Covid-19, the global pandemic on a scale we had not seen for a long time, was pretty awful for most industries, and sport was not spared from this. Some sports, like race horsing, were not too badly affected and were able to begin again fairly quickly, but some sports were very badly affected.
In this list we will be taking a look at these sports and how they have been and are continuously affected by Covid.
Football
Football was forced to come to a halt across Europe when the lockdowns began in European countries. The Premier League was postponed but some leagues, such as the Ligue 1, was cancelled entirely and final positions were chosen based on their performance so far this season.
A lot of money was lost from all the licensing and television fees and still today, fans are not allowed to support their teams in person. Betting companies and entertainment companies alike have lost out on serious amounts of revenue from in play coverage and purchases, with some of the best UK bookmakers covering new markets that rarely get attention such as the Bundesliga. This has a larger effect than some people realize, as statistically, home teams are more likely to win and this is due to the effect of the fans.
For the first time ever, the Champions League only had one leg for each quarter final and semi final. This took away from the magic of the competition, and eliminates the possibilities of huge comebacks like Liverpool v Barcelona last year. Speaking of Liverpool, when looking back at this Premier League, it is unclear whether we will remember it as Liverpool’s returning season or the season of the corona virus.
Tennis
Tennis was a sport that could have had one of the speedier recoveries in sport from Corona but for a variety of reasons, it was not to be. Wimbledon was immediately cancelled as it was insured against a potential global pandemic but that was not the case for most tournaments on the Tour.
One exhibition tournament was organized to try and facilitate tennis’ return but it in fact hindered it. Djokovic organized it in Belgrade and a number of professional players competed, but due to there being very little social distancing and one player having the virus before playing, many players including Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic himself caught Corona as well, and it ended being a PR disaster for both the Serb and the sport as a whole.
The US Open did go ahead, and once again Djokovic had a nightmare when he was disqualified for hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball. It was eventually won by the talented Dominic Thiem but tennis fans were generally concerned with the quality of tennis on display and for the future of the sport.
Indoor sports
In general, indoor sports have been much more affected by Covid than outdoor sports. For indoor sports to return properly, the government has to green light them being played and this is still not the case with sports such as futsal. Basketball has only just been allowed to return but there are some concerns with it and this decision could possibly be revoked.
Indoor sports are returning more slowly because the spread of the virus is more likely indoors than outdoors due to how the virus functions. This obviously need to be kept in mind when making decisions about the return of sports, although it seems confusing that people are allowed to be crammed into a train or other public transport but can not play badminton indoors.
Rugby
Similar to football, most of rugby was cancelled or postponed and clubs and the industry in general lost a lot of money. The Premiership was postponed and has now returned so in theory, rugby should be getting back to its previous position, but coronavirus did make itself felt across the rugby world.
Cricket
Cricket was also forced to have many events cancelled or postponed and financial repercussions were felt but more importantly, the lack of fans in recent games is also affecting the sport. Thankfully, cricket is returning as much as possible, with Australia losing to England in the T20s recently, a very good performance in a clash of the two best teams in the world.
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