ANKARA
A growing number of sports events and organizations have been suspended, rescheduled while some were announced to be held behind closed doors as the world is struggling to contain the coronavirus spreading rapidly.
Here are the sports events which the coronavirus has struck with a blow:
Football
In Italy, all sports events were suspended or can only be held without fans attending until April 3.
Spain’s top two football leagues were canceled for two weeks. Copa Del Rey final between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao has been postponed over the coronavirus outbreak.
Two top football leagues in the Netherlands, Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Divisie, canceled matches until March 31.
Portugal’s Primeira Liga was suspended indefinitely.
The Swiss football league matches were canceled until March 23.
Top-tier U.S. football league Major League Soccer (MLS) said it stopped matches as it evaluates the situation with health officials.
The matches of the Asian AFC Champions League were postponed.
FIFA postponed the South American qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Some UEFA competitions are called off amid the coronavirus outbreak. "In the light of developments due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and related decisions made by different governments, all UEFA club competitions matches scheduled next week are postponed," UEFA said.
"This includes the remaining UEFA Champions League, Round of 16's second leg matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020; all UEFA Europa League, Round of 16's second leg matches scheduled on 19 March 2020; all UEFA Youth League, quarter-final matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020," it added.
All professional football matches in England have been called off until at least April 3 due to the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Premier League and EFL fixtures, as well as the FA Women's Super League and Women's Championship have been postponed.
Among the people and clubs affected by the coronavirus outbreak in England are Arsenal’s head coach Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, both of whom have tested positive for COVID-19.
Premier League club Everton also announced that its first-team squad and coaching team are in self-quarantine after an unnamed player displayed symptoms of the virus.
Basketball
The FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualification Tournament which was set for March in Bengaluru, India was postponed.
The FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2020 in Changsha, China, from May 13 to 17, 2020, has been rescheduled to September 9 to 13, 2020.
The EuroLeague competitions of the European basketball have been suspended amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) suspended men's and women's basketball championships amid the fears of coronavirus.
The U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that the remainder of the season was suspended after a player for Utah Jazz tested positive for the novel coronavirus. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, in a letter to fans across the world, said the hiatus would last at least 30 days.
NBA team Utah Jazz's All-Star players Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.
Athletics
Barcelona Marathon was called off to Oct. 25 from March 15 while the Paris marathon, which was due to start on March 15, was rescheduled for Oct. 18.
MotoGP
Opening four rounds of MotoGP in Qatar, Thailand, Texas, and Argentina will not take place as scheduled.
Formula 1
The 2020 Chinese Grand Prix, scheduled for April 19, postponed to an unknown future date. The Australian Grand Prix will not go ahead as scheduled.
The Bahrain Grand Prix and the Vietnam Grand Prix have also been postponed. Those events were first scheduled to take place on March 20-22 and April 3-5 respectively.
Tennis
The prestigious Indian Wells tennis tournament, known as the BNP Paribas Open, was delayed amid the rising coronavirus threat in southern California of the U.S.
The 2020 Miami Open was postponed due to COVID-19.
The ATP also confirmed that the men’s professional tennis tour was suspended for six weeks.
Judo
The International Judo Federation said that all Olympic qualification events were called off until the end of April.
Hockey
The National Hockey League (NHL) in the U.S. confirmed that the remainder of the 2019-2020 season will not go ahead as scheduled.
The women’s world ice hockey championship has been called off over the spread of coronavirus.
Table Tennis
Table Tennis world championships in South Korea, set for March 22-29, was postponed to June 21-28.
Cycling
The final two stages of the UAE Tour were suspended.
The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey was postponed amid the coronavirus fear.
Cricket
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the suspension of the national cricket league, Indian Premier League (IPL).
