The outbreak of coronavirus is affecting the lives, it is also wreaking havoc on sporting events across the world.
At present, COVID-19 has officially affected more than 723,000 people worldwide, governments are struggling to contain the spread.
The largest impact is on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that have to be postponed to next year by the International Olympic Committee.
Among other sports, soccer is also affected by almost all major events suspended or postponed. The grave impact of coronavirus on football is even endangering the existence of some football clubs. Soccer betting industry has also taken a major hit with dwindling odds. If you check soccer odds at a sportsbook, you will know that there is not much going on these days.
Let’s have a look at how COVID-19 has affected major soccer events.
In Russia, all soccer events are suspended till April 10. The ongoing Russian League is one of the best-attended sports competitions in Europe. More than 33,000 fans planned to attend the event that was immediately suspended by the Russian Football Union on March 17.
The Copa America has been postponed until 2021 by the South American Football Confederation. The 12-team tournament was scheduled to take place from June 12 to July 12 at Colombia and Argentina. But on March 17 CONMEBOL has suspended the event.
The African Football Federation in a statement starts it is postponing the African Nations Championship 2020 soccer tournament indefinitely that was slated to take place in Cameroon in April.
One of the biggest soccer events of the year, the Euro 2020 has been postponed until 2021. The governing body UEFA on March 17 made the statement, stating that the 24-team tournament that was due to be hosted across 12 European nations from June 12 to July 12 this year will now take place from June 11 to July 11 2021. Other than these tournaments, UEFA has also postponed Champions League and Europa League matches.
English football clubs have suspended all elite tournaments till April 30.
Spanish domestic football federation La Liga and the players' union also suspended few matches of the second and third-tier tournaments. Bundesliga in Germany has also been put on hold until April 2 due to coronavirus and there’s a possibility for further delay in the games.
The Asian Football Confederation in association with FIFA has agreed to delay the Asian World Cup qualifying matches to be played in March and June.
In French football, the top two tiers - Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 – have been suspended.
The German Football League called off the Bundesliga and second-tier Bundesliga 2 matches until April 2.
All the new seasons of the Chinese, South Korean and Japanese professional leagues are postponed. Also, the Asian Champions Leagues matches involving the Chinese clubs Shanghai Shenhua, Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai SIPG are postponed and will now take place in September.
Among other tournaments, this season’s Champion League, Women’s Champions League final and the Europa League final, all of which were scheduled to be played in May are formally postponed in wake of Corona pandemic by the UEFA.
Coronavirus is a threat that is pushing the world economy into oblivion gradually. Sports fraternity is fighting together to control the outbreak by postponing and limiting the spread.