Sports events under threat after global surge in cases involving Omicron variant

Due to the rapid spread of cases involving new variants of Covid19 sports events around the world from football to cricket and NBA to Tennis are again under threat In many countries including India sports events have either been suspended or their schedule changedIn cricket two major series are in progress England are playing the Ashes series in Australia and India is on the cusp of winning the first Test match in Centurion against South Africa which is badly affected by cases involving Omicron the new variant of Novel CoronavirusAfter losing the Ashes underpressure England got some bad news on Thursday as his coach Chris Silverwood will not travel with the team for the fourth Test in Sydney after a family member tested positive for the Covid19Silverwood and his family have to isolate in Melbourne for 10 days while the rest of the team heads to Sydney for the clash starting on January 5 However the Australian media has reported that England fast bowling coach Jon Lewis spin coach Jeetan Patel and strength and conditioning boss Darren Veness were also believed to be in isolationEarlier Australia Test captain Pat Cummins had to sit out of the second Test at Adelaide as he was ruled out under South Australian Covid19 rules because he was deemed a close contactThe Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI and Cricket South Africa CSA have been reiterating about the safety of cricketers but rising cases in the country is a cause of concern for both teams Before the India tour started the CSA had postponed domestic events including Round 4 Division Two CSA 4Day Domestic Series matches scheduled to take place December 25Last month the International Cricket Council ICC had to cancel the womens Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe after a member of the Sri Lankan support staff tested positive for Covid19 and that prompted ICC to decide on cancelling the match between West Indies and Sri Lanka Later on ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley informed about the cancellation of the tournamentIn India ILeague matches on December 30 and 31 have been postponed due to the Covid19 outbreak in the teams The All India Football Federation AIFF League Committee had to intervene in the wake of new challenges and decided to postpone the next round matches scheduled on December 3031 after Covid19 positive cases were detected among participating teamsHowever the fate of the ILeague still hangs in balance Meanwhile AIFF issued a statement on Wednesday saying that all players staff and referees will be tested regularly to avoid a further outbreakOne of the most prestigious football leagues in the World the English Premier League has taken a massive hit by Covid19 as the clubs are reeling under the spread of the virus The League has reported a record 103 positive cases that include many players coaches and support staff in the last week However the PL governing board assured all kinds of help to the clubs including rescheduling of the matchesAnother wellknown football league La Liga of Spain has also been badly affected by the ongoing wave of Covid19 cases in SpainThe top Spanish club Barcelona on Wednesday reported that three more players Ousmane Dembele Samuel Umtiti and Gavi have tested positive The Spanish club has already been struggling with the cases in their camp as Clement Lenglet Dani Alves Jordi Alba and Alejandro Balde had contracted the virus earlier this week According to the Spanish sports paper Diario AS the first two days back at training has seen 86 cases of the virus reported by clubsThe NBA too has either postponed or rescheduled many games because of players and staff members entering the NBAs health and safety protocols as the country is badly hit by the new wave of pandemicsEven as many stars and officials have called for halting activities Football Delhi president Shaji Prabhakaran has a different view on stopping the sports events due to Covid19Stopping events is not going to help us The waves are coming and going and we have to live with them Sports activities are necessary for increasing immune systems We only need to enhance mechanisms for fighting the pandemic At present we have a different kind of biobubble Each event has a different biobubble EPL players have to travel to play the matches that exposed them to the virus whereas events like the Indian Premier League Indian Super League Pro Kabaddi League and Ileague have different biobubble where all the involved persons have to stay in a secure place he saidPro Kabaddi League franchise Patna Pirates coach Ram Mehar Singh said that they are happy living in a secure biobubble and every team has to follow the Covid19 guidelines for the smooth running of the eventWe are certainly keeping ourselves abreast of the everevolving situation of Covid in the country However we have very strict protocols at the games which are followed uncompromisingly by all staff linked to Pro Kabaddi League season 8 No one is allowed to step out of the premises since our training started and will continue till the competition is over the coach saidWe all are vaccinated with double doses However we are still ensuring that every 48 hours RTPCR is done to ensure the safety of players and others We are committed to making the kabaddi league successful safe and memorable for all I urge kabaddi fans to wear masks and avoid crowded places more than ever especially during New Year celebrations he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever