Variant Ómicron and a wave of contagion forced the postponement of games, limited capacity and even sports tournaments to be played without the presence of the public.
Postponed matches on the Premier League English football, basketball teams of the NBA decimated, preparation for the Australian Open tennis player disturbed … Sport is not spared the exponential increase in COVID-19 cases linked to the omicron variant, and feel the threat of a new total door closing, or even a break in competitions.
In the French sports venues the number of visitors will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 outdoors as of next Monday and for a period of three weeks, as announced this Monday by the French Prime Minister Jean Castex.
In the English championship, his sacrosanct Boxing Day (one day after Christmas) it didn’t have its usual festive look, with three games postponed, including Liverpool-Leeds. Two matches from the 20th date, scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday, have already been added to that list.
Reds coach Jurgen Klopp and his Leicester counterpart Brendan Rodgers agreed on criticize the football calendar of the end of the year parties.
“Playing the 26th and then the 28th is not good. I say this because it is true and I believe that we can find solutions. It is not that difficult to play soccer in a slightly different way. On the 26th and 29th, what would be the problem? ”, He reflected.
In total, the Premier League was forced to postpone a dozen games in the last three dates, while Great Britain faces a record number of infections.
Also on Monday, the Premier League announced that Between December 20 and 26, 103 positive cases of COVID-19 were registered between players and club staff, a record number since the start of the tests in 2020.
Wales decided that all sporting events should be played behind closed doors. In Scotland the three-week winter break was brought forward: it started on Monday instead of January 3.
The other greats European championships will resume between now and the first week of January, and could also be affected by the omicron variant.
In Germany, where the Bundesliga is due to resume on January 7, all sports competitions, including football matches, will take place behind closed doors.
Waiting for Djokovic
Another potential victim is tennis. The Australian Open must start on January 17 and three top players –Rafael Nadal, Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov- announced they had tested positive, which casts doubt on his presence in the first Grand Slam of the year.
“Now I have to recover and I will only go to Melbourne when this is safe for everyone,” Rublev said Monday on Twitter.
World No. 1, Serbian Novak Djokovic, who refuses to pronounce on whether or not he is vaccinated against covid, will announce in principle before the end of the year whether or not it will be at the Australian Open. His environment has already advanced that he will not be at the ATP Cup (January 1-9) in Sydney, the first date of the year.
To be authorized to enter Australian territory, players and their technical teams must be vaccinated.
Novak Djokovic will not play the ATP Cup in Sydney and his presence at the Australian Open remains in doubt
Alpine skiing is not getting off either: The American Mikaela Shiffrin, in charge of the Women’s World Cup, announced this Monday that she tested positive for covid, and that is why she will miss the tests in Lienz (Austria), on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I’m fine, but unfortunately I tested positive. I follow the protocol and I am in isolation, ”wrote the alpine ski star with 72 World Cup victories.
NBA and NHL in the storm
The COVID-19 cases have multiplied in recent weeks on the women’s ski circuit, such as those starring Lara Gut-Behrami from Switzerland, Alice Robinson from New Zealand or Katharina Liensberger from Austria.
In the United States, the basketball championship, the NBA, keep going for the moment, but the teams are decimated by covid cases, with 27 of the 30 franchises shaken by the pandemic, according to figures released Sunday by the North American championship.
NBA suspens games due to Covid-19 outbreak among players
The Atlanta Hawks are deprived of eleven of their men, the Celtics of nine. One consolation: the NBA allows teams to sign players who play in the reserve championship for short-term contracts to cover losses.
And the United States and Canada ice hockey championships saw how the resumption after the Christmas break scheduled for Monday was postponed to Tuesday so that the NHL can analyze the results of the covid-19 tests.
The 14 games scheduled for Monday were postponed, bringing the total number of rescheduled games in the NHL this season to 67 due to covid. (D)
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