Coronavirus pandemic
Barring fans best option for US: Fauci
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Fans soaking in the festivities at February's Super Bowl won by the Kansas City Chiefs. The presence of large groups of fans at these sporting events is a major obstacle to sports restarting in the United States.
PHOTO:AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
NEW YORK • United States President Donald Trump earlier this week hit out at the lack of live sports, claiming he was bored of "watching baseball games that are 14 years old".
But Anthony Fauci, the top American infectious diseases specialist, believes the only way professional sports leagues in America can resume safely is by competing behind closed doors.
Dr Fauci, who is helping to coordinate the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, added that reliable antibody testing for athletes as well as fast results would also be crucial to the return of live sports.
"There's a way of doing that," he told Snapchat-hosted programme Good Luck America.
"Nobody comes to the stadiums. Put (them) in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well-surveilled, have them tested like every week and make sure they don't wind up infecting each other or their families, and just let them play the season out."
Leading politicians, with the exception of Mr Trump, also do not want fans back in stadiums and arenas any time soon.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on Wednesday "big events should be one of the last things we should bring back online".
"The last thing we should do is gather 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 people in one place," he told CNN.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also admitted earlier this week it was "very difficult" to see the city host large gatherings, such as sporting events, before next year.
Professional sports leagues are in gridlock due to the Covid-19 crisis that has so far killed over 28,000 and infected more than 640,000 Americans as of yesterday.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is pondering a similar model to the one Dr Fauci has proposed, with the aim of getting the season restarted in either Las Vegas or the Bahamas.
The NBA shut down on March 11 after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19, and the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and the PGA Tour quickly followed suit.
The Tour will return on June 11 without fans at the rescheduled Charles Schwab Challenge, which was originally set for the weekend of May 21-24, and gallery-free golf courses will be the norm for the following three events.
The new season of Major League Baseball, which was due to start on March 26, is on hold, as is the LPGA Tour and Nascar, while the National Football League (NFL) is just hoping it will be able to start its new season on time in September.
However, Jeffrey Smith, the chief executive for Santa Clara County, California - where last term's Super Bowl finalists San Francisco 49ers are based - feels only a "major miracle" could lead to the upcoming campaign starting on time.
On fans being barred from attending games if or when play resumes, he said: "It puts the entire country at risk.
"You have people travelling from all over and you have no way of knowing whether they're infected or not - 50,000 of them in a stadium is not a good idea."
The NFL is currently off season, but Smith's fears were realised on Wednesday after Los Angeles Rams centre Brian Allen became the league's first active player to test positive for Covid-19.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
