The start of the new year has been widely seen as a symbolic end to the Covid-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc on the world for the better part of last year. With the advent and mass production of vaccines to provide protection against the deadly virus, many had hoped that coronavirus shall be wiped off from the face of earth early this year.
However, those hopes got a major setback with the emergence of a new mutant strain of the Covid-19 virus in countries such as Britain, Germany and France. Fresh cases of infection by the new strain forced many countries around the world to reinstate lockdowns, and nearly every country of the world had to reseal its borders to minimise the possibility of another phase of the pandemic.
With a rise in cases of Covid-19 infections around the world due to the mutant strain, and with most countries yet to commence their vaccination drive in full swing, the sense of normalcy that had somewhat returned in many countries is all but gone. The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on international sports, forcing sports authorities to cancel or postpone important events.
The most important sports events postponed and rescheduled were the Olympic Games and European Football Championships. Among other important ones was Melbourne Grand Prix, which was postponed recently from March to November this year. A new date for the Shanghai Grand Prix has yet to be announced. The Bahrain Grand Prix will be starting on March 28 this year, a week later than its original inaugural date.
With the UK Covid strain posing a greater risk than before for team sports such as football, the French government has put the European Champions and Challenge Cups on hold as it has been deemed to be too dangerous to allow matches between the top 14 football teams of Europe and the UK football clubs. While the Six Nations tournament is going to be held on February 6, 2021, there is now uncertainty revolving around the tournament.
Five matches between leading UK football clubs have been postponed in the past two months, as the players of the teams have fallen victim to Covid-19. Premier League organizers have told the media that as many as 36 players and staff tested positive for Covid-19 over the past week while the number was 40 in the week before that.
With the coronavirus outbreak plaguing team sports such as football, the coaches and players of different teams have started questioning the morality and logic behind continuing to hold large-scale sports events that also put public health at risk.
The increasingly accepted grim conclusion is that the threat of Covid-19 is still very much real and the sports world needs to step back and wait for safer times in months ahead before attempting to resume business as usual.
Comment here