The coronavirus pandemic wiped out most of the world’s major sporting events in an unprecedented 24 hours.
As Friday began, the Premier League was one of the last football competitions standing – albeit with fans awaiting the outcome of an emergency meeting.
During the wait, at 10:20 GMT, England’s men’s cricket Test tour or Sri Lanka was cancelled. Then at about 11:00 GMT the Premier League and EFL announced: no football until April.
In fact, there will be no elite football in the whole of Britain for the next three weeks at least – with BBC Sport’s Dan Roan reporting that a Premier League and EFL re-start on 3-4 April is privately deemed “almost impossible”.
The only Six Nations fixture still scheduled for this weekend, Wales v Scotland, was definitely on at 09:30 GMT, but called off by 14:00.
More followed. The Masters was also postponed at 14:00, and it was announced at 17:05 that April’s London Marathon will be moved to October.
There was still some live sport happening. A crowd of 68,859 watched Al Boum Photo win a second successive Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Coronavirus and sport – timeline
Will I get a refund if my event is cancelled?
If you struggled to keep up with Friday’s continuous stream of cancellations, here is what is off and what is still going ahead this weekend.
Which sports events have been cancelled because of coronavirus?
On a day of widespread sporting postponements worldwide, here is a round-up:
All elite British football has been suspended until 3 April.
Uefa has postponed next week’s Champions League and Europa League fixtures
France and Germany’s top two divisions were postponed, joining the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and USA leagues in taking action
The London Marathon has been moved from 26 April to 4 October, with the Manchester and Brighton Marathons also postponed
In rugby union, Saturday’s Six Nations match between Wales and Scotland has been postponed, as has Sunday’s Premiership Cup final between Sale and Harlequins.
England’s Test cricket series in Sri Lanka has been cancelled
Golf’s Masters is postponed, hours after the Players Championship was called off
Cycling’s Giro d’Italia, scheduled to start in Hungary in May, has been called off.
Formula 1 has called off the Vietnam Grand Prix on 5 April
Formula E is suspended for two months, affecting races in Paris, Seoul and Jakarta
Which sports events are still going ahead?
But there is still live sport this weekend, here’s what remains at the time of publication:
Rugby league fixtures, with the exception of Catalans v Leeds Rhinos, are on this weekend.
Netball Superleague fixtures on Saturday and Monday.
Basketball’s BBL and WBBL Trophy finals in Glasgow on Sunday
Most National League football this weekend
Olympic boxing qualifiers at London’s Copper Box Arena from 14-24 March
All England Open Badminton.
Australia v New Zealand’s second one-day cricket international in Sydney on Sunday, which will take place behind closed doors.
What could be next?
BBC News reports that the UK Government could ban mass gatherings from as early as next week in a shift in policy to ease pressure on emergency services.
Currently, the Grand National is still scheduled to go ahead on 4 April.
Attention will now turn to the summer. Uefa has called an emergency meeting for Tuesday at which the possibility of postponing Euro 2020 by one year will be an option discussed.
And what about the world’s biggest sporting event – the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?
Japan’s Olympics minister has conceded that the Games could be postponed until later in the year if the coronavirus outbreak makes their scheduled start on 24 July unfeasible.
Source: BBC
