Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Philippine sports

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the conduct of sports in the Philippines affecting both competitive sports leagues and tournaments and recreational sports.

Several sports facilities including the Ninoy Aquino Stadium of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex were converted into temporary quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients.

Background

Several ongoing or scheduled seasons of sports leagues in the Philippines were either suspended or canceled. The same applies to international tournaments set to be hosted by the Philippines.

Regional qualification games involving Philippine national teams were likewise postponed.

On April 29, 2020, the Philippine Sports Commission have announced that they will cancel all of their sporting events until December 2020 to comply with government directives that prohibit mass gathering events. This meant the cancellation of the Palarong Pambansa in Marikina, the Philippine National Games,[1] and the ASEAN Para Games.[2]

Several major sporting venues in the Philippines were refurbished as temporary quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients including the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, New Clark City Sports Complex, the Philippine Arena complex, and the Philippine Sports Center.[3]

Starting May 2020, restrictions on sports by the national government began to ease on areas under general community quarantine. Non-contact sports such as golf and cycling where allowed due to relative ease with observing social distancing measures in engaging with these disciplines.[4]

Impact by sport

Badminton

The Badminton Asia Championships set to be hosted in Manila was postponed. It was initially scheduled to be held in Wuhan, China where COVID-19 is believed to originate from but was moved to Manila due to the outbreak.[5]

Basketball

The 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers were postponed which forced the reschedule of the Philippine national team home match against Thailand scheduled for February 20 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum,[6], as well as the national team's other succeeding games.

The start of the 2020 season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was postponed to March 8.[7] The first conference of the season is the Philippine Cup. However the PBA was suspended with only one game of the Philippine Cup played.[8]

Football

The Philippine Football Federation has postponed the 2020 season of the Philippines Football League (PFL). It has also deferred the start of PFF Women's League and its youth tournaments[9] The AFF Women's Championship to be hosted in the Philippines was postponed.[10] The Copa Paulino Alcantara the PFL's cup tournament was cancelled for the 2020 season.[11]

FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation suspended the Philippine national team's three remaining matches in the second round of qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[12]

On March 11, local football team Ceres–Negros F.C. played their 2020 AFC Cup home match against Bali United F.C. behind closed doors at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.[13] Ceres–Negros due to the pandemic affecting the operations of Ceres Liner announced on July 2020 that it was looking for new owners after businessman and club chair Leo Rey Yanson decided to prioritize managing the affairs of the bus line.[14][15]

Golf

Golf courses were closed due to community quarantine measures in the country. In May 2020, golf courses in localities under general community quarantine were allowed to operate. Golf courses issued new regulations which were based on recommendations by the National Golf Association of the Philippines. Caddies had their roles reduced to only "course-related maintenance" work and were not allowed to interact directly with golfers.[16][17]

Swimming

The 11th Asian Swimming Championships which was scheduled to be held from November 7 to 17, 2020 was postponed by a year. On May 30, Philippine Swimming Inc. the national sports association for aquatic sports in the country issued the "Return to Swim" the guidelines stipulating on how its member clubs could resume operations and its swimmers could resume training under certain conditions in areas under general community quarantine.[18]

Volleyball

Before the suspension of the Philippine Super Liga, three matches in the PSL Grand Prix Conference on March 10 were played at an empty Filoil Flying V Centre.[19]

Impact on multi-sports competitions

International competitions

The ASEAN Para Games was cancelled on May 8[20] as a result of the Philippine Sports Commission withdrawing funding for the Games following a directive from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to defer sporting events in the Philippines until December 2020 and the government's call to redirect resources to deal with the pandemic.[21]

Collegiate leagues

The community quarantine measures imposed in Metro Manila forced the cancellation of University Athletic Association of the Philippines's (UAAP) UAAP Season 82.[22] University of Santo Tomas will be officially awarded as overall champions in both the juniors and seniors division of the season in an "virtual" closing ceremony to be streamed online on July 25. No Athlete of the Year will be named.[23] The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Season 95 also ended prematurely but unlike the UAAP noo overall championship title was awarded.[24]

List of affected events

Leagues
Curtailed
Postponed, some games played
Postponed, not yet started

Other competitions
Cancelled

See also

References
  1. "PSC cancels sports events, assures support for national athletes". ABS-CBN News. April 29, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  2. "2020 ASEAN Para Games officially canceled". The Jakarta Post. May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  3. "Philippines converts sports stadiums to combat COVID-19". ESPN5. April 29, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  4. "Non-contact sports like golf, cycling allowed while on lockdown: Lorenzana". ABS-CBN News. May 13, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  5. "BWF suspends 2020 Badminton Asia Manila Championships". Tiebreaker Times. May 4, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  6. Terrado, Jonas (February 14, 2020). "FIBA officially postpones Gilas Pilipinas home match vs Thailand due to COVID-19". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  7. "PBA PBA, D-League 2020 season opening postponed due to novel coronavirus". Rappler. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  8. Terrado, Reuben (June 12, 2020). "PBA sticking to same format if Philippine Cup allowed to resume". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  9. "PFF still awaiting IATF go-signal for football's return". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  10. Yumol, David Tristan (March 26, 2020). "AFF Women's Championship in the Philippines postponed due to COVID-19 threat". CNN Philippines. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  11. Cabanlong, Xy-Zha (27 May 2020). "PFF prexy Nonong Araneta hopeful on football's return in PH". Dugout Philippines. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  12. Sevilla, Jeremiah (March 11, 2020). "Azkals' WC qualifying games canceled". The Manila Times. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  13. Tupas, Cedelf (March 10, 2020). "Ceres-Negros to play AFC Cup match vs Bali United in empty stadium". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  14. Pedralvez, Manolo (7 July 2020). "As far as PFF chief is concerned, Ceres-Negros still a PFL member". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  15. Tupas, Cedelf (July 9, 2020). "'My family,' Yanson says of Ceres-Negros after letting go of Southeast Asia's current No. 1 club". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  16. Menor, Dominic (May 15, 2020). "As Philippines readies to open golf courses in new normal, caddies' role significantly reduced". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  17. "Golf courses under GCQ may now open — IATF". Manila Bulletin. May 22, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  18. Pedralvez, Manolo (June 1, 2020). "As new normal sets in, Philippine swimming tries to stay afloat in middle of pandemic". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  19. Agcaoili, Lance (March 10, 2020). "PSL to hold games in empty arenas amid growing COVID-19 threat". Spin.ph. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  20. "2020 ASEAN Para Games officially canceled". The Jakarta Post. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  21. "PSC-sanctioned events 'canceled until December'". Dugout Philippines. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  22. Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (March 15, 2020). "UAAP Season 82 'canceled' due to Covid-19". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  23. Giongco, Mark (July 22, 2020). "UAAP officially wraps up Season 82 with virtual closing ceremony". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  24. Villar, Joey (24 April 2020). "NCAA scraps overall championship race". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
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