Nightmarish situation for organisers
has been shifted to the second half of the year, between September 30 and October 4. The start of the English County season, which was to commence on April 12, has been deferred to May 28.
Closer home, the Indian Premier League, was to start on March 29. It was postponed till April 15 by the BCCI after protracted dithering. There has been no update since, but with
Covid-19 showing little sign of abating, it’s unlikely the IPL can start on April.
Will it be possible to squeeze in a truncated IPL between say end-April and May? Or, will the BCCI instead try and push for a full season in the second half of the year? Obviously, a full season is better than half or none, but where is the window in the latter of this year?
The cricket calendar is packed. England wants to have the inaugural season of The Hundred, it’s own short-format tournament to compete with other leagues. Then there is the granddaddy of T20 cricket, the World Championship, to be played in Australia in
October which the ICC would be loathe to reschedule.
I’ve used cricket to highlight the detrimental cascading effect Covid-19 is likely to have on all sports. Tournaments will have to be rejigged, curtailed, cancelled or whatever. This is likely to cause mayhem and a nightmarish situation for organisers and promoters.
The biggest crisis in sports this year, however, revolves around the Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Tokyo between July 24 and August. The Olympics are held every four years and unarguably the most coveted event in the world. What’s its fate going to be this year?
Till last week, there had been no suggestion from either the International Olympic Committee or host nation Japan that the Games will be rescheduled. If anything, IOC president Thomas Bach and the Japanese government, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were emphatic that the Olympics would be held on the designated dates.
But given the uncertainty about how long the virus will remain a threat, who can provide a clear-cut answer? It’s premature still to talk of postponement or cancellation since the Olympics start in late July. But time is certainly running out rapidly.