The year of 2020 was the year of the Olympics and athletes around the world were training for their selection trials while those already selected were preparing for the grand event which was scheduled to commence in July in Japan.
Between January and March 2020, COVID-19 spread to most of the world, with countries imposing international travel bans and internal lockdowns, to control the spread of the virus. The imposition of such strict measures had an impact on various businesses across the world, including sports.
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Though some normalcy has returned, 2020 will be remembered as the year when everything came to a standstill, even sports and its mega event: the Tokyo Olympics. Here is a look at sports at the time of the pandemic:
Football: Football world came to a halt in March when a number of nations imposed travel bans and lockdowns. The Premier League, French Ligue 1, La Liga and many other leagues around the world were halted. The Dutch League stood cancelled. Normalcy started returning from mid June when most of the suspended leagues were resumed but were happening behind closed doors without fans in the stadium. Liverpool won their first Premier League title, first league title in 30 years,without having fans in the stadium to celebrate with. Some leagues have allowed a few fans in the stadium now but others continue to happen behind closed doors, incurring millions in losses.
Cricket: Indian fans saw IPL getting postponed and then when it did happen, it went to the UAE without fans. Women’s World Cup that was to be held in New Zealand in February- March 2021 was postponed to 2022. Test cricket resumed on 8th July without fans though some countries have now allowed fans inside the stadiums.
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Basketball: NBA, which was scheduled to end in June, was suspended in March due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the United States. The season restarted on July 30 with seeding games.
The NBA finals were played between September 30 and October 11. The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship defeating Miami Heat.
Tennis: Tennis was severely hit as this year saw Wimbledon, the grass court Grand Slam, cancelled for the first time since the second World War. French Open was also shifted to the September-October window due to the pandemic.
Novak Djokovic sparked controversy when he hosted a tournament when the pandemic was raging throughout Europe. He and few others tested positive for the virus, putting the restart process of many other sports in serious doubt and jeopardy.
What was common upon restart was the introduction of bio-bubble. Whether it be the IPL, or any football league around Europe or NBA and any other sport, bio bubbles made it possible to reduce the chances of infection so that we could enjoy our favourite sport, even in the time of the pandemic.
