs of a change of tone in Japan about the Tokyo Olympics, with opposition growing to holding the Games as scheduled.
The International Olympic Committee and Japanese officials have indicated preparations for the event, which is set to be held from July 24 to August 9, should continue as planned. Public opinion may be wavering, however. A poll on Monday showed 69.9% of the Japanese population believed the Games would not be held as scheduled.
Koki Miura, a 27-year-old employee at an internet company, said they should be delayed or cancelled. “We cannot sacrifice people’s lives for it,” said Miura.
I WISH I WOULD’VE TAKEN THIS THING MORE SERIOUSLY AND I HOPE EVERYONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO SO BECAUSE WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER. TAKE CARE AND STAY SAFE
Rudy Gobert Utah Jazz NBA player