Sports authorities are now looking at creative ways to resume sporting activities even if it means empty stands or less contacts.
Almost every sporting competition, including the Olympics, European Championship and Premier League, has been put on hold as the world’s attention turned to getting the pandemic under control. Here, Glazia rounds up all of the coronavirus-related news from the world of sport.
German Bundesliga serves up more action
Bayern Munich refused to give up ground in the Bundesliga title race after surviving a second-half comeback to beat Eintracht Frankfurt; 5-2. Earlier, the substitute Jadon Sancho helped Borussia Dortmund pressure the leaders with a 2-0 win at Wolfsburg. Dortmund now host Bayern on Tuesday and can cut their lead to one point
Timo Werner scored a hat-trick as RB Leipzig demolished hosts Mainz 5-0 on Sunday to reclaim third place in the Bundesliga after their disappointing draw with Freiburg last week. Mainz remain three points clear of the relegation play-off place, that cushion coming courtesy of a remarkable Cologne fightback in a 2-2 draw with Fortuna Düsseldorf which prevented the visitors from cutting the gap to a single point.
Hamilton fears for his post COVID-19 future
Lewis Hamilton has admitted to questioning his future in Formula One during the lockdown. The six-time world champion said he had days when he struggled for motivation as he has waited to discover when the 2020 season may get under way amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Mercedes video filmed earlier this week, Hamilton said: “I have days when I wake up and feel groggy, I don’t feel motivated to work out. I feel, ‘Jeez, where are we going? What’s next? Should I continue racing?’
Roger Federer Disagrees With Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on Playing Behind Closed Doors
Tennis authorities are finding every possible way to resume the tennis season in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the options is holding the tournaments behind closed doors. However, Roger Federer has rejected the idea of playing tennis in front of empty stands.Earlier Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were also open to the idea of playing tennis with no audience.
However, Federer explained that it would be difficult for him to play tennis tournaments with no fans.”I can’t imagine competing in an empty stadium, I don’t succeed and I hope it never happens. As much as when we train there are no people, competing is very different,” said Federer in a video call with Brazilian legend Gustavo Kuerten.
Spanish Football League gets return date
La Liga president Javier Tebas hopes a derby between Sevilla and Real Betis will mark the return of the Spanish top flight on June 11 after being paused for three months due to coronavirus.
All organised football in Spain was suspended indefinitely on March 12 with the country among one of the hardest hit by the pandemic with 235,290 infections and 28,752 people dying.However, Spain is now set to join Germany and Portugal in resuming matches without spectators after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the league would be allowed to start again from June 8 along with other sectors of the economy.
“There is a possibility that there is a game on June 11, which would be the only match that night and perhaps there will be a tribute to all the people who have died (from the virus).
“I hope that date can be confirmed and we would like the game to be the Seville derby, kicking off at 10pm.” Javier Tabas said.
More Premier League players test positive for Coronavirus
Two more individuals connected to two unnamed Premier League clubs have tested positive for coronavirus.A Premier League statement read: “The Premier League can today confirm that on Tuesday 19 May, Thursday 21 May and Friday 22 May, 996 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19. Of these, two have tested positive from two clubs.
“Players or club staff who have tested positive will now self-isolate for a period of seven days.
“The Premier League is providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency.
“No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the league and results will be made public after each round of testing.”