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Coronavirus: new cancellations in sport 2:36
(CNN Spanish) - The threat of the new coronavirus affects the activity of several countries around the world and multiple sporting events are impacted by the aftermath of the spread of COVID-19.
From the Champions League to Formula 1, all kinds of changes have been seen in the schedules, including suspensions or postponements of competitions, closed-door events or changes of venues. So far, this year's major competitions, such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the 2020 Copa América or the UEFA Euro 2020, are still standing without undergoing organizational changes.
These are the most important events that were affected by the coronavirus:
World Cup Qualifiers
* FIFA confirmed suspension of the first qualifying dates for South America and Asia.
* CONCACAF also canceled the scheduled playoff dates for March.
Soccer leagues in South America
* Chile: it will be played behind closed doors
* Venezuela: all activity was suspended.
* Argentina: the Super League ended, but public activities were suspended
* Paraguay: As of March 11, public activities with massive attendance were suspended for 15 days.
UEFA
* UEFA suspended international competitions; Champions League and Europa League. On March 17 there will be a meeting to decide on the future of the calendar and Euro 2020.
Other soccer leagues
* Series A was suspended until April 3.
* The League ordered a two-week layoff starting March 12.
* The English Premier League was postponed until April 3.
* The Bundesliga was postponed until April 2.
* The Major League Soccer of the United States (MLS), postponed its campaign for 30 days, beginning on March 12.
Basketball
* The NBA suspended the season, several players tested positive for coronavirus. The league announced on March 12 that it will have a minimum of 30 days without activity.
* The International Basketball Federation (FIBA), canceled all its activities.
Formula 1
* The season will start in May, after the postponement of the Grand Prix in: Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam and China.
MotoGP
* Qatar Grand Prix (March 8) suspended.
* Thai Grand Prix (March 22) suspended.
* Austin Grand Prix (April 5) suspended.
Cycling
* The start of the Giro d'Italia scheduled for Hungary was suspended.
* The Tour of the United Arab Emirates was suspended with two stages to go.
* The Colombian Fernando Gaviria was positive for coronavirus.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Fernando Gaviria Rendon (@fernandogaviriarendon) on Mar 12, 2020 at 5:07 am PDT
Baseball
* The MLB postponed the start of the season for at least two weeks.
* The Japanese Baseball League suspended the start of the season, scheduled for March 20.
Tennis
* The International Tennis Federation suspended tournaments until April 20.
Golf
* The Augusta Masters, the first 'major' tournament of the year was postponed, with no date yet
* The Players Championship, the Valspar Championship, the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship and the Valero Texas Open were also affected.
* The European Tour canceled the Maybank Championship in Malaysia and the Chinese Open.
* The LPGA suspended the Blue Bay tournament to be held in Hainan, China, as well as the Honda LPGA 2020 in Thailand and the HSBC World Championship in Singapore.
Marathons
* The Boston Marathon was canceled, the race was scheduled for April 20, now it will run on September 14.
* The Seoul Marathon was suspended due to the threat of the coronavirus. It had previously been postponed to March 22, but authorities in South Korea later decided to cancel it entirely.
* The Rome Marathon scheduled for March 29 was canceled and will not run until 2021.
Qualifying phases for the Olympic Games
The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus also caused the suspension, postponement, or change of venue for qualifying events for Tokyo 2020 in the following sports:
- Baseball
- Women's basketball
- Women's Football
- boxing
- Taekwondo
- Fight
- Water polo
- Rowing
- Rugby 7
- Triathlon
- Biathlon
coronavirusOlympic GamesChampions League
