Coronavirus brings Bangladesh’s sports to a halt

The total number of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) patients in Bangladesh have increased to eight. Education institutions have been shut down till March 31, 2020, and the government has requested to avoid public gatherings. 

And now, all kind of domestic and international matches have been postponed until March 31 and April 30 respectively by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. 

This means the ongoing Bangladesh Dhaka Premier League (BDPL), Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football, Women's Premier League Football and National Youth Chess have been postponed. Also, the National School Football set to start from March 17 has been halted. 

BDPL stops after six matches, Pakistan tour postponed

The third leg of Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan was set to be played at the beginning of April. But because of the recent pandemic, the one-off ODI and second Test at Karachi has been postponed. This was the latest event to be postponed after series' between England and Sri Lanka, India and South Africa and Australia and New Zealand were postponed due to the epidemic. 

Many domestic leagues have also been postponed. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been postponed till April 15'; Pakistan's domestic One-day league, which was set to kick off from March 25 has also been shut down for the time being. 

And the BDPL is the last to be discontinued. Three matches kicked the tournament off on Sunday and three have been held on Monday. Expectedly, people showed up at the stadiums. Despite precautions taken, players were seen to shake hands in the matches. Mushfiq even hugged the batsman at the other end after he reached his hundred in Dhaka Abahani's match against Partex Sporting Club at Mirpur. 

With the characteristics of the coronavirus, these types of social contacts create a huge risk of transmission of the virus. Bangladesh Cricket Board's CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury on Monday said that the spectators are not much in number and the tournament is being played under the advisories from the medical organizations. 

"The board President had earlier said that we would follow the government's instructions. The matches are played under the advisories we have received from the medical bodies. The crowd is not much and as the primary instruction was less gathering so we asked the organizers to do so. We will take the decision after talking to the teams in the league," the BCB CEO said.

Schools, School Football halted

Bangladesh's Ministry of Education has decided to shut down all educational institutions till March 31. 

The National School Football is set to start from March 17 and Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Director and School Football Official Amit Khan Shuvro has confirmed The Business Standard (TBS) that the National School Football Tournament will not go on because of the pandemic. 

Along with this, the BPL, which was attracting heavy crowds outside Dhaka, will also come to a halt. The Women's football league, being played after almost six years, will also be suspended for now. 

Expert Opinion: Sporting Events can not go on

Assistant Professor of the Virology Department of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College & Hospital, Dr Jahidur Rahman said that no sporting event can go on amid this crisis as any sort of gathering must be avoided.

"Any sort of gathering can transmit coronavirus. Sporting events can not go on. There are two types of gathering in sporting events - among the players and among the spectators in the gallery. All of them are under the danger of being affected. According to the instructions from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government, gatherings must be avoided," he said. 

The whole world of Sports has taken a hit by the coronavirus. All of the European top five leagues and also the European competitions have shut down for the time being as the whole world battles the scourge. And now in a plagued world, people can only hope that this curse uplifts soon.