How Sports Leagues Around the World Are Returning to Play

European soccer is already being played for almost a month now. Germany’s Bundesliga returned to play on May 16, when Borussia Dortmund destroyed archrival Schalke 04 in their personal “Revierderby”, winning 4-0. The weird thing about that match was the lack of usual 80.000-plus fans who every game pack the stands of Westfalenstadion – Borussia Dortmund has the highest attendance of any soccer team on the planet.

Empty stadiums are the rule of thumb for German soccer, much like any sports league returning right now. Here’s part of a report from CNN, detailing the safety measures players must follow during Bundesliga’s matches:

“Teams spent a week in quarantine before games, shuttled players -- who are regularly tested -- to stadiums in multiple buses rather than one, and more than one dressing room was used per team, too. Even then, social distancing rules had to be followed. There were staggered warmups and teams entered the pitch at different times with no mascots, in another change. Substitutes donned masks and sat not in the dugout but between the dugout and stands at Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park, well apart from teammates. The match ball was disinfected prior to kickoff, presumably resulting in the referee appearing to enter the field last.”

Now, after four weeks of regular playing, the most important aspect to observe is that the return of professional sports has done absolutely nothing to cause a spike of new cases. According to Worldometer, a website tracking the numbers of the Coronavirus spread world wide, after the date Bundesliga resumed playing, Germany’s number of new cases dropped considerably. On May 31, the number of new cases (200) was the lowest since March 9 (184). That’s evidence to support that professional outdoor sports being played behind closed doors might not be as harmful as it seems.

Other European soccer leagues are taking a page out of Bundesliga and are set to follow the same guidelines. Italy, one of the hardest hit countries during this pandemic, has officially announced that its two main competitions, the Serie A and the Coppa Italia, as of June 17. Players and staff are expected to follow strict rules, including social distancing of at least one-and-a-half metre (4’9’’) from the referee and not shaking hands before the match. England’s Premier League and Spain’s La Liga are also set to return next weekend.

Meanwhile, other sports have varied plans as to when to resume play. In rugby, for example, while USA’s Major League Rugby decided to cancel its 2020 season in mid-March, England’s Premiership Rugby is targeting the resumption of the 2019-20 season in mid-August. Down under, New Zealand and Australia rugby are set to return as early as next week, but with a modified format. Major clubs from the southern hemisphere compete in the a five-country competition, the Super Rugby. However, due to travel restrictions, New Zealand will officially have a “New Zealand only” version of the league, with its five clubs competing among themselves for ten weeks. Australia is expected to do the same rather soon.

Cycling, one of the most global sports out there, has also suffered major changes to its season. All races were suspended in early March and in early May the sports governing body, the UCI, announced a complete revision of its season, that would still comprise races in eight different countries. Every single remaining World Tour competition is going to happen between August and November, including the three three-week Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España). However, UCI hasn’t been quite clear about what approach they plan on taking regarding fans at races. Will they normally be allowed to attend? Bear in mind that cycling can attract as many as half-million or more fans to a single day of racing.

Coming back to baseball, here’s a lesson MLB can take out of all these examples: It’s absolutely feasible to imagine that baseball in the U.S. can still be played in 2020. At this point, it’s hard to believe that the return of professional sports represents a major health threat, like the aforementioned examples indicate. If you're looking for a baseball example, South Korea’s KBO has been showing this since early May. The only obstacle for American baseball right now may only be the issues regarding payment, which sounds like a pretty bad reason for not having a season.

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