The Week UK 21.03.2020

22 NEWS

THEWEEK 21 March 2020

Sport

“Notsolongago,2 020 wasshapingup

tobeavintagesummerofsport,”said

TheIndependent.Apartfrom“theusual

annualdelights”,therewouldbethe

TokyoOlympicsandEuro 2 020.Inthe

middleoflastweek,thePremierLeague

wasinsistingthattheweekend’sfixtures

wouldbeplayedasusual.Then,after

ArsenalmanagerMikelArtetaand

ChelseastarCallumHudson-Odoiboth

testedpositiveforthecoronavirus,all

professionalfootballintheUKwas

calledoffuntilatleastearlyApril.

“MostofEuropehasalsoabandoned

thebeautifulgame.”Thesamegoesfor

rugby,motorracing,cricket,tennis,

cycling,baseball,basketball,American

footballandgolf–evendarts.TheEuros

havebeenpostponed,anditseemsonly

amatteroftimebeforetheOlympics

followsuit.“NotsincetheSecondWorld

Warhastherebeensuchasuddenand

completemoratoriumimposedontheworldofsport.”

What happensnow?Withthe Premiership, “nobodyknows”,

saidMartinLiptonin The Sun. Thepostponementmay well

be extendedfurther. Ideally,the seasonwouldbe finishedin

latespringor earlysummer–it willtakearoundsixweeksto

completethenine remainingfixtures. But ifthis pandemicgoes

intoJune,theremightbeno

other option buttocancel the

seasonaltogether.Ifthatwere

tohappen,saidSimonStone

on BBCSport,theseason could

theoreticallybe“declaredvoid”

• withnochampionsanointed, orteamspromoted orrelegated.
  However,“everyone recognisesthatwouldbe exceptionally
  harsh” onLiverpool.Either way, the situationwillbe very
  challengingforthegame. Lower-league clubswillhavenoincome
  forat least the next month,possiblymanymore.For thelarger
  clubs,the greatunknown iswhat willhappento theirTV deals.
  Sky,BTand theBBCpayhuge sums toscreenfootball.Willthey
  continue topayout ifthereisno product?

Rugby isinaneven worseposition,saidChrisFoy inthe

Daily Mail.TheSixNations,the Premiershipand European

competitionshave allbeenmothballed.“Veryfewsports havethe

monetaryresilienceto withstandthiscrisis,and rugby certainly

isn’toneofthem.”Withluck,ifthe

virusrecedestheseasoncouldbe

“restructured”,withtheEuropean

nations’summertoursofthesouth

scrapped,sothatclubscanfinishtheir

seasonsthenandrecouplosses.Ifnot,

jobs,careers,evenclubs“willbelost”.

Olympicorganisershavemaintained

thattheTokyoGames,scheduledto

starton 2 4July,remainontrack,said

AlastairGaleinTheWallStreetJournal.

Buttheproceedings“havealreadybeen

affectedbythevirus”.Theinitialstages

oftheOlympictorchrelayinGreece

werescrappedlastweekbecauseof

concernsaboutcrowdsgatheringto

watch.Japanhasspentatleast$12bn

–asmuchas$ 2 8bnbysomemeasures

–preparingfortheGames.Public

opinionpollsinJapanshowastrong

preferenceforpostponingtheGames

ratherthancancellingthem.“CancellationwoulddepriveJapan

ofbillionsofdollarsofrevenuefromtheinfluxofathletes,

officialsand spectators,and make the Tokyotournament the

onlyOlympics tohave been cancelled duringpeacetime.”

However,apostponement would also beunprecedented.Many

facilitiesfortheGamesareprivatelyownedand wouldhaveto

be rebooked,or alternatives would needtobe found.

For manyof us,“sport isn’t

simplyawayofpassing the time

butaway ofmarkingit”,said

Jonathan Liewin The Guardian.

“It offersaliturgy,astructure

on whichto measurethepassingdaysand seasons.”Tuesday

andWednesdaynights: Champions League.Fridaynight:Super

League rugby.Thentheweekend,fromSaturdaylunchtimekick-

offto PGAgolf onSunday evening,“allstretchedoutbeforeus

like adeliciouspicnic”.Notanymore.Theweekendsareempty.

TheMasters,theGiro d’Italia,the LondonMarathon:all

postponed. Ofcourse this“pales intoinsignificance”againstthe

pandemic’s“humantoll”. But, particularlyinunsettledtimes,

sportsare very reassuring. “Andso,as the enormousindustrial

complexofglobalsportclanks toahalt,itisonlynaturaltofeel

shocked, concussed,evenbereft.” It’sareminderthat sport is,as

Liverpool’sJürgenKloppputsit, “the mostimportantoftheleast

importantthings”.

Football, athletics... even darts: the stadiums fall silent

Lower league clubs face severe financial struggles

The case of the heavyweight champion, the farmer and the wild boar

The WBC heavyweight champion of the world

has faced many grave challenges in his life, said

Sean Ingle in The Guardian. At birth Tyson Fury

–now 6ft 9ins tall–weighed less thanapound

and doctors feared he’d never survive. But his

father, who named him after the then heavy-

weight champion, assured them his son would

emulate his namesake. And Fury went on to do

just that by beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015,

although questions were raised when that same

year he tested positive for the banned steroid

nandrolone. Soon after, Fury became addicted

to cocaine and alcohol, ballooned to 28 stone

and suffered severe depression. However, last

month he managed to overcome all that and

regain the heavyweight title by beating the US

fighter Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas.

But now he may be facing his toughest challenge yet, said

Matt Lawton in The Times. Ifa70-year-old Lancashire farmer,

Martin Carefoot, is to be believed, the excuse

Fury gave for testing positive to nandrolone

in 2015 was entirely bogus. Fury had claimed

the test showed up positive because he’d just

eaten uncastrated wild boar–supplied to him

by Carefoot. And it was partly because they

accepted this excuse that Ukad, the British

anti-doping agency, gave Furyabackdated

two-year ban in 2017, which expired as soon

as it was announced. But Carefoot has now

told The Mail on Sunday that Fury’s team had

offered hima£25,000 bribe (never received) to

lie about supplying the wild boar to Fury. Fury’s

promoter, Frank Warren, has scoffed at the

charge, said The Independent. “Tyson has

never met this man in his life,” he protests.

“Whataload of rubbish.” But Ukad is said to

be reopening its investigation, and should Carefoot’s allegations

prove true, they may well constituteachallenge from which

Tyson will be unable to recover.

“The enormous industrial complex

of global sport is clanking toahalt”

Raging bull or crashing boar?