The coronavirus pandemic continues to hit new targets in professional sports. Most of the March and April competitions, which were still planned and which the fans had hoped to hold, were also canceled or postponed to a later date.
The last of the five largest European football championships surrendered to the Bundesliga. Initially, in Germany it was planned to hold the matches of the 26th round with the bleachers in the coming weekend, and after that to discuss the possibility of suspending the season until April 2. But later, the German Football League decided to immediately interrupt the national championship together with the first division. Soon it became known about the first case of coronavirus infection in the Bundesliga - the Paderborn player Luke Kilian was infected.
After almost all European championships were interrupted, and the matches of the coming European Cups were canceled, the International Football Federation (FIFA) took the floor. She said that she was temporarily suspending the rule that clubs are required to release players in national teams for friendly matches - the next of them should be held at the end of March. At the same time, FIFA recommended to postpone or cancel the games, leaving the national federations the right to make the final decision. Some meetings in Europe have already been canceled at the request of local authorities. Matches of the Russian team with Sweden and Moldova have not yet been discussed.
According to the head coach of the team Stanislav Cherchesov, one or another statement will be made following the results of the UEFA video conference, which will be held on Tuesday, March 17.
The cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix was followed by several more unpleasant news for fans of Formula 1. The leadership of the series announced the postponement of the next two races in Bahrain and Vietnam for an indefinite period. The Bahrain Grand Prix has already been canceled in the past - in 2011, unrest in the country became the occasion. In Vietnam, the competition "Formula 1" has not yet been held - this season there was supposed to be the debut of the "royal race". Following the most prestigious auto racing series, IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula 2 and Formula 3 announced the postponement of the start of the season.
The winter sports season ends hastily. The stage of the Biathlon World Cup in Kontiolahti will end not on March 15, but a day earlier. The International Biathlon Union decided to cancel the single-mixed and mixed relay medals. Thus Saturday's pursuit will be final, as the 9th stage of the KM in Holmenkollen has already been canceled. The season in ski races was also finally stopped - two sprint races in Quebec, scheduled for March 14 and 15, will not take place.
The first messages about the cancellation of sporting events after March and April appear. An indefinite postponement of the Giro d'Italia has already been announced. The first super-race bike race of the season was supposed to begin on May 9 in Hungary and, after three stages, move to Italy. The organizers will review the dates of April 3, when the national quarantine ends. The other day it became known that because of the coronavirus, the winner of the 1946 Giro d'Italia Italo de Zan died. He was 94 years old.
The fate of the May World Hockey Championship, due in May in Switzerland, remains unclear. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has so far canceled the matches of the second and third divisions of the men's world championship, as well as the Junior World Cup 2020 and has scheduled a video conference on March 17 to discuss the holding of the remaining tournaments on the calendar. The head of the IIHF Rene Fasel told TASS that the final decision on the World Cup will be made in mid-April: “We continue to work on organizing the tournament, everything is difficult.
At the same time, the third draw of the League of Nations on volleyball has already been postponed. The FIVB International Federation decided to hold the tournament after, and not before, the Tokyo Olympics. Initially, the regular championship was to be held from May 19 to June 21 in various countries, and the final tournament from July 1 to 5 in Italy and China. On the same day, the European Volleyball Confederation decided to completely cancel the competition under its auspices until April 3. A pleasant exception awaits the Russian fans - the semifinal matches of the EKV Cup between Novosibirsk Lokomotiv and Petersburg Zenit will nevertheless take place on March 19 and 26.
On March 12, the International Handball Federation announced that it was not going to postpone its qualifying Olympic tournaments, but would hold them on time without spectators. But the very next day, the organization had to take its words back. All six mini-tournaments among men and women have been postponed to June. In one of them should take the Russian women's team.
UFC can be called the last sports organization that has not yet canceled its competition. However, coronavirus also influenced her plans. March 14, the UFC Fight Night 170 tournament in Brazil will be held without spectators. The same fate befell UFC on ESPN 8 and UFC Fight Night 172, scheduled for March 28 and April 11. At the same time, they were transferred from Columbus and Portland to Las Vegas. There is so far no final decision on the UFC 249 tournament, at which the battle of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is to take place. So far, their fight is still planned for April 18 and should be held in New York.