IPL’s fading hope to football’s uncertain future: Covid-19 news from the sporting arena
Here’s a list of top sports stories from Hindustan Times.
With the Covid-19 outbreak creating havoc by the day, it is highly unlikely that the Indian Premier League can be held this year. Though there has been no official word from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the writing on the wall is getting clearer, with more than a hundred fresh cases reported on Sunday, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases in India past the thousand mark.
No meetings, no window as IPL hopes fade
The BCCI had postponed the tournament from March 29 to April 15. There are still more than 15 days to go but the IPL teams are resigned to the possibility that the event may be cancelled this season. There has been no Governing Council meeting as well and according to sources they are not even looking to discuss the topic till close to the deadline. Two of the teams HT spoke to confirmed that no discussion has taken place yet.
Football may never be the same again
Just like in the second World War, the pandemic has halted sporting events in many parts of the world. Football has been badly hit, nowhere more so than in Europe. While many countries continued with their domestic leagues during World War 2 that is not the case this time.
‘Enjoying training again with childhood coach’: Amit Panghal
With all sporting events suspended, and most training centres and national camps shut, what are athletes doing with their forced leisure time? Everyday a top athlete will talk about her or his experience of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. This is Amit Panghal, the silver medallist from the 2019 World Championships who sealed his Tokyo Olympics berth by reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers earlier this month.
Indian athletics season put off by at least six months
The start of the domestic track and field competition could be pushed back by at least seven months because of the Covid-19 crisis, Indian athletics’ high performance director, Volker Herrmann, has said. Athletics Federation of India cancelled the grand prix series as well as the Federation Cup in April. With the Tokyo Olympics postponed to next year, the federation is redrawing its calendar.