The great Nelson Mandela said in a democratic South Africa ‘Sport has the power to unite a nation!’
Could anyone have doubted the words of a true champion; words that are needed more than ever where there is a desperate need of global unity to overcome the pandemic.
There are few unifiers as strong as a sport.
Sport transcends boundaries, beliefs, religion, and truly inspires people to forget about their misery and watch their favorite players in action with hope.
Hope to overcome suffering, gloom, plight, and everything else the dark spell of COVID 19 has cast over all of us.
Hope to be positive amid all this negativity, hope to be recipients of good news amid the rising active cases and deaths.
Well, the first dose of hope happened about 2 weekends back in Germany with the resumption of the Bundesliga (The German Football tournament). This was the first time in over 2.5 months, the world witnessed live sport, I witnessed live sport.
And boy was it a great feeling, a sense of finally sport having managed to get the better of the virus with some resumption.
I am not much of a Bundesliga fan, more a Premier and Champions League faithful, but just to see some live football was reason enough for me to watch the entire game between Bayern Munich and Berlin Union. Weren’t we done with replays and highlights?
The resumption of the Bundesliga gave me hope to believe the Premier League and other sporting tournaments across the world would be on their way to resume soon. I can certainly tell you I am not alone hoping for this.
So, what can we look forward to in live sport as seekers of hope:
Football
- Premier League – a possible resumption on June 17 where finally my favorite Liverpool will be crowned champions after a gap of 30 years.
- Taking a leaf out of the Bundesliga book, I am sure other country tournaments like Serie A (Italy), La Liga (Spain), and the likes will resume soon.
Cricket - IPL – With the players back in training, billions in India and world-wide can finally have the biggest-sport-cum entertainment package resuming soon, well at least we can hope so.
- West Indies v England- the first-ever series that’s slated to bring cricket back to life, puts forth several questions for both teams; can the hosts contain the passionate and free-flowing West Indies and can West Indies offer a fight like their unforgettable 2017 experience?
- South Africa v India – It is planned for India to tour South Africa for 3 T20s in August which will be the first taste of international cricket for both these countries since the onset of COVID.Wow, wouldn’t this be a big breath of fresh air amid all that’s happened?
These are just some of the possible live sport resumptions in the near future, just the thought of knowing this itinerary gives me so much hope, happiness, and relief. I am sure likewise to others around the world.
A case in point example last year of the live sport making a difference was when the Springboks won the rugby world cup. The nation of South Africa left their differences behind and united to celebrate success. Such was the happiness, the joy, the relief, and most importantly the hope of doing better and exceeding their own expectations in the time to come.
Well, by now we do realize the hope live sport gives us and the power it has to alleviate misery, suffering, and distress.
The question is are you willing to hop onto the hope express?
