COVID CONTINUING TO WREAK HAVOC ...
Coronavirus has swept through the world and devastated a whole range of sports with cases having risen sharply. Here, The News takes a look at the key developments - internationally, nationally and locally - since Christmas.
Dec 26
– Two Gallagher Premiership games were called off due to cases at London Irish and Leicester, while Fulham played their Premier League game against Southampton without self-isolating boss Scott Parker. In the National League, Hawks’ game at Hungerford was one of seven (out of 10) in the South division called off due to players self-isolating.
Dec 28
– Three days after Manchester City announced Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus had tested positive, further cases within the squad saw the match at Everton postponed at short notice. Another seven NL South games were postponed.
Dec 29
– West Brom manager Sam Allardyce backed calls for a two-week “circuit break” in the league amid rising cases, although the Premier League said no discussions had taken place. Saints faced West Ham with manager Ralph Hasenhuttl managing from home as he self-isolated, while seven of 12 League One fixtures including Pompey’s game with Bristol Rovers - were postponed as several clubs dealt with outbreaks.
Dec 30
– Fulham’s match against Tottenham was postponed hours before kick-off due to ongoing problems for the Cottagers. The Gallagher Premiership game between Worcester and Harlequins on New Year’s Day was called off due to several Quins players having to self-isolate, while the January 3 fixture between London Irish and Northampton was also cancelled after Irish returned a ‘number’ of positive tests. The Government announced new Covid-19 restrictions – with Merseyside moving into Tier 3, all Premier League games would be played behind closed doors at least until the next review.
Jan 2
– Spurs boss Jose Mourinho said he was disappointed after three of his players attended a party over Christmas against regulations. A picture on social media showed Erik Lamela, Sergio Reguilon and Giovani lo Celso at a party, which was also attended by West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini.
Fulham’s match at Burnley was postponed while there were claims that Aleksandar Mitrovic broke coronavirus rules by attending a new year party, along with Crystal Palace midfielder Luka Milivojevic.
Jan 3
– The organisation which oversees professional boxing in Britain announced a shutdown of all events under its auspices in January. Manchester City announced an internal investigation after defender Benjamin Mendy hosted a New Year’s Eve party, controvening guidelines.
Jan 4
– England all-rounder Moeen Ali returned a positive test upon arrival in Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced national lockdowns for England and Scotland, with elite sport able to continue but outdoor gyms, swimming pools, tennis courts, archery/driving/shooting ranges and riding arenas all closing. Golf courses were told to close in England but could stay open north of the border. Jan 5
– Forty positive cases were discovered over two rounds of Premier League testing in late December and early January. The league announced figures which showed that of 1,311 players and club staff tested between December 28 and 31, 28 came back positive for Covid-19. Meanwhile, McLaren driver Lando Norris tested positive while on holiday in Dubai.
Hawks enter another 10-day period of selfisolation after recording numerous positive Covid test results among players and staff. As a result, they have to call off three more NL South games, to go alongside the three they called off over the festive period.
Jan 7
– Aston Villa closed their training ground after an outbreak struck the first-team squad, with nine players and five members of senior staff infected. They managed to play their FA Cup third-round tie with Liverpool the following day, fielding a team of under-18 and under-23 players and losing 4-1 at home.
Jan 8
– New measures were introduced by the Premier League to try to restrict the spread.
Among them, all substitutes sitting on the bench are obliged to wear a mask, teams should use three coaches instead of two to get to games and the use of club canteens should be limited.
Jan 9
- In the FA Cup,
Derby County sent a team consisting of under-23s and under-18s to Chorley with the whole of their first team squad and management self-isolating. Shrewsbury Town, though, were allowed to postpone their tie at Southampton. Instead, it will be played tomorrow with Leeds having agreed to call off their planned Premier League game with Saints.
Hawks’ game at Chippenham is one of five NL South games called off, taking the total of matches postponed in the division since December 22 to the pandemic to a staggering 30.
With non-elite football under lockdown, the FA Vase fourth round featuring US Portsmouth at home to fellow Wessex Leaguers Christchurch
- is postponed. Fareham Town have still to play their third round tie at Plymouth Parkway which was called off before Christmas due to a waterlogged pitch. No dates have yet been set for any of the ties.
Snooker stars Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski tested positive for coronavirus and were forced to withdraw from the Masters the day before the tournament began in Milton Keynes. All players were required to take a test two days before
their opening match.
Jan 10
– Manchester City’s match against
West Ham and Arsenal’s trip to Aston Villa were called off after five players tested positive following travel over Christmas. Manchester United boss Casey Stoney said she was ‘sincerely sorry’ for giving her players permission to travel to Dubai over the festive period, with the Women’s Super League game at Everton postponed because of Covid-19 cases in the squad.
Jan 11
– The Premier League revealed 36 positive cases after 2,593 tests, while Celtic confirmed Christopher Jullien had tested positive, meaning manager Neil Lennon, assistant John Kennedy and 13 further first-team players being required to self-isolate. It came after a controversial training camp in Dubai which led to Sturgeon questioning the purpose of the trip and whether social-distancing rules had been followed after seeing photos from their base.
Rugby union’s Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup were temporarily suspended after the French authorities decided it was ‘too great a public health risk’ for Top 14 clubs to take part. A few days later the final two rounds of the competitions were cancelled due to the lack of space in an already congested schedule.
Formula One bosses unveiled a revamped calendar following the postponements of the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix. The traditional curtain-raiser at Melbourne’s Albert Park will move to November, while the round in Shanghai, scheduled for April 11, will now only go ahead if another round drops off the schedule.
Jan 13
- Amateur riders are to be prevented from competing due to the ongoing rise in infections. The move, which started at the weekend, has been made by the racing industry’s Covid19 steering group, which constantly reviews coronavirus protocols to determine how racing can continue to strengthen its approach. The group reached its decision because it ‘is in line with Government restrictions around the definition of elite sport and the associated suspension of grassroots sport’.
Golf’s European Challenge Tour has postponed its three tournaments in South Africa due to the pandemic. The events, co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, were due to take place in February but have been delayed until late April and early May.
Jan 14
– Andy Murray’s participation at the Australian Open – due to begin on February 8 – was in doubt after he tested positive for coronavirus. The former world No 1 was due to travel to Australia on one of the 18 charter flights laid on by tournament organisers but was still isolating at home.
Aston Villa had a second Premier League match in a week postponed after Everton’s visit on Sunday was put off due to ongoing coronavirus issues at the club.
Altrincham withdrew from the FA Trophy after one player recorded a positive Covid test, handing Hawks a place in the last 16 without kicking a ball. The Robins were
In a pandemic-wrecked non-league campaign, 15 clubs had earlier been forced to withdraw from the FA Cup, with National League club Notts County the highest profile casualty, due to positive Covid cases or players showing symptoms.
Redhill, Walsham-le-Willows, Burton Park Wanderers, Dunston UTS, Coventry United, Broadbridge Heath, Lincoln United, Oadby Town, Bamber Bridge, Alfreton Town, Kettering Town and Boston United also withdrew.
In the FA Vase, Southwick, Exmouth Town, White Ensign and Cadbury Heath all withdrew following positive Covid tests.
Jersey Bulls could not travel due to Government restrictions, so had to pull out, while Deeping Rangers, Skegness and Ashington all refused to travel outside of their area in October.
When football restarted after the November lockdown, Burton Park Wanderers, Kirkley & Pakefield and Mildenhall Town also withdrew citing the health and safety of their players and officials.
Jan 15
- French
Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte says this season’s Guinness Six Nations Championship ‘will take place’. The World Rugby vice-chairman also says there will be an expanded coronavirus testing programme for the tournament as the French government demands reassurances on safety from England and Ireland before allowing its national side to visit those countries during the Six Nations. Only the tournament’s opening fixture against Italy in Rome on February 6 has so far been approved by Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu.
Jan 16
- Two Championship matches were postponed - Wycombe called off their trip to QPR and Sheffield Wednesday couldn’t travel to Coventry due to self-isolating.
Only one game in the NL South is off to the pandemic - Tonbridge Angels postponing their game with Concord Rangers.
Forty-seven players competing in the Australian Open will be forced to remain in their hotel rooms for 14 days following three positive Covid-19 tests.
Two people on a chartered flight carrying 24 players – travelling from
Los Angeles, according to the BBC – returned positive swabs upon their arrival in Melbourne.
On a later flight from Abu Dhabi, a sole passenger on a plane carrying 23 players also returned a positive result.
Britain’s Heather Watson is among the 47, along with grand slam champions Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Bianca Andreescu, whose coach Sylvain Bruneau revealed he was the source of one of the positive tests.
Jan 17
- A fourth positive coronavirus case has been recorded from Australian Open charter flights carrying athletes and their support teams into Melbourne for the first grand slam of the year. The positive test was returned by a broadcast team member on a charter flight from Los Angeles. Two other people on that flight had earlier tested positive, while another case was detected on a flight from Abu Dhabi. These cases meant a further 25 more players having to quarantine for 14 days.