Impact of coronavirus on professional sport and a list of cancellations

As well as its devastating impact on millions of lives across the globe, the coronavirus pandemic also decimated professional sport.

Institutions like the English Premier League, America's NBA and Major League Baseball and the NRL and AFL in Australia were all brought to a shuddering halt in unprecedented moves outside of war time.

It began with the postponement or cancellation of sporting events in China in late January, where COVID-19 originated, before it started affecting leagues and tournaments globally

The majority were shut down around the time the outbreak was officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 12 March (AEDT). The AFL and NRL were among the last sporting competitions globally to cease, on 22 and 23 March after two and one round of action respectively.

Formula One and MotoGP, Six Nations and World Sevens rugby, major tournaments in golf and tennis and many more faced cancellations and are now dealing with uncertain futures.

The Tokyo Olympics were one of the last to cave in to the pandemic. On 25 March, it was announced the Games would be postponed for the first time ever. They will now run from 23 July to 8 August 2021, although they will still be titled Tokyo 2020.

The Euro 2020 football tournament was also postponed. Final play-off matches will be held later this year, with the competition also to be staged in 2021.

The situation has had a devastating impact on teams, players, organisations, broadcast networks and more. But there are finally signs of a gradual turnaround.

The UFC led the way, with its president Dana White fulfilling his promise after a couple of false starts of holding three events in just eight days. From 10 May to 17 May AEST, three separate events were held in Jacksonville without fans in attendance. Despite one fighter testing positive prior to UFC 249, the events were otherwise held successfully without incident.

The German Bundesliga restarted on 16 May, while Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys has been widely hailed for his efforts in getting the NRL competition back up and running.

On 11 April, V'landys made the bold call that rugby league would return on 28 May. It was met with widespread scorn, but sure enough the league returned on that date with a match between the Brisbane Broncos and Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium. Broadcasters used artificial crowd noises as the matches are being played without fans. V'landys has now stated another optimistic aim to have reduced numbers of fans back in stadiums as early as 1 July.

The AFL was slower to act than the NRL, but Australian Rules will make its return on 11 June. The English Premier League is now targeting 17 June as its return date, with Liverpool holding an enormous 25-point lead and just two wins from its first league title in three decades.

With the coronavirus still causing such devastation in the United States, with over 100,000 deaths as of 28 May, American sports have had to act with extreme caution. Training camps in the NBA, NHL and MLB are being organised and the major sports hope to resume some time in July.

List of sports cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus

Finder acknowledges that this is not a comprehensive list of every single sport in the world affected. In the meantime it might be best to get your sporting fix by checking out our list of the best sports movies.

Picture: GettyImages

What if I have signed up to watch these sports?

Fans of select sporting events may start to consider signing up to new subscriptions. As stated some competitions have recommenced with more being promised all the time.

Image source: Kayo Sports website

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