Coronavirus: 3 sports events rescheduled
Given the magnitude of the situation, several sports organizations decided to reschedule these sporting events.
With the world health situation, various sporting events had to be rescheduled. / Photo: Unsplash
LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz
Listen to this article
Leer en español: Coronavirus: 3 eventos deportivos reprogramados
Due to the current pandemic, various sporting events have been canceled, postponed or even rescheduled. 2020 was one of the most eventful years in this field, since the European Championship, the America's Cup, and the Olympic Games, just to mention a few, were going to take place.
However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, many of these had to be postponed until the outbreak decreased somewhat. Despite the fact that major events announced its rescheduling, there was one in particular that refused to be canceled: the Olympic Games.
It took several weeks, in which the virus only spread to more than 170 countries, so that, finally, on March 24, Japan announced that the National Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted the decision to reschedule the Olympic Games. According to the official agenda, this event was to take place from July 24 to August 9, and given its rescheduling, the IOC has one month to set the new date, taking into account that they will take place in 2021.
It should be noted that making the decision was not easy, because as we reported, just a week before and through a statement, the entity in charge stated that "The IOC remains fully committed to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and with more than four months before the Games there is no need to make drastic decisions at this stage".
However, the rapid expansion and the fact that several countries close their air, land and sea borders, led the directives and the country's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, to reach an agreement to reschedule the Olympic Games, which according to the statement, they "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community".
To safeguard the health of the athletes and everyone involved in the Tokyo 2020 Games.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will now take place no later than summer 2021.
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) March 24, 2020
Also read: Incredible! Sports have never stopped like this
Two other events with new programming
1. Eurocup
Soccer was also paralyzed by the imminent force of the virus. To counter the overcrowding of people, one of the main reasons for the rapid contagion, UEFA announced on March 17 that the European competition should be postponed to 2021. It was announced that the tournament will be held on 11 June to July 11 of next year.
Despite the change of date, the Eurocup will maintain its unique format to celebrate its 60th anniversary. This means that there will not be a specific venue, but parts of the competition will be held in different countries, with the final being played in London.
UEFA today announced the postponement of its flagship national team competition, UEFA EURO 2020.
Read full statement
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) March 17, 2020
Read also: 5 things you should know about Euro 2020
2. America's Cup
At the same time that UEFA notified about the postponement of the Euro Cup, CONMEBOL, the body that regulates football in South America, announced the rescheduling of the Copa América. Although an edition of the tournament had been held in 2019, CONMEBOL wanted to align itself with the UEFA championships.
In this way, according to the dates revealed by the organization, the Copa América would also be held from June 11 to July 11, 2021. Through a statement, the entity announced the decision, and it is expected that next year we will enjoy the innovative format, since both Argentina and Colombia will be the hosts.
Debido a la evolución mundial del Coronavirus y con el objetivo de salvaguardar la salud del fútbol sudamericano, @CONMEBOL aplaza la celebración de la 47 edición de Copa América a las fechas del 11 de junio al 11 de julio de 2021
https://t.co/dTArt3ylaj pic.twitter.com/nPfo2HxAdd
— Copa América (@CopaAmerica) March 17, 2020