The Super Rugby competition has been thrown into turmoil as Sanzaar on Saturday suspended the remainder of the 2020 season due to coronavirus.
The disease was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on Thursday, causing a global lockdown of international sports across codes.
On Saturday afternoon Sanzaar joined a list of international sporting organisations that either postponed or cancelled their events.
"Following a Sanzaar executive committee teleconference in response to the announcement by the New Zealand government that all returning travellers will have to self-isolate for 14 days, including Super Rugby players, Sanzaar believes it has no option but to suspend the 2020 Super Rugby tournament at the conclusion of this weekend's matches for the foreseeable future," a Sanzaar statement read.
"Five New Zealand teams play in the 15-team Super Rugby tournament and Sanzaar completely understands the directive issued by the New Zealand government given concerns globally over the Covid-19 virus and the primary aim to reduce exposure and spread of the virus."
Andy Marinos, Sanzaar CEO, stated: "The safety and welfare of the public, our players and other stakeholders is paramount and as previously stated we were always going to abide by government and health authority instructions on the issue of Covid-19 containment.
"We are extremely disappointed for the players, our fans, broadcasters and partners but given the complexity of our competition structure, and the multiple geographies that we cover, we have no option but to align with such directives. We also believe it is time for all those players overseas to return home and to be with their families.
"We will continue to explore avenues to see if we can keep the rugby product alive within our core markets, with the possibility to be in a position to resume the tournament if at all possible in future weeks. We have currently played seven rounds out of the 18 in the normal regular season.
"Sanzaar will issue further information on Super Rugby 2020 and any potential rescheduled fixtures in the days ahead."
SA Super Rugby teams who were in Australia and New Zealand had left nothing to chance.
The Lions were in New Zealand, having completed their two-match Australian leg of the tour. The Bulls were in Brisbane yesterday and have one more game in Australia against the Waratahs in West Tamworth before proceeding to New Zealand for two more matches against the Hurricanes in Wellington and Chiefs in Hamilton to complete their programme.
Bulls team doctor Herman Rossouw said the team undertakes daily medical tests to ensure they are kept track of in the event of a flare-up of flu-like symptoms.
"As a Sanzaar requirement, the whole squad has daily medicals with temperatures being taken and symptoms being scored. "There's a huge emphasis on personal hygiene and prevention . The whole squad has had clearance before they left to know they're healthy," Rossouw said.
"Should there be any suspicious cases, there'll be quick isolation and compulsory testing to see what's going on there."
Lions CEO Rudolf Straeuli, who is touring with the team, said they're following strict medical and hygiene protocol.
The Lions played against the Blues in Auckland yesterday and have one more fixture in Dunedin against the Highlanders.
"The team has a medical doctor with them at all times and are monitored 24/7. They have been informed of the hygiene precautions to take and everyone is adhering to that diligently. They were dispensed with hand sanitisers and nasal powder blocks before leaving SA," Straeuli said.
Soccer
On Friday night the Confederation of African Football (Caf) called off the round of Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers saying, while the numbers of coronavirus cases in Africa are still few, the number of players joining national teams from clubs in Europe and Asia, and travel restrictions in some countries, necessitated their decision.
"We welcome Caf's decision to postpone all our matches during the March 25 to 31 2020 period. This means that our senior men's national team, Bafana Bafana, will not be playing Sao Tome e Principe in two weeks," said the SA Football Association in a statement.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has continued with Nedbank Cup games taking place while there are two big league games between Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates on Tuesday at Loftus Versfeld and Kaizer Chiefs and Bidvest Wits at FNB Stadium on Wednesday. PSL acting CEO Mato Madlala said they'll be playing it by ear.
"Touch wood, it's under control here in SA but if it reaches a stage where they advise us to play behind closed doors or anything else, we'll do so. This weekend's games will take place, but we'll make a call on next week because the nature of the virus spread is unpredictable and volatile. You could wake up the next day with more infections," Madlala said.
"The numbers will guide us from a decision-making perspective and we hope they don't increase.
"There are big games next week, but we'll be guided by the higher authorities."
Pro14
The Pro14 tournament that has two SA teams in it is also off. The Cheetahs still have two home games against Zebre (April 25) and Benetton (May 16). The Southern Kings are due a trip to Parma to face Zebre on April 18 before hosting Benetton the following week. Free State Rugby spokesperson Ronel Pienaar said they've acted according to the instructions of senior bodies.
"Free State Rugby will act in terms of instructions of SA Rugby and the governmental guidelines, not only in SA, but in the rest of the world in terms of the Covid-19 virus for all rugby activities," Pienaar said.
SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux said the health and wellness of players was the main priority.
"Ensuring the wellness of players, supporters and staff as well as playing rugby's part in helping counter the pandemic is of primary importance," Roux said.
Cricket
Before the Proteas's India ODI tour was postponed on Friday, Proteas team doctor Shuaib Manjra said they were following strict hygiene protocols.
"Before we left SA, we did a risk assessment to ensure that when we get to India, the risk isn't high. We considered India to be low risk at that point in time. We educated our players on the coronavirus, the dos and the don'ts, the precautionary measures to be taken and what the risks of the virus are," Manjra said.
Cricket SA's acting CEO Jacques Faul said the postponement was made with the player's interests at heart.
"This decision is both necessary and a precaution that had to be taken in the interest of cricket and the sustainability of the game," Faul said.
Swimming
The African championships scheduled for Durban next month have been postponed because of coronavirus fears, Swimming SA said in a statement yesterday.
The gala was to be staged at the King's Park pool in Durban from April 17-22.
"Our main priority as the African Swimming Confederation is the safety of our athletes and with that in mind, the decision was made to postpone the event," the body's president, Sam Ramsamy, said in the statement issued by Swimming SA.
New dates would "be announced in due course".
SSA has yet to make a decision on the national championships, which double as Olympic trials, and which will be held at the same venue from April 4-9.
It's a compulsory event for all SA swimmers wanting to win selection to the Tokyo Games, with competitors like Chad Le Clos flying in from Turkey and many others, including world 50m backstroke champion Zane Waddell, coming from the US.
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