Live updates: How coronavirus is impacting the sports world
Sports events across the globe continue to feel the impact of the coronavirus.
Sports events across the globe continued to feel the impact of the coronavirus, as several cancellations were announced, while some leagues are still trying to come up with contingency plans.
• The NBA hopes to have guidelines in place by Tuesday. Amid reports that games could be played without fans, Lakers star LeBron James said he would not play if fans were not in attendance.
• In France, police said that the Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes will be played without fans. It is the second of the four matches in the competition this week to be played in an empty stadium. Spanish authorities previously recommended restrictions on games involving teams from areas in Italy with high numbers of virus cases and said the Valencia-Atalanta match on Tuesday will take place without fans in attendance.
• The women’s ice hockey world championship, which was scheduled to be held in Halifax and Truro, Canada, from March 31 to April 10, has been canceled.
• The International Ski Federation canceled the Alpine Ski World Cup Finals, which were due to be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, from March 16-22.
• In Rugby action, the Six Nations match between France and Ireland, scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed, joining Italy vs. England, initially set for the same day, having been postponed four days earlier.
• The BNP Paribas Open announced Sunday the tournament – set to begin this week – has been postponed after a case of coronavirus was confirmed in the Coachella Valley.
The Riverside County Public Health Department declared a public health emergency Sunday for the desert cities 110 miles east of Los Angeles, including Indian Wells where the ATP and WTA tours were to play the two-week tournament starting Wednesday.
‘‘There is too great a risk, at this time, to the public health of the Riverside County area in holding a large gathering of this size,’’ said Dr. David Agus, professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California. “It is not in the public interest of fans, players and neighboring areas for this tournament to proceed. We all have to join together to protect the community from the coronavirus outbreak.”
The event typically draws upwards of 450,000 fans. This year’s field included Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff.
• On Sunday, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals best-of-three series between the Engineers and Harvard scheduled for March 13, 14 and 15 (if necessary) at the Houston Field House will be played without spectators.
• In addition, John Powers’ Olympic Notebook in The Boston Globe looked at the possibility of the cancellation of the games. The NHL is apparently thinking about restricting access to dressing rooms based on the coronavirus. And a Monday meeting in Europe could go a long way toward influencing how sports deals with things moving forward.
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