2020 in retrospect: Setbacks in sporting events worldwide

There are many setbacks in sporting events worldwide in the year 2020.

Many competitions were postponed due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) globally.

However, the safety of athletes, players, management, fans, arena workers and everyone else is obviously the most important thing, particularly since the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

PRESS INFORMANT highlights some of the setbacks in major sporting events in the year 2020 in no particular order:

1. The 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were earlier scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan between August 25 and September 6, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Organizing Committee officially announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics would be postponed to August 24 to September 5 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. The 2020 Copa América was scheduled to take place from June 12 to July 12, but On March 17 2020, CONMEBOL announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South America, the tournament had been postponed to June 11 to July 10 2021.

3. On September 22 2020, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced that the tournament was rescheduled until June 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. The Euro 2020 tournament, which was due to be staged in twelve nations across the continent from June 12 to July 12 this year, was postponed to June 11 to July 11, 2021, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

5. The 2019/2020 season in Holland was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Leaders Ajax was denied the league title, and no team was relegated from the Eredivisie or promoted from the second tier.

6. On June 30, 2020, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) moved the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to 2022, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

7. The Europe top-five leagues, (Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1) all resumed their seasons in May/June, but only Ligue 1 cancelled their campaign and crowned leaders PSG champions.

8. The World Athletics Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13-15, and also the World Para Athletics European Championships scheduled to take place in Poland, from June 2-7, was postponed to 2021.

9. In boxing, British fighter, Anthony Joshua’s world title fight against Bulgarian boxer, Kubrat Pulev, was initially scheduled to take place in London on June 20. The fight eventually took place on December 12, 2020, with Joshua knocking out his mandatory challenger, Pulev, in round nine after a dramatic and entertaining affair to set up a possible clash with Tyson Fury in 2021.