The world of sports has become a rather quiet place at the moment. During the last few weeks, it has been almost chaotic as the outbreak of coronavirus has led to major sporting events being either postponed or cancelled around the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 a 'pandemic' last week, and according to latest figures, close to 6,000 people have lost their lives to the disease.
While in India, the Indian Premier League is one of the high-profile events to be suspended amid the outbreak, a host of Olympic qualifiers, the Formula One season, professional wrestling, the NBA, ATP Tours, and association football have also been postponed in many countries. More than 160,000 have tested positive for COVID-19 so far.
In Europe, many footballers -- primarily in Italy have also been tested positive for COVID-19. While 10 players in Serie A have contacted the coronavirus, Mikel Arteta (Arsenal manager) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) in Premier League and Ezequiel Garay (Valencia) have also tested positive for the disease.
Many sportspersons have thus taken to social media to urge the people to take precautionary measures.
While sporting action remains largely absent from the television screens, we wonder -- has the world seen such a situation before? Have the people been devoid of all the major sporting events simultaenously in history?
World Wars:
The World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) saw two of the deadliest conflicts in the history. While the first World War saw approximately 17 million people losing their lives, there were 70-85 million casualties in World War II.
The conflicts led to a major halt in the world of sports, with the Olympics in 1914, 1940 and 1944 being cancelled. The English cricket seasons between 1940 to 1944 were also cancelled while the 1942 FIFA World Cup was also called-off. Many sportspersons who represented their countries on the field took the battlefield instead, fighting on the frontiers during the wars.
In the second World War, sports were worst hit in countries which were part of the Allies and Axis fronts. Association football was cancelled in countries like England, Scotland and France. In India, however, the Ranji Trophy was played throughout the war -- largely unperturbed. Even during the first World War, while cricketing action in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies was suspended, the Bombay Quadrangular continued to take place in India.
Epidemics/Pandemics
In 2009, the Swine Flu pandemic claimed the lives of 150,000-175,000 people across the world. Sports in the Americas took a major hit, as a result, as Motor racing was cancelled in Mexico, divers from Asian countries refused to participate in competitions in the United States and the CONCACAF U-17 Championships were also cancelled in Tijuana.
Five years later, the Ebola virus spread across Africa, which forced events to be shifted away from the epicentres. Morocco refused to host the 2015 African Cup of Nations, while stadium in Monrovia was converted into Ebola treatment unit.
