A list of international sports events hit by the coronavirus outbreak:
The rapid spread of Coronavirus has got the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the outbreak a pandemic.
India has suspended all visas till April 15 barring few exceptions over coronavirus outbreak. The exceptions are provided for diplomatic, official, UN/International Organizations, employment & project visas.
India till now had suspended visas and visas on arrival nationals of 7 countries - China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany.
Due to this, many sporting events in India as well as around the world have either been postponed or come to a standstill.
In Italy, all sports events have been cancelled until April 3. Argentina has cancelled international sporting events due to be held in the country in March. The South American swimming championship, world cup fencing events, Olympic boxing qualifiers and South American athletics have been hit.
As for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be held without spectators.
A list of international sports events hit by the coronavirus outbreak:
(Inputs from Reuters)
1. Cricket
)
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020:
The IPL Governing Council will be meeting on Saturday, March 14 to discuss the coronavirus threat, weeks ahead of the tournament.
IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said that a decision will soon be taken soon and that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is monitoring the situation in India.
"We are monitoring the situation for now and will have an update once a decision is taken," Patel was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
The 13th season of the cash-rich T20 tournament is scheduled to start from March 29 with the opener between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
ICC Men's Cricket World Cup:
The ICC postponed the men's Cricket World Cup Challenge League A that was set to begin on March 16 in Malaysia.
2. NBA
)
The NBA has suspended its season after a player preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus, the league announced Wednesday.
The news came after the NBA game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder was abruptly postponed on Wednesday night.
"The NBA is suspending gameplay following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice," said the statement from the organization.
"The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic."
The Golden State Warriors will play their home game against the Brooklyn Nets on March 12 without spectators after the city and county of San Francisco announced a two-week ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people.
3. Athletics
)
The World Athletics Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13-15, have been postponed until next year.
European Athletics postponed the European Throwing Cup that was scheduled for March 21-22 in Leiria, Portugal. A new date will be discussed at an executive board meeting later this month.
The Paris and Barcelona marathons have been postponed.
4. Football
)
FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation have agreed to postpone the Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June.
The Champions League game between Valencia and Atalanta on March 10 took place without fans. Three other games - Paris St Germain v Borussia Dortmund (March 11), Barcelona v Napoli and Bayern Munich v Chelsea (both March 18) will also be played in empty stadiums.
Manchester City's Premier League match against Arsenal on March 11 has been postponed because players from the London club have had contact with the owner of Greek side Olympiakos Piraeus, who has contracted the coronavirus.
La Liga matches will be played without fans for at least the next two rounds of fixtures, the Spanish league said on March 10.
Manchester United's Europa League last-16 tie against LASK will be played in an empty stadium.
Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 on March 15 will also be played without fans.
RB Leipzig has said Saturday's home fixture against SC Freiburg will be played without spectators in attendance.
The French Ligue 1 game between RC Strasbourg and Paris St Germain scheduled for March 7 was postponed.
The Europa League last 16, first leg between Olympiakos against Wolverhampton Wanderers on March 12 will go ahead in Piraeus without spectators.
New seasons in the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean professional leagues have been postponed.
Asian Champions League matches involving Chinese clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai SIPG have been postponed. The start of the knockout rounds has been moved back to September.
UEFA postponed two of Thursday's Europa League ties after one side, Spain's Getafe, refused to travel to Italy because of the coronavirus outbreak and another, AS Roma, said they had been denied permission to travel to Spain.
Spain's Copa del Rey final between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad that was due to take place on April 18 in Seville has been postponed.
5. Formula One and Motorcycling
)
Formula1:
The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai has been postponed.
The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead on March 22 without fans.
Australian Grand Prix organisers scrapped autograph sessions along Melbourne Walk, a path near the paddock where fans take selfies with the drivers as they pass by.
Motorcycling:
Four rounds of the MotoGP season in Qatar, Thailand, Texas and Argentina will not go ahead as scheduled.
The Spanish World Superbike round has been postponed from March 27-29 to Oct. 23-25 while the French round has been moved back from Sept. 25–27 to Oct 2-4.
6. Tennis and Table Tennis
)
Tennis:
The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells has been cancelled.
The Fed Cup finals that were scheduled to be held in Budapest, Hungary from April 14-19 and playoffs that were to be held in various locations worldwide have been postponed.
The WTA has cancelled the Xi`an Open and Kunming Open.
Table Tennis:
The world championships in Busan, South Korea, have been pushed back provisionally from March to June.
The April 21-26 World Tour Japan Open in Kitakyushu has been postponed.
7. Other sports
)
Boxing:
The Olympic boxing qualifiers for Asia and Oceania were moved to Jordan from China.
Golf:
The Honda LPGA Thailand event and the HSBC Women`s World Championship in Singapore have been cancelled.
The Indian Open, scheduled to take place from March 19-22 in New Delhi, has been postponed.
The Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur and the China Open have been postponed.
The 2020 Czech Masters, a European Tour event, has been cancelled and organisers have reserved the week of Aug. 19-22 for the 2021 edition.
Weightlifting:
The Asian Championships, scheduled to take place in Uzbekistan, have been cancelled.
Badminton:
The India Open, scheduled for March 24-29 in New Delhi, will go ahead as planned but without spectators attending.
Gymnastics:
The All-Around World Cup in Stuttgart, scheduled from March 20-22, has been cancelled.
The Apparatus World Cup in Doha, scheduled for March 18-21, has been postponed to June 3-6.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup (April 3-5) in Pesaro, Italy has been postponed to June 5-7 while the Trampoline Gymnastics World Cup (April 24-25) in Brescia has been postponed to June 19-20.
