Washington, Apr 15:
President Donald Trump is hankering for a return of live sports action, but US league supremos are taking a cautious approach to competition amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have to get our sports back,” Trump said yesterday. “I’m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old.” Sports in America, like the rest of the world, have been brought to a virtual standstill by COVID-19.
The NBA shut down on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, and the NHL, Major League Soccer and the US PGA Tour quickly followed suit.
Major League Baseball’s 2020 season, due to start March 26, is on hold, as is the LPGA tour and motor racing, while the NFL is just hoping it will be able to start its season on time in September.
The dearth of sports has led to a wealth of speculation as to when and how competition could resume.
The NBA and NHL are wrestling with how they might fashion credible ends to campaigns that were heading into their final stages.
Baseball, meanwhile, was reported to be considering sequestering 30 teams in Arizona — or perhaps Arizona and Florida — to open the season playing games in empty ballparks.
One ESPN reporter said he’d even heard it suggested that MLB might try to launch its season in Japan.
The NHL was reportedly mulling a single-venue re-start in North Dakota, while Dana White, head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, indicated he was considering holding mixed martial arts cards on a private island. (PTI)
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