Sports events around the world hit by coronavirus pandemic as of March 16

The Japanese national flag waves next to an altar with the Olympic flame of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, following the cancellation of the torch relay as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus Picture taken March 14, 2020 [COURTESY]

Major sports events around the world that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak:

OLYMPICS

- The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia was held without spectators.

- The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games flame handover in Athens next week will be done in an empty stadium.

- The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) suspended the remainder of the torch relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds.

OLYMPIC TRIALS

- U.S. Olympic trials for wrestling, originally scheduled for April 4-5 at Penn State University, were postponed.

- U.S. Rowing postponed its Olympic team trials.

- U.S. Olympic diving trials, scheduled for April 3-5 in Tucson, Arizona, were postponed. All USA Diving events postponed for next 30 days.

NORTH AMERICA

- The NBA has suspended its season.

- The NHL has suspended its season.

- The MLB will delay its 2020 season’s opening day of March 26 by at least two weeks. It said Spring Training camps were also suspended.

SOCCER

- All elite soccer matches in England, including the Premier League, Football League (EFL) and Women’s Super League (WSL), were suspended until April 4.

- The German Football League called off matches scheduled for March 13-15 in the Bundesliga and second-tier Bundesliga 2. They recommended both leagues be suspended until April 2.

- UEFA postponed all Champions League and Europa League matches due to take place this week.

- The Confederation of African Football has postponed two rounds of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled for March 25-31.

- CONCACAF suspended all competitions, including the Champions League and men’s Olympic qualifiers.

- The top two tiers of French soccer — Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 — have been suspended.

- All soccer matches in Spain’s top two divisions were postponed for two weeks.

- England’s friendly internationals against Italy and Denmark at Wembley on March 27 and 31 will not take place.

- U.S. Major League Soccer has suspended its season.

- All soccer in the Netherlands was suspended until the end of March.

- FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation have agreed to postpone Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June.

- FIFA has postponed South American qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup between March 23-31.

- Spain’s Copa del Rey final between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad (Seville; April 18) was postponed.

- New seasons in the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean leagues were postponed.

- A four-team event in Doha featuring Croatia, Portugal, Belgium and Switzerland (March 26-30) was canceled.

- Tickets are not being sold for the Euro 2020 qualifying playoff semi-finals between Bulgaria and Hungary and Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

- Asian Champions League: Matches involving Chinese clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai SIPG were postponed. The start of the knockout rounds was moved back to September.

- The Mexican soccer league, the Liga MX, said all matches in the top-flight Liga BBVW MX, the second tier Ascenso BBVA MX and women’s league Liga BBVA MX Feminil have been suspended until further notice.

- The Brazilian football Confederation (CBF) suspended all national competitions until further notice, a ruling that affects the Brazilian Cup, the women’s first and second divisions, and two youth tournaments.

ATHLETICS

- The World Athletics Indoor Championships (Nanjing, March 13-15) were postponed. They will be held in the same city from March 19-21, 2021.

- The Paris and Barcelona marathons were postponed.

- The London marathon, due to take place on April 26, was postponed to Oct. 4.

BASEBALL

- The final qualification tournament in Taiwan for the Olympics was put back from April to June 17-21, while the March 22-26 qualification event in Arizona was postponed.  

- Japan’s professional league postponed the start of the season.

BASKETBALL

- Euroleague Basketball suspended all 2019-20 EuroLeague, EuroCup and Euroleague Next Generation Tournament games.

CRICKET

- The last two games of Australia’s three-match one-day series against New Zealand in Sydney and Hobart were canceled.

- Australia and New Zealand’s limited overs tours were postponed.

- The start of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament, scheduled for March 29, was postponed until April 15.

- The cricket boards of India and South Africa agreed to reschedule a three-match one-day international series to a later date. The first match on March 12 was washed out.

- England’s two-match test series in Sri Lanka scheduled to start on March 19 was postponed.

CYCLING

- Cycling’s governing body (UCI) plans to retroactively use March 3 as the cut-off point for Olympic qualification in mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle.

- The final two stages of the UAE Tour were canceled after two Italian participants tested positive.

- The Paris-Nice cycling race ended a day early after the eighth stage into Nice was canceled.

- The Giro d’Italia, scheduled to start in Budapest, Hungary on May 9, has been postponed.

GOLF

- The year’s first major, the Masters, has been postponed from April 9-12 to “some later date”.

- The Players Championship in Florida was canceled after the first round. The next three PGA events have also been scrapped.

- The Honda LPGA Thailand event and the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore were canceled.

- The next three LPGA Tour events scheduled for Arizona and California have all been postponed.

- The Indian Open, the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur and the China Open have all been postponed.

GYMNASTICS

- The All-Around World Cup (Stuttgart; March 20-22) was canceled.

ICE HOCKEY

- The Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) is ending the 2019-20 season immediately, with no playoffs, no champions, no promotion and no relegation.