… Cricket, football, athletics among primary casualties of COVID-19

By Clifton Ross

THE year 2020 has been filled with enough amazement and newfound ways of living thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in what has been a rollercoaster year for sports internationally and especially in Guyana. Guyana alone had her fair share of annual events being postponed or called off indefinitely right around the February month-end/March mark, when the virus made its way onto the Caribbean scene. The first and arguably most important tournament at that time, the Regional 4-Day tournament 2019-2020; was in its latter stages when it was forced to be called off, resulting in Barbados Pride winning the title.
After the cancellation of the 4-Dayers, reality began to step in as a number of other regional and local events were systematically dropped or postponed until a more certain, future date.

So began the ripple effect which trickled onwards, plaguing everything from local volleyball, karate, motor-racing, table tennis and other popular brands of sports, to take an indeterminate backseat to normalcy. The result was a barren, no-live sports wasteland which further created a sad atmosphere for athletes, fans and stakeholders alike. It took almost 7 months of tribulation, trials and a bunch of in-depth studying as it relates to understanding how the virus operates as well as how much of an impact it will have on the sports and tourism sector. After months of inactivity due to lockdown and its guidelines; Guyana, like most other countries, sought to deal with the outbreak and its aftermath, despite a complete 360 turn when compared to just 10 months ago.

Now with the pre-existing threat still lingering and possibly being even more on the verge of mutating into something far more uncontrollable than the initial wave, more than ever sports in Guyana will be put to a stern test. A few sports have, however, managed to slip through the deadly cracks of COVID-19 and find ways to return to normalcy amidst the ongoing threats. Volleyball, despite having the backing of the government recently with its proposed plans to move forward after being sidelined since their last overseas outing back in February; has suffered tremendously with no tournament or anything remotely live going down, since earlier in the year. It is likely that the athletes will be seeking to fully regroup and re-enter the world of live action for 2021.

Basketball, soccer and cricket are primarily on the same wavelength. All are team sports, all require social-gatherings and heavy team presence/input and all are conventionally played in front of a large number of fans. Locally, the three sports have been equally quiet with basketball and soccer having to forgo a number of plans for 2020 while cricket has also suffered with a number of major annual competitions being cancelled for the first time in a significant number of years.
Despite these setbacks, the local fraternity of sports has remained solely focussed on finding ways and means to live and work alongside the pandemic, which has no apparent timeline as to when it might or will subside.

Athletics is another recipient of a major blow dealt by COVID-19 by having most of its activities, including the international Aliann Pompey Invitational – one of the significant Guyanese tournaments – to not continue its annual tradition.
Those premier associations and clubs in Guyana have lost millions in sponsorship among other areas of fiscal depression thanks to the virus. Horseracing, arguably one of the biggest sporting events in the country, has not seen any action since January; with two of their events, including the annual Boxing Day Mega Meet, being cancelled. As a result of the obvious uncertainty, whenever permission is given by the local Task Force to resume live sports and outdoor activities will allow some sort of routine-living in the future.

With cases on the rise, locally and around the world, it is most certain that the new plans for sports in 2021 will revolve around, safety and production.
Cricket, football, basketball have all undergone some progress since the pandemic kicked in, resulting in successful hosting of tournaments in a discreet environment. Those local associations have also been keeping close with their overseas governing bodies, following the necessary guidelines needed to stay safe and play during a pandemic. It is safe to argue that 2021 will be another year of mystery as it relates to COVID-19 and the new measures, which could be taken or new mandates which will be rolled out for 2021 for all teams and sport niches in Guyana, the Caribbean and rest of the world.