It must be hard to find a single person in the world who hasn’t heard of the COVID-19 virus. It has been declared a world pandemic, with about 500,000 people infected on the planet and all continents covered. Lots of countries have closed the borders and imposed a strict quarantine regime. The whole sports world has also been affected.
- Premier League COVID-19 Timeline
- Coronavirus: Football Leagues Suspended in Europe so far
- Worldwide Professional Football League Suspension Guide
The Football World Has Turned Upside Down
COVID-2019 has had a detrimental impact on football in the shortest time possible. Thus, the authorities of a large number of countries have canceled all sports tournaments, but some of the matches are still being held behind closed doors.
Gradually, the disease has reached the heart of the football world – directly to the players and staff, and therefore the world’s #1 game is under serious threat. If things continue upon this trajectory, even the top clubs will be half-infected with the coronavirus.
What Was the First Impact on Football?
The first coronavirus outbreak was found in Wuhan Province, China. It is believed that the coronavirus was first contracted by eating infected animals that were sold in the local market. However, the exact origin of the new strain has not been identified yet. The first symptoms are fever and dry cough, followed by atypical pneumonia several days later. Before New Year’s Eve, China had admitted its problem to the world.
Back in January, the virus was contained to China, but later, other countries began to register cases of infection. Numerous airlines have stopped air traffic to the famous Chinese island of Hainan and other regions. Unfortunately, that didn’t help. Soon, the outbreak began in European countries. On March 20th, the most challenging situation is in Italy, where the mortality rate has reached 10%.
For the first time, the coronavirus affected football on January 30 with the transfer problems of Javier Pastoré. Local authorities canceled the championships in China. Then, the situation worsened in South Korea.
Later, the situation escalated after the virus appeared in Italy. The number of infected was growing exponentially. All matches began to take place on empty stands, and later they were canceled altogether. After that, European football events began to be either canceled or postponed. Fans of sports and betting can no longer watch their favorite matches and cheer for their team. Many bookmakers have markedly cut their lines.
What Will Happen to the Top Championships?
Euro 2020 is an event that billions of sports fans have been eagerly awaiting. The teams have been actively preparing for the tournament for a long time and a lot of matches have been played. The Italians were the first to talk about the rescheduling, but UEFA’s director did not plan to reschedule the Euros.
This year, for the first time, the championship should have been held not in one, but in twelve countries. Many cities have been preparing to meet athletes and fans. Most of the tickets were sold out long ago.
Everything didn’t work out the way that football fans wanted. UEFA has officially announced the postponement of Euro 2020. There was hope that Euro 2020 will be held in August or at least in winter; however, UEFA announced that it will instead be held next summer.
National Championships on Quarantine
In early March, the Swiss government announced a ban on mass events. So, it was the first rescheduled national championship. At that time, many fans did not yet understand such a decision. Following the Swiss’ example, the mass cancellation of domestic championships has begun.
Some countries proved to be the most resilient. Among them were Bolivia, Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Nigeria, Algeria, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Back in early March, fans could easily come to the stadium and support their teams. Since March 17, most of the countries have announced quarantine. Therefore, all shops, cinemas, bars, cafes, and other crowded places, including the subway, were closed.
Which Football Players Have Been Infected?
The very first player to suspect the coronavirus was a C series player (Italy), but the championship did not announce his name. After that, a top-rated young futsal player, Elham Sheikhi, died in Iran. Then, the owner of Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest were confirmed to have the disease.
On March 11, there was a news report that the defender of Hanover Tim Hubers was infected with COVID-19. The next day, Daniele Rugani, a famous footballer from Juventus, published a post on his social networks. Since then, more and more people have contracted the virus. Many players, coaches, and people close to sports began to talk about their illness.
The coach of a children’s club, aged 21, died in Spain. Also, the infection was confirmed in the coach of Arsenal, three players of Lester, five players of Sampdoria. The tense situation is happening in Spanish Valencia. The virus has infected a third of the team, as well as the coaching staff. All of them have visited Milan for the match against Atalanta.
Let’s hope that the situation will get better this year and the virus will go down very soon. We recommend football fans to follow the news regularly, and bettors to play online.
The List of Postponed Events – Briefly
- EURO 2020 – postponed until 2021
- Women’s Euro 2021 – canceled
- National League finals 2021 – delayed
- European Championship (U21) – postponed
- Irish National Football Championships – postponed
- English Football League (all professional leagues) – canceled until April 30
- Scottish Football Championship – canceled
- The Wales Championship – delayed until April
- Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship – postponed until April 30
- Europa League – suspended until April 30
- Champions League – suspended until April 30
- La Liga – suspended ( the new date is unknown)
- All Italian including Seria A – postponed
- Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 (France) – delayed until April 3
- Bundesliga 1, 2 and 3 – delayed until April 3
- Copa Sudamericana – delayed until May 5
- Copa Libertadores – delayed
- Copa America – delayed
Big sports and everything revolving around them, such as games, TV broadcasts, bets, and club budgets, are becoming one of the first business victims of the new coronavirus. Yes, it’s true that the fans have nothing to watch due to the temporary suspension of championships in popular sports. But what’s more, the chain reaction can radically change the world of sports as well as the closely related markets of TV broadcasts and bookmaker’s offices.
