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Sport's big ticket events, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, European football championships, Wimbledon and the British Open golf tournament have either been postponed or cancelled because of the coronavirus.
However, the return of Bundesliga football in Germany showed there are some shoots of recovery as sports worldwide make tentative plans to return to action:
FOOTBALL
- The German Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume on Saturday but matches were played behind closed doors and players elbow-bumped to celebrate goals.
Borussia Dortmund thrashed local rivals Schalke 4-0 in the highlight of the first day back, in an empty and echoing Signal Iduna Park stadium. The Bundesliga wants to complete the last nine rounds of matches before June 30 to secure around $325 million in television money.
- The English Premier League has said it would like to restart its season in June and play the remaining 92 fixtures by August. But the plans are at risk of being derailed by a heated debate between players about health concerns. There are also deep divisions among clubs over playing at neutral venues, with those in danger of relegation particularly opposed.
- In Spain, La Liga president Javier Tebas has set a tentative return date of June 12 and clubs are back on training. Barcelona's World Player of the Year Lionel Messi says he is comfortable with returning to play again.
- In Italy, Serie A clubs are due to begin team training on May 18 but, in a country hit hard by the pandemic, there is deep uncertainty as to whether the league can resume in June.
- In France, the season has been declared over and Paris Saint-Germain were awarded the Ligue 1 title.
- South Korea had the honour of being the first elite league back in action on May 8 but there were no crowds or wild goal celebrations -- even talking was discouraged.
CRICKET
- The English season will not start until July 1 at the earliest and likely behind closed doors. The new Hundred tournament has been scrapped until 2021. However, England could begin their rescheduled three-Test series against the West Indies on July 8.
The series was originally due to start on June 4. Australia and Pakistan are still due to tour later in the summer.
- The money-spinning IPL, which should have started on March 29, was postponed but media reports said the BCCI may aim for a tournament in September-October, ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
TENNIS
- The ATP said it will not resume tournament play until the first week of August in Washington.
The WTA is still scheduling events in Palermo from July 20-26 and in Karlsruhe on July 28-August 2, for now at least.
- The French Open has already been moved to September 20-October 4 although there are suggestions that it may be put back by a further week. Organisers say it could be played behind closed doors.
- The United States Tennis Association will decide in mid-June on the US Open and has said it is "aggressively" drafting alternative plans if the tournament has to be moved from New York, which is struggling to recover from a wave of Covid-19 deaths. The possibility of playing in Indian Wells in California or Orlando is being considered.
MOTOR SPORT
- After 10 races were either cancelled or postponed, Formula One hopes to open its season in Austria with back-to-back races on July 5 and 12.
F1 boss Chase Carey insists that a 15-18 race season is still possible and that new venues could be used.
Liberty Media, the company which runs the sport, reported a collapse in revenues of more than $200 million in the first quarter of the year.
- NASCAR will return on Sunday at Darlington Raceway, South Carolina.
- MotoGP hopes to start with back-to-back races at Jerez, Spain, on July 19 and 26.
BASKETBALL
- NBA chief Adam Silver will study coronavirus outbreak and testing developments for another two to four weeks before the league decides about a return to competition, according to reports on Wednesday.
BASEBALL
- MLB postponed its scheduled March start and various ideas on staging a campaign have been floated.
ICE HOCKEY
- The National Hockey League shut down on March 12 but Commissioner Gary Bettman says he is confident it will restart - he just doesn't know how, or when.
GOLF
- After the cancellation of the British Open, the remaining majors are the PGA Championship from August 6-9 in San Francisco and the rescheduled US Open from September 17-20 at Winged Foot, New York, with the Masters, usually played in April, scheduled for November 12-15.
- The Ryder Cup, at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, from September 25-27, could take place without fans.
- The PGA is staging a made-for-TV charity event involving Rory McIlroy on Sunday in Florida and hopes its tournament season can resume at the Charles Schwab Challenge from June 11 in Fort Worth, Texas.
- The LPGA Tour is due to resume on July 15 at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational tournament in Michigan.
- The European Tour is set to return at the British Masters from July 30.
- Three of the world's top 10 women (Park Sung-hyun - 3, Kim Sei-young - 6, Lee Jeong-eun - 10) teed off in South Korea on Thursday at the domestic showpiece KLPGA Championship at the Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, northeast of Seoul.
CYCLING
- The Tour de France has been rescheduled for an August 29 start from its original June 27 date.
- The Giro d'Italia will take place from October 3-25 with a six-day overlap with the Vuelta a Espana and will be raced at the same time as three 'Monument' classics.
ATHLETICS
- The Diamond League, which was to have started in Doha on April 17, is now scheduled to open in Monaco on August 14.
- With the exception of a June 11 meeting in Oslo that will feature modified events in line with social distancing rules, the rejigged Diamond League calendar will showcase 12 meetings, culminating in China on October 17 at a venue yet to be arranged.
RACING
- The first English classics, the 1000 and 2000 Guineas are to be run at Newmarket on the first weekend of June.
- Flat racing's showpiece meeting Royal Ascot it is hoped will follow shortly afterwards on June 16.However, it will do so without racegoers, including its most notable attendee Queen Elizabeth II who will miss it for the first time since 1952.
- The Derby and Oaks will be behind closed doors at Epsom Downs on July 4 instead of June.
- In the United States, the May 5 Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the US Triple Crown, will now be run on September 5.
RUGBY
- The NRL season in Australia will start on May 28.
- In union, the summer internationals have been cancelled as has the French Top 14.
