Should global sporting events continue or not?- The debate 

Over the last two years, everyone I have been talking with (friends around the globe, relatives in India or colleagues and friends in Australia) seem to give me an account of their direct or indirect Covid experience. Even if we do talk about other things, somehow the Covid story takes centre stage (the list of topics is endless and covers vaccinations, school closures, travel, RATs, politics etc). There’s so much Covid talk, that I now see everything through the lens of Covid. I have become too cautious. I get  my family to sanitise at the mall car park and again before we enter a store. My daughter correctly argues that she did not touch anything between the car park and store!!! 

Adding to this mess, were the shenanigans of the Australian Open. Do we allow or not allow Novak Djokovic into Australia and this after he had already entered the country? In the world of sports there’s currently the Winter Olympics happening in Beijing and cricket is on and possibly other sports that I don’t care enough to know about!

There is this ongoing debate in my head “Should global sporting events continue or not?“

On the one hand I feel that sports should go on:

1. Athletes have planned and prepared for these events, sometimes foregoing other pleasures.
2. At a time when everything is gloomy, sports can help brighten your day especially if it’s your favourite sports person or sports team.

On the other hand, I feel sports should not go on:

1. Sporting events and the ceremonies feel a bit like – ‘Rome is burning, Nero is fiddling’.
2. Have the governments and countries done enough to protect their citizens from this virus before they welcome or send players to participate in various tournaments?

At the end of the day:

1. I feel it is a handful of players who walk away with millions of bucks under their belt or bank account leaving the poor and needy where they were. It seems selfish in this environment.
2. . Many people are waiting to travel and meet their loved ones and they can’t,  but the sports people get to travel and continue their life as usual?!
3. Do I have a say whether the global sporting events continue or not?

What do you think?