Corona did not bring the end of the world, but it brought a sport we had never known before. Many championships, competitions, matches were postponed and those that were held were left without an audience. Empty stands around the world… Emptiness in television broadcasts from sports fields.
Will this 2021 return sporting events to the level we remember before March last year? Will the audience rush to the stadiums in the near future or will it be gradual, due to the limitations or fear of the people themselves? What kind of sport becomes without this "living" component in the form of spectators? Are these just events in a series, and not real experiences of all of us who have a need for togetherness, because that is how the deep meaning of SPORT is felt.
It remains to be seen whether this fan "void" will last for a long time, because without the audience, sports events are definitely curtailed.
At the same time, athletes feel isolated and fall into their own psychological crises. So, all actors in sports are affected: players, fans, audience, management, sports journalists…
Finally, one of the biggest sporting events - the Olympic Games - has been postponed for the first time in history and will take place in this odd year. There are many more unknowns, both about the number of spectators and about the competitors themselves. The Olympic Games are a global event in which people from all over the world arrive in one city, which poses a special challenge to organizers in the pandemic era.
We are left with faith and hope that soon we will all return to the sports fields together, and we will not lose our sports spirit!
