If anyone had predicted even two months ago that nearly all major sports events from football, basketball, cricket and rugby to boxing, golf, cycling and athletics would either be cancelled or indefinitely postponed, wed have thought they were out of their minds. Yet, here we are with barely any live Sports to watch, participate in or cheer for due to the deadly disrupter that COVID-19 is. Athletes and sports fans are bored to death, excuse the pun! You would be forgiven for thinking that the Coronavirus has a vendetta against sports given the growing list of high-profile athletes and sports personalities who have tested positive for the disease although to be fair, it is everywhere and nobody is immune with politicians, entertainers and regular people the world over affected. That said, sport is sorely missed and everybody is desperate for lockdown to be lifted so sporting activities and events can resume. With the Tour de France in doubt, cycling fans here at home must have breathed a sigh of relief that this year’s Tour du Rwanda was done and dusted just before the mandatory quarantine was imposed. No such luck for the eagerly anticipated inaugural Africa Basketball League (BAL) which had been scheduled for March. The other ‘casualties’? CHAN, CAF Champions League, AfCON and World Cup Qualifiers, Euro 2020, not to mention the domestic leagues. Spare a thought for all the athletes who spent the last four years training and prepping for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics only to see them pushed back by a year. Better than an outright cancellation, some might argue but it doesnt ease the uncertainty, nor the financial loss hosts Japan must now bear having already invested billions of dollars in infrastructure including hotels, event arenas, training facilities, security, promotional activities and such. A year is a long time and who knows what will happen over the course of the next 12 months and what other challenges the world may be grappling with then. So while this delay may buy some athletes more time to train or recover from injuries, it may hurt others chances as they won’t be eligible to participate then. For many, this would have been their last shot at winning a medal and now their dreams are shattered just like that, and thats the problem with all these postponements. You cant reschedule momentum or fitness. Liverpool were on the verge of winning their first League Title in 30 years. An impressive 25 points clear at the top, the club’s fans were ecstatic and suddenly, everything is up in the air with talk of the season being voided. Can you imagine what that would do the fans? The only people pushing for cancellations must be those whose clubs were having seasons to forget prior to the lockdown. If your favourite club is facing relegation, you’d be desperate for a way out! The hope is that all the major leagues and tournaments will resume eventually and news of the Bundesliga restarting soon is encouraging, with Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Premier League expected to follow suit though the sports fraternity has been warned that games will be held behind closed doors with just a handful of spectators in the interest of keeping everybody safe. Better that than no action at all but obviously, the atmosphere wont be the same. Players feed off their fans’ energy just like the crowds are fired up by their idols’ performances so to play in an empty 50,000 or so capacity stadium will feel strange. Not that matches havent been played behind closed doors before. There have been several occasions where clubs were penalized following incidents of racism or hooliganism so it is not an entirely new concept. Revenues will be hit though and many clubs who rely on matchday gate collections are already feeling the pinch. Makes you wonder what will happen to Season-long ticket holders. Will they get a refund since they wont be attending the live games or will their ‘investment’ be deferred to next season? And is anyone still buying Jerseys and other merchandise with no games to attend? The other issue of contention is of course players salaries. Should they just agree to pay-cuts since they all know that their respective clubs’ sources of revenue including Broadcasting Rights and Sponsorships are drying up? I think we shouldn’t be too quick to judge those who are reluctant to forfeit their wages. For starters, not all players earn huge amounts or have lucrative appearance fees and sponsorship deals to fall back on. The likes of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are set for life but what about lower ranked players or those who have not been playing as long? Already, some athletes are considering alternative careers to pay the bills till things return to normal so I think the decision on what if anything to give up should be left to individuals. The moral police will however be glad to know that many have already donated to various charitable causes from supporting healthcare workers to helping keep small businesses open. And believe it or not, theres an upside to all this doom and gloom. For one, non-sports-mad family members can finally access the remote and in this quarantine period when everyone is seeking some form of escapism; that is a blessing, as is the pause on betting. Betting Firms may be hurting but those who have long been deprived because the breadwinner gambled all the money week in, week out must be glad that betting is on hold, albeit temporarily. Players of colour and especially Black players must also be enjoying this indefinite break. No racial taunts and chants for now at least. And no break-ins and robberies now that everybody is staying at home. Remember all those reports of burglaries on footballers’ properties while they had travelled for games? No more! I mentioned Jerseys earlier, well clubs must be saving on those, seeing as players probably wont be exchanging shirts after games or tossing them to fans in the stands as the practice has been for long. The other habit we can hope to get rid of? Theatrics. With nobody to playact for, the beautiful if deserted game can finally get on without anyone feigning injuries and rolling about for ages. I was not going to mention any names but then Neymar recently said that he is eager to play again, so perhaps this all happened for a reason! The views expressed in this article are of the author
