Formula 1, NBA, Spanish football championship and men's tennis tournaments suspended: the world sports calendar, Friday, March 13, was shrinking as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the few events maintained being mostly organized in camera.
Here are the main sporting events canceled, postponed, displaced or threatened.
• Soccer
Many competitions are suspended. This is the case for the championship in Italy, the European country most affected by the disease, until April 3. The Spanish championship, meanwhile, is at a standstill "at least the next two days", initially scheduled from March 13 to 22, due to "the quarantine established at Real Madrid and the possible positive cases in players of 'other clubs'. The Portuguese championship is suspended "for an indefinite period" and that of the Netherlands until the end of March. The North American Football League (MLS) is for a period of 30 days and in South America, the Copa Libertadores meetings scheduled for March 15 to 21 have been suspended.
Other meetings or competitions are postponed. In Spain, the final of the Real Sociedad - Athletic Bilbao King's Cup, scheduled for April 18, has been postponed to a date yet to be determined. In France, the final of the Paris SG - Lyon League Cup, scheduled for April 4, has been postponed until the end of May.
In England, the Premier League match Manchester City - Arsenal, scheduled for Wednesday evening, has been postponed, as has the next for the Gunners against Brighton scheduled for Saturday, after Arsenal coach Spaniard Mikel Arteta has tested positive for coronavirus. At Chelsea, international winger Callum Hudson-Odoi became the first case in a Premier League player.
In the Champions League, the 8th finals return Juventus Turin - Lyon and Manchester City - Real Madrid, scheduled for March 17, have been postponed. In the Europa League, the Inter - Getafe and Seville - Roma matches in the round of 16 did not take place on Thursday. In South America, the start of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup has been postponed.
Finally, competitions are played behind closed doors: all matches of the 26th day of the German championship, from March 13 to 15, all matches of the French championship (Ligue 1 and Ligue 2) scheduled by April 15 . And in the Champions League, two of the last four knockout stages are scheduled behind closed doors: Bayern Munich - Chelsea and Barcelona - Naples on March 18.
Several friendly matches in preparation for Euro-2020, including France-Ukraine and France-Finland, on March 27 and 31, will suffer the same fate.
UEFA is due to meet on Tuesday 17 March to decide on the continuation of the Champions League and the holding of Euro-2020.
• Rugby
Three matches of the Six Nations tournament have been postponed: Ireland-Italy (March 7), Italy-England and France-Ireland (March 14). They should be disputed at the end of October.
The French Rugby Federation has also announced that this Friday it will suspend all of its competitions, rallies and training, as well as those of its leagues, departments and clubs, due to the epidemic of coronavirus.
• Tennis
The tournaments on the men's ATP circuit are suspended for six weeks until April 26.
The final phase of the Fed Cup, scheduled for April 14-19 in Budapest, which was to bring together twelve nations, has been postponed.
• Basketball
The NBA is suspended "until further notice", after a first positive case, the French pivot of Utah Rudy Gobert. By decision of the International Federation (Fiba) and the Euroleague, all European Cups are suspended. The March Madness, the final phase of the American university championship, is canceled.
• Baseball
The start of the Major League Baseball (MLB) season, scheduled for March 26, is delayed.
• Athletics
The Paris Marathon (April 5) is postponed to October 18 and the Indoor Worlds, scheduled from March 13 to 15 in Nanjing, China, have been postponed to 2021.
• Cycling
In France, in camera imposed on departures and arrivals of all stages of Paris-Nice. In Italy, after the Strade Bianche (March 7), the first "monument" of the cycling season, Milan-Sanremo, which was to take place on March 21, was canceled. Like Tirreno-Adriatico, scheduled between March 11 and 17. In Spain, the Tour of Catalonia, scheduled from March 23 to 29, has been postponed.
• Ice Hockey
The North American Ice Hockey League (NHL) has suspended its schedule three weeks from the end of the regular season.
• Figure skating
The Quebec government has canceled the world championships scheduled for March 16-22 in Montreal.
• Winter sports
The alpine ski season ended prematurely on Thursday. The International Federation (FIS) has canceled the final stages and the finals of the Women's and Men's World Cups.
The last leg of the Biathlon World Cup, scheduled for March 20-22 in Oslo, has been canceled.
• Motor sports
In cars, the Australian Grand Prix, the first round of the world championship originally scheduled for Sunday, was canceled on Friday. The Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for April 19 in Shanghai has been postponed. That of Bahrain, on March 22, will be run behind closed doors and threats hang over that of Vietnam, scheduled for April 5.
The first race of the Indycar season, scheduled for Sunday in St. Petersburg (Florida), will be held behind closed doors.
On motorcycles, the first four Grands Prix of the season (Qatar, Thailand, the Americas and Argentina) have been canceled or postponed. Originally scheduled for early March, the start of the season has been delayed by two months (May 3). The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycles, scheduled for April 18 and 19, have been postponed to September 5 and 6.
• Golf
The Players Championship, the fifth golf tournament in terms of prestige, was canceled after its first day, along with three other tournaments on the PGA circuit: the Valspar Championship (March 19-22), the Match-Play WGC (March 25-29). ) and the Texas Open in San Antonio (April 2-5).
With AFP
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