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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
A SCOTTISH newspaper has described it as Armageddon, as the coronavirus brought global sport to a halt, forcing some Italian fans to quench their football appetite by watching the live streaming of the Castle Challenge Cup showdown at Barbourfields on Saturday.
Sport betting, which has become a thriving industry in this country overnight with thousands of people gambling on football, cricket, tennis and other disciplines, has also been hit hard.
Its shops, usually bursting with life, especially at weekends and on the occasions the UEFA Champions League matches are in progress, were deserted as the industry felt the pinch after the postponement of many events.
The South African football leaders said their domestic programme, where a number of Zimbabweans feature, will not be suspended despite the spike in the number of coronavirus cases in that country.
“We wish to acknowledge the coronavirus is here with us,” SAFA said in a statement.
“The sad news is that the number of people who have been affected by the virus is still growing at this stage.
“However, the positive news is that the disease is not an epidemic in our country as yet. We have full confidence in our health authorities.
“Last month we withdrew our Olympic team from participating in a friendly in Japan.
“We have already developed precautionary measures for all our members, teams and clubs to use as a guideline to minimise contact with the virus.”
However, major sporting disciplines have suspended their programmes as the world battled to combat the spread of coronavirus, sucking life out of the usually packed stadiums, in a way that hasn’t been seen since World War II.
The hugely popular English Premiership, a staple weekend diet for millions of people around the world, was shut down until, at least, April 3 but there are no guarantees the matches will resume on that date either.
The discussion has since shifted to what the officials will do — in the event the season doesn’t end as scheduled — with various options being mooted by some of the opinion makers.
Award-winning sports journalist Oliver Holt, writing in his column in the Mail on Sunday, suggested that the league bosses should just scrap the remainder of the programme and declare Liverpool as the champions.
“If resumption is not possible, freeze the league tables as they are now, send Norwich, Villa and Bournemouth down and promote Leeds as champions,” he said.
However, this immediately provoked a fierce backlash on Twitter, with many Norwich fans arguing it would be unfair on their club which has five home matches, among the remaining nine, including games against clubs in the bottom half.
The supporters of Aston Villa, where Zimbabwe international Marvelous Nakamba plies his trade, were also furious as they argued their club had a game in hand and a win would take them out of relegation zone on 28 points.
Villa fans, and other analysts, argued the club should not be punished for falling behind others, in the programme, when they qualified for the Carabao Cup final.
Bournemouth fans also opposed this option, since they are just separated by goal difference, from those above them — West Ham and Watford.
“Well, the longer it goes on, the more difficult it would be to conclude the season,” Watford manager Nigel Pearson told The Guardian newspaper.
“We have to keep this in perspective, of course, but for Liverpool it would be such a tragedy not to conclude the season.”
West Ham vice-chairperson, Karen Brady, called for the whole campaign to be declared null and void and said the Premier League bosses were living in dreamland by thinking matches will resume on April 3.
Cricket, Formula One, tennis, rugby, basketball and other major sporting disciplines around the world brought their programmes to a halt this weekend giving the globe, which usually turns to sport to cheer its spirits, an eerie silence.
“I get the feeling lots of people are stuck indoors tonight, drinking too much and trying to make sense of a world they no longer recognise,” tweeted British sports journalist, Paul Hayward, on Saturday night.
Former England captain, Wayne Rooney, blasted the game’s leaders for using the players as “guinea pigs”.
“For players, staff and their families, it has been a worrying week,” he wrote in his column in The Times. “One in which you felt a lack of leadership from government and from the FA and Premier League.
“The rest of sport — tennis, Formula One, rugby, golf, football in other countries — was closing down and we were being told to carry on.
“I think a lot of footballers were wondering, ‘is it something to do with money being involved in this?’ Why did we wait until Friday?
“Why did it take Mikel Arteta (Arsenal manager) to get ill for the game in England to do the right thing?
“After the emergency meeting, at last the right decision was made, until then, it almost felt like footballers in England were being treated like guinea pigs.”
For some Italians, a Saturday without football — with the Serie A and other leagues in lockdown — was too much to bear and they ended up watching the live streaming of the Castle Challenge Cup battle between Highlanders and FC Platinum.
“All our country is forced to stay at home but this game made our afternoon happier,” said Roberto Clampa on the Castle Lager Premiership Facebook page which was streaming the game live.
“Thank you Zimbabwe, from Italy.”
Some Zimbabweans said this was a chance for the country to market its domestic top-flight league although the violence afterwards showed there was still a long way before the game can package itself to appeal to a foreign audience.
Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Deputy Minister, Tino Machakaire, said the Government would be on high alert, to ensure the resumption of domestic football, would not create a breeding ground for the spread of coronavirus. The top-flight league is set to get underway this coming weekend.
“Obviously, the issue of mass public gathering is something that is being considered in a lot of countries as they battle the spread of coronavirus and football attracts huge crowds,” he said. “We have to ensure that the game here doesn’t become the vehicle that spreads this virus and that means promoting a safe and clean environment at our stadiums.
“The good thing is we haven’t had a confirmed positive case in this country but we have to be on high alert and sport everyone has shut down because of concerns posed by such mass gatherings.”
Online Reporter