When Will I See You Again? Sport Bids to Step Out of Virus Shadow
Sport's big ticket events, the 2020 Olympics, European football championships, Wimbledon and the British Open golf tournament have been driven to the wall by the coronavirus.
However, there are some shoots of recovery as sports worldwide make tentative plans to return to action:
FOOTBALL
-- The English Premier League met with clubs this week to debate a plan to complete the season behind closed doors at neutral venues.
They would like to restart the season in June and play the remaining 92 fixtures by August.
New British government guidelines have paved the way for elite sport to return behind closed doors in England from June 1, but some clubs are opposed to neutral venues and London mayor Sadiq Khan has come out against the idea of playing matches in the capital at this stage -- five of the 20 EPL clubs are based in London.
-- The German Bundesliga is set to be the first major European league to resume on Saturday.
The Bundesliga wants to complete the last nine rounds of matches before June 30 to secure around 300 million euros ($325 million) in television money.
Plans suffered a setback last week when second division Dynamo Dresden reported two players had tested positive for the virus, prompting the club to place their entire squad into a 14-day quarantine.
-- In Spain, La Liga is hoping to restart in mid-June but on Sunday announced that five players from the top two leagues had tested positive.
-- Italy's footballers are taking part in individual training, with team groups starting on May 18. However, Fiorentina and Sampdoria announced 10 positive tests last week. In addition, a Torino player tested positive.
-- In France, Paris Saint-Germain have been declared Ligue 1 champions.
-- South Korea had the honour of being the first league back in action but there were no crowds or wild goal celebrations -- even talking was discouraged.
-- The first official football to be played in western Europe since March took place last Saturday, behind closed doors in the Faroe Islands.
TENNIS
-- The ATP and WTA will not resume tournament play until July 13 at the earliest.
-- The French Open at Roland Garros has already been moved to Sept 20-Oct 4 although there are suggestions that it may be put back by a further week.
It could also be played behind closed doors.
-- The United States Tennis Association will decide in mid-June on the US Open in New York.
MOTOR SPORT
-- After 10 races were either cancelled or postponed, Formula One hopes to open its season in Austria with back-to-back races on July 5 and 12.
F1 boss Chase Carey insists that a 15-18 race season is still possible and that new venues could be used.
Liberty Media, the company which runs the sport, reported a collapse in revenues of more than $200 million (184.7 million euros) in the first quarter of the year.
-- NASCAR will return on May 17 at Darlington Raceway, South Carolina.
-- MotoGP hopes to start with back-to-back races at Jerez, Spain, on July 19 and 26.
BASKETBALL
-- NBA chief Adam Silver says a decision on when the NBA can restart could come sometime in June with the league looking to play out of one or two hubs with Orlando and Las Vegas the lead contenders.
ATHLETICS
-- The Diamond League, which was to have started in Doha on April 17, is now scheduled to start in Monaco on August 14.
-- With the exception of a June 11 meeting in Oslo that will feature modified events in line with social distancing rules, the rejigged Diamond League calendar will showcase 12 meetings, culminating in China on October 17 at a venue yet to be arranged.
RACING
-- The Aintree Grand National was called off, and the first four English classics, the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas due to have been staged last weekend, and the Oaks and Epsom Derby on June 5/6, have been postponed with new dates yet to be decided.
-- If the June 16-20 Royal Ascot festival gets the go-ahead it will be staged in front of an empty grandstand with racegoers banned.
-- In the United States, the May 5 Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the US Triple Crown, will now be run on September 5.
Source: Agence France Presse
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