Geneva (AFP)
The World Health Organization on Wednesday deemed it "unrealistic" to hold sporting events with large crowds in countries suffering from local transmission of the new coronavirus.
WHO's director of health emergencies, Michael Ryan, said it could be "disastrous" under such circumstances to allow the return of matches attracting tens of thousands of people.
Asked in a live chat on WHO social media about a possible date for major sporting events to resume, Mr Ryan said it was impossible to predict. “We don't know,” the Irish epidemiologist said.
"Large crowds of 40,000, 50,000, 60,000 people ... It is not only the risk of being in the stadium, it is the risk of going to the stadium, by public transport, to bars and clubs, ”he explained.
“Imagine all the problems we have now with nightclubs and bars, and you condense it all into a four or five hour experience, where thousands of people take the same public transport to one place, get involved. in the match and then all the social aspects that follow. (...) it could be disastrous ", he pointed out.
"It is very unrealistic in countries with local transmission" to think that "we will see large gatherings like this this year", he said.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Euro Football 2020 have been postponed until next year, while major football competitions like the Champions League and the English Premier League have been forced to play behind closed doors.
“Maybe we should expect that as things open up we go from zero people in games to maybe 1,000 or 2,000,” said Michael Ryan.
"We all want our sport to come back. We're just going to have to be careful a little bit."
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