The Europa League tie between Inter Milan and FC Ludgorets was played behind closed doors. (AP Photo)
The IPL will go ahead from March 29 with medical precautions in place to counter the threat of the coronavirus outbreak, Indian cricket board chief Sourav Ganguly said on Friday. However, in Nepal, the Everest Premier League – featuring the likes of Chris Gayle and Mohammad Shahzad – has been postponed, it was also announced on Friday.
Here is a list of how other sporting events around the world have been affected by the threat of the virus.
Serie A – Many matches, including Juventus v Inter Milan, have been postponed to later dates in Italy’s top tier of football. The Italian Cup semi-finals between Juventus and AC Milan and Napoli and Inter Milan had also been postponed.
All Italian sporting events will take place behind closed doors until April 3, according to a new decree from the Italian government announced on Friday.
Premier League – England’s top tier has banned pre-match handshakes.
Switzerland’s top league has also been put on hold until at least March 23, after clubs rejected the possibility of playing behind closed doors. The Europa League tie between Inter Milan and FC Ludgorets was played behind closed doors.
Olympics – The future of the Olympics in Japan, scheduled to take place from July 24, is up in the air for now. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stated that there is “full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, taking place from July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020.”
Athletics – The World Athletics Indoor Championships, a key warm-up event for track and field Olympic athletes, was due to be held in the Chinese city of Nanjing from March 13-15 but has been postponed to next year.
Tennis – The ATP has cancelled or postponed six tournaments on the Challenger Tour. The events in Anning, China on 20 April and Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 11 May have been cancelled. Three tournaments in South Korea – Seoul, Busan and Gwangju – have been put back to August and another in Spanish capital Madrid rescheduled for October.
China’s men’s tennis team also withdrew from the Davis Cup World Group I tie against Romania, scheduled for March 6-7 in Romania.
Motorsports – The F1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai will no longer take place on April 19 and no alternative date has been set.
The opening two rounds of the Moto GP season, in Qatar (March 8) and Thailand (March 22), will also not go ahead as scheduled.
Cricket – Ireland women’s cricket tour to Thailand for a four-team tournament has been cancelled.
MMA – Ritu Phogat’s One Championship event was forced to be held behind closed doors.
Weightlifting – The April 16-25 Asian Weightlifting Championships has been relocated from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan.
Shooting – There will be no ranking points in the Shooting World Cup. The ISSF said there will no ranking points in the New Delhi tournament as the organisers are not in a position to guarantee participation of all athletes owing to the extraordinary situation.
Gymnastics – The Chinese team was forced to withdraw from the World Cup because of an Australian ban on foreign nationals travelling from China.
Boxing – The Asia and Oceania boxing qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 Olympics were moved from China to Jordan.
Badminton – The Asia Championships, scheduled for April 21-26, have been moved to the Philippines from China.
Table Tennis – The World Championship to be held in Busan, South Korea, from March 22-29, has been pushed back provisionally to June 21-28.
Basketball – The Chinese Basketball Association have been temporarily halted from signing NBA contracts.
Rugby – England’s men’s, women’s and under 20s Six Nations games against Italy across the weekend of 14/15 March have been postponed.