Sports In The Storm Of Coronavirus

Sports like every other human endeavour has been hit by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Precisely in the month of April, 2020 the sporting world witnessed the cancellation and postponement of major sporting events across the globe, with the Olympics games in Tokyo being the worst hit. From the football loving nation of Brazil to the ever enterprising National Basketball Association in America, One after the other sporting activities were brought to a halt due to the rampaging manner in which the virus was spreading. The prestigious Wimbledon Open was for the first time cancelled since World war II, a development which many in the business described as a huge blow to the sporting world.
It was no doubt a tough decision for organizers of these sporting events to shutdown their activities because of the economic loss it would have on them. However, the health implications posed by the virus not only to the athletes but their families as well leaves them with no choice but to take certain stringent measures to safeguard their lives during the pandemic.
There is no gain saying that sport is an employer of labour in most countries of the world, in fact, in countries like Spain, Brazil, Italy and south Africa to mention but a few, sport accounts for a large percentage of employment and livilyhood of the people and that is why countries that depend largely on earnings from sport would do anything to ensure that the sector is protected at this time. Recently, in Europe, to cushion the effect of the pandemic on footbaH clubs, the European Football Association (UEFA) made available nearly 70 million euros ($75million) of compensation payments to clubs ahead of schedule to deal with the impact of covid 19 related stoppage.
In less known sport like formula One which has suffered greatly among the community of sport, the governing body the FIFA has also set aside some sort of relief to teams to help them stay afloat while the deadly virus continues to spread unabated.
The story is not different in .. frica where medical facilities are in short supply or non- existent to fight the pandemic. In a continent where the sport sector is not so much of a revenue earner the impact on sport has not been colossal when compared to other parts of the world. In Nigeria for instance, the Presidential Taskforce on Covid19 just to show their resentment towards sporting activities played down the important of sport during one of its daily briefing. To further show its lack of interest in the resumption of sporting activities in the country, Chairman of the taskforce and Secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha took a subtle jibe at the Nigerian Professional football league by suggesting that unlike several European leagues which have returned or have announced definite resumption dates, the Nigeria Professional Football League has no business case for resuming.
The national sport festival which is arguably the biggest sporting showpiece in the land has also suffered similar fate as no date has been fixed for its commencement.
But for the intervention of FIFA, the global football governing body that came to the rescue of teams on the continent, perhaps many football clubs would have gone into administration or liquidated.
As a forthright thinking organization, FIFA made available palliatives to its 211 member associations as a way of reducing the financial burden they might suffer when normal football activities resumes. The Nigerian football federation for example, received from FIFA and CAF about 800,000 dollars to support them in the running of football in the country. It is expected that these kind gesture would be judiciously utilized by the beneficiaries for the overall good of the game.
The question on the lips of many is what will become of sport when normal activities resume and fans allowed to return to watch their favorite athletes take part in their respective sports. Will it still be appealing to the fans? Will investors have faith in putting their money in a sector greatly affected by the deadly pandemic? Only time will tell of what would become of our darling sport when normalcy is restored.

Jamaica writes from Port Harcourt.