The Effects of the Pandemic to the Sports Worldwide

By Willmyr Matthew Dela Cruz

As we all know, the pandemic caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought multiple changes in everyone’s life. We all needed to take the proper precautionary measures in order to keep ourselves and the people around us safe. Everyone had to adapt to the “new normal”. With the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the world needed to take immediate action. This includes the World of Sports.

Sports events worldwide has been cancelled or postponed. The biggest sporting event this 2020, is the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. However, due to the pandemic it was postponed and rescheduled to 2021.

In the Philippines, the 45th Season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), PBA D-League, UAAP Season 82 and NCAA Season 95 were indefinitely suspended.

In the United States, the 2020 season of major sports league have also been suspended. This includes the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB). The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) which is the main multi-sport organization for college athletics have cancelled the rest of the season.

There were different considerations, strategies and plans that were thought of when continuing these sporting events such as playing with no fans, lessening the amount of games and many more. However, with the pandemic still existing, it is never assured that there won’t be any more cases especially with sports that requires physical contact. There will always be a risk because it isn’t just the games. It is also the practices and training required in order to play those games.