COVID-19 Continuously Paralyzing Philippine Sports

It seems that the threat that the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) possesses isn't stopping at hitting sorts of lives any time soon. In fact, a microbiologist who is based in Hong Kong has warned that the threat of the COVID-19 won't end this year. If that is the case, then we might not be able to watch some of the sports leagues we usually watch in the second half of each year. If that is the case, we might not even have any sports to watch on TV for the remainder of the year.

As a matter of fact, the effects of the said virus has been felt by the Philippine sports since last month as multiple games have been either rescheduled or postponed. The biggest postponement that hit the Philippine team is the one that postponed Gilas Pilipinas' home game against Thailand which was supposed to be one of the two games of the national team as part of the first window of the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers. And we almost didn't get to witness Gilas Pilipinas beat Indonesia by 30 points if FIBA heeded the call to cancel the team's road game.

The opening weekends of the volleyball season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) were rescheduled. And just yesterday, the NCAA has announced that the league is indefinitely suspending all NCAA activities as a precautionary measure against the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the Philippines. According to Peter Cayco who the NCAA Management Committee chairman, NCAA's board policy will be setting a meeting to discuss whether to postpone the games or in the worst-case scenario, cancel all of the remaining games for Season 95's second-semester games. Also, the UAAP games in the juniors' division yesterday were held behind closed doors.

And speaking of games behind closed doors, the Philippine Superliga (PSL)  Grand Prix will be holding their games behind closed doors as well starting today.

Governing bodies FIBA and Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has also postponed games that some of the teams from the Philippines are scheduled to play this month which included the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying tournament in India. It was also reported that FIFA along with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has postponed three World Cup qualifying games that the Philippine Azkals are supposed to play this month and two more in June. 

There's no doubt that the threat of the COVID-19 has rippling effects not just to Philippine sports but to the lives of every Filipinos here and abroad. As bummer as it may sound, we can expect more postponements or even cancelations of sporting events not just here but also in other parts of the globe in the coming months as the virus has yet to be subdued.

As they say, it's better to b safe than sorry. 

Photo is from SPIN.ph