New York (AFP)
American sports leagues may have to cancel their seasons if the safety of players and supporters cannot be guaranteed due to the coronavirus pandemic, warned Dr Anthony Fauci, epidemiologist and adviser to President Donald Trump, on Wednesday.
"If you cannot guarantee safety, you may unfortunately say: + We may have to do without this sport for this season + (...) Safety, for the players and for the supporters, takes precedence over everything rest, "said Anthony Fauci, a member of the presidential coronavirus crisis unit, in an interview with the New York Times.
Sport in the United States has been paralyzed since March by the Covid-19. All major professional leagues have suspended or postponed their respective seasons. Some are currently studying a possible return to competition behind closed doors.
But for Anthony Fauci, there is a risk of a resurgence of the pandemic if the restrictions are lifted too early. "If we let our desire to return to normal prematurely, we can only get back in the same hole as a few weeks ago," warns the director of the Institute of Infectious Diseases.
"I wish we could resume all sports," he continues. "But as a health official, doctor and scientist, I have to say that right now, when we look at the country, we are not ready for it yet."
The NBA and Baseball League (MLB) plans to resume the season behind closed doors would likely be "logistically difficult," Fauci said.
"And you should test all the players and make sure they are negative and keep them in a place where they don't have contact with someone outside who you don't know is positive or It would be logistically difficult, but there is at least that possibility, "concedes the expert, however.
© 2020 AFP