With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) developing into a global threat, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) remains uncertain if the upcoming 2021 Gold Cup Qualifiers match against Barbados will be cancelled by the regional confederation, CONCACAF.
This position was disclosed by GFF General Secretary Ian Alves. In a brief interview with Stabroek Sport, Alves said, “CONCACAF has said nothing in this regard. What I do know and what I can tell you is that FIFA has already postponed several events inclusive of their congress. I am not sure if CONCACAF will follow in the same manner.”
Guyana is slated to face-off with Barbados in a home and away series on March 26th and 31st respectively. The first match is scheduled to be staged in Barbados, while the Golden Jaguars will host the return leg five days later at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
Three other matchups in the March 2020 Qualifiers could also be affected by the current situation. Guadeloupe is slated to battle St Vincent and the Grenadines, while Bahamas is scheduled to oppose French Guiana, and Guatemala is booked to oppose Montserrat.
According to Alves, no timeline has been established or issued by the regional entity to its membership regarding cancellation or rescheduling of the international games if COVID-19 spreads in the Caribbean.
He further said, “There is no precedence to judge the situation by; I would be speculating. They have not reached out to us regarding any possibility of cancelling of the games. They have said nothing and that is CONCACAF’s decision to make.”
Presently, Major League Soccer (MLS) of the USA, which falls under the CONCACAF umbrella, has been suspended for 30 days by the United States Soccer Federation. It is the first major league football championship in the region to halt activities for such a period.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) have also suspended their respective seasons due to the outbreak. Internationally, UEFA, the world’s leading football confederation, have suspended their marquee club tournaments, the Champions League and the Europa League due to the spread of the virus.
They had initially opted to contest several matches in the aforementioned events behind closed doors. Meanwhile, the Italian Federation, the FIGC, has suspended all league play in the Serie A until further notice to help contain the spread of the disease, which has rocked the country. At the moment, more than 1,000 deaths have been recorded by the Mediterranean nation due to the epidemic.
Similarly, the Royal Spanish Football Federation has postponed La Liga – the country’s premier championship, for two weeks, the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has halted the Eredivisie – the nation’s highest tournament, and Liga Portugal has suspended the Primeira Liga, the state’s leading event.
On the other hand, the French Football Federation has opted to stage their respective league matches behind closed doors until April 15th.
According to the World Health Organization, coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
The novel coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans.
Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
