Sporting Sorrows

On May 16 2020, the sporting world was revived. The Bundesliga began again and with it, European football. Despite some major disruption due to COVID-19, the German football league is up and running again with no major issues. After the authorities gave the go-ahead for the league to begin again, it came under heavy fire from both politicians and the public - what about the players' safety: was there any chance for a second peak due to this choice?

According to a survey conducted by a German research institute, almost 50% of people disagree with the choice to resume the league. The biggest fear, as I have said before, is that the Bundesliga could potentially contribute to a resurgence in coronavirus cases in Europe and make the situation even worse. Even the health experts in Government did not believe that the Bundesliga could go on without any issues - 'the effect will be disastrous'.

The way that the league managed to resume the games was by only letting players and official personnel into the stadiums, no members of the audience allowed. All the games are still being telecasted and can be viewed on TV, but no one can go and watch in person. This system is effective for stopping transmission since the main reason behind closing down the sports industry was that crowds in stadiums provided a perfect breeding ground for the virus. But this decision soon proved wrong, as smaller clubs all around the world, even in England, started to feel the consequences.

Barnet FC, like many other clubs in the lower leagues of English Football, has been suffering major losses - they have had to fire all unnecessary members of staff after estimating that they would lose £100,000 per month. This number might mean almost nothing to Premier League clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United, who pay players a minimum of 6 figure salaries, but for these low-level clubs, every pound is useful.

Even for other sports, the story is very similar. I play cricket for a local club, and this would have been my last year playing for the Colts (the younger age group of cricket). Unfortunately, due to the virus, I have missed out on this opportunity, just like countless others all over the country. My club has been forced to shut down the pitch for the most part except for some minor use to try and collect some funds to make sure that they can keep the pitch in good condition.

I believe that this novel situation has damaged the sporting industry badly - potentially worse than it seems, and it will take more than a while to go back to normal, or whatever the new normal may end up being. In my opinion, the sports industry has more than a few issues to overcome, not including hygiene and economic issues. For example, what takes place if one player tests positive: should the whole team go into isolation or just the one player? What kind of celebrations should be allowed: football is renowned for its over-the-top and extravagant shows of joy after a goal or a win - should this be stopped?

In my opinion, sport is a key part of society, and shutting down that sector was necessary but unfortunate. Sport is something that we need - it gives us exercise, it gives us something to root for and something to keep us occupied. For those who are involved in it, it also provides them with their livelihoods. For these people, the fact that some of the smaller clubs are almost about to go bankrupt is dire. With the Premier League returning soon, if the smaller clubs do not find some way of generating revenue, we may see a whole league going bankrupt and disappearing forever. But other sports too are facing dire circumstances. Cricket, which I personally love, is facing the same situation - the IPL has been postponed until further notice, so we may not see the return of top tier cricket, or any other sport for that matter, for a long time.

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See you next week.