Adapting to ‘New Normal’: Sports events that are taking place amid the pandemic
New normal of post-COVID includes BioSecure environments
The novel coronavirus outbreak, which as of August 7, has killed more than 718,300 people globally, has affected sports events across the globe. As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has surged past 19.3 million, major sporting events have been either postponed or cancelled.
The most significant sporting event that was due to take place in Japan this summer was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee and Japan’s government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe postponed the event to 2021, where it will now take place from July 23 to August 8 next year.
Here are some of the sporting events that have started amid the Coronavirus
The Bundesliga primary football league of Germany was the first major sporting event to resume after the coronavirus lockdown.
The English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and Turkey’s Super Lig have resumed since June after nearly a 3-month suspension.
Formula One started its season behind closed doors in Austria from July 3-5 after a gap of 4 months. The British Grand Prix at Silverstone resumed under similar conditions.
The German basketball league (BBL) concluded its season with a 10-team tournament in Munich’s Audi Dome in June 2020. It
The second most popular game in the world after soccer, Cricket started with England and West Indies series from 8th July. The much-awaited Indian Premier League is all set to resume from 19th September. However, the IPL 13 will not be played in India, it will be played in the United Arab Emirates. First few matches will be played without spectators while, after some days limited spectators could be allowed in the stadiums.
Read more: Important Questions on N-95 Masks: We should use it or not?
New SOPs for games
It’s not just the spectators, but new Standard Operating Procedures has been developed across nations to cope with the new normal. Bio-secure environments have become regular for training and practise before the matches and during the tournament. Same will be followed in IPL 2020.
SOPs for the 13th season of IPL include the accommodation of all 8 teams in different hotels. The franchises are advised even the types of hotels that can be booked. Teams are advised to book smaller properties which can be booked in separate or full wings in bigger hotels that have separate centralized ACs from the other parts of the hotel.
The Biosecure environment will require the player to not go anywhere else apart from the designated places. Players will be regularly tested for the Coronavirus. Also, if anyone breaks the Biosecure protocols then strong action will be taken including quarantining him.
Earlier, during the England-West Indies Test series in July, English fast bowler Jofra Archer broke the biosecure protocols which made him lose his place in the next Test match.
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