SPORTS UPDATE
It seems a bit trivial to discuss sports amongst the dreadful scenes that the Covid 19 virus has brought to us from around the world recently but it has always played an important part in the lives of the local people here in Pattaya and I thought I’d give you an update on the latest news from the various governing bodies on when we may get a look at some of our favourite sports viewing.
FOOTBALL
Both the Premier League and la Liga appear to be behind the curve as far as the resumption of their respective competitions are concerned. Both are not expected to start up again until the summer and even that depends on how the Covid 19 situation is being dealt with. The German Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A are taking the first steps to resume with the German season restarting on the 9th of May behind closes doors and Serie A players being allowed to train from mid-month onwards. The only league to make a definite decision is the Dutch Erevisidie that has already declared the season null and void. This has led to various clubs taking legal action against the powers that be and will be closely monitored by other football authorities.
FORMULA 1
Nobody seems to be any the wiser here. At time of going to press the latest idea for a restart was to hold the Austrian Grand Prix in early July followed by two races at Silverstone. Absolutely nothing has been confirmed and it looks like F1 fans will be waiting for a good while yet for any action.
GOLF
The golfing schedule for the year has been decimated both in Europe and America, although the PGA tour has announced a restart in June behind closed doors. They are hoping to resume with the Charles Schwab Challenge on the 11th of June followed by the RBC Heritage Classic on the 18th. The latest from the European tour is that for the moment they cannot even commit to a start date which is understandable given the impact the virus has had across the region. The Asian and Japanese tours seem a long way from even being considered for a return.
Every sport around the world has been hugely disrupted or cancelled altogether by the onslaught of Covid 19 around the world. Added to this is the cancellation of both the Olympics in Japan, which is a huge blow for both the sport and the host country and the European football championships which were due to go ahead in the summer and it completes a pretty bleak picture.
Sport is only a very small part of life at the moment. The scenes in our hometown will illustrate that pretty clearly and it’s been good to see the local community helping to feed the people who are really suffering. When this is all over though, sport will play its own part in bringing people out and getting them back into those businesses that are struggling to get on their feet in the difficult days ahead. Good luck to everybody and stay safe.