Tanya Lee | Sport steps up - Pleasing to see athletes paying it forward during Covid-19 crisis

As the world grapples with a global pandemic, the sports community is at a virtual standstill while all efforts are placed on control, recovery and social distancing to lessen the impact of COVID-19.

With many sporting events and leagues cancelled or postponed as the virus spreads beyond Asia, the memes are out as well. I recently saw one purporting to quote a Spanish biological researcher. It read,

“You give the footballer €1 million (about J$144 million) a month and a biological researcher €1,800 (around J$260,000). You are looking for a treatment now. Go to Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi and they will find you a cure.”

Although I do not know the validity of the meme, I assume all are agreed that protecting human life must come above any other interests.

While, to date, I haven’t seen any donations from Ronaldo or Messi, both have issued statements, during self-isolation, asking fans to stay home and heed the advice of healthcare professionals. sports community

INPUT FROM sports community

The meme prompted me to research the various ways in which the sports community has offered assistance to the most vulnerable. They have stepped up as expected.

Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min has donated over €82,000 (just under J$12 million) to Good Neighbours International in his native South Korea. The contribution of the national football captain will help the non governmental organisation with duties such as supplying masks, hand sanitisers and hygiene kits to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 infection across South Korea.

Over in Italy, the situation is dire with over 3,400 deaths recorded to date. Italy has been hardest hit by the virus and has overtaken China in fatalitiesn related to the virus.

In response, AC Milan has donated €250,000 (J$36 million) to relief efforts. Milan Chief Executive Officer Ivan Gazidis said in a statement, “At a time when all of us need to take care of the most vulnerable among us, we must all act with the utmost responsibility.”

That responsibility has resonated right across the NBA in the United States. With the indefinite postponement of the current season, arena staff, who are usually paid on an hourly basis, won’t receive their usual paycheques. Numerous players and owners, including Rudy Gobert, the first NBA player to test positive for the novel coronavirus, have stepped up with donations. Gobert offered US$200,000 (around J$27 million) to game-day employees for the Utah Jazz, and an additional $300,000 (J$41 million) to families impacted by the virus in Utah, Oklahoma City and his native France.

Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Steph Curry, and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo are among the NBA players that have stepped up with donations of their own to various causes associated with either helping those with Covid-19, or providing a buffer from the financial shortfall that the postponement has created.

Sports apparel manufacturers Nike have so far committed more than US$15 million (J$2 billion) to various COVID-19 response efforts. In addition, the Nike Foundation gave a US$1 million (J$135 million) donation to the global COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, created by the United Nations Foundation. This funds efforts by the World Health Organization to support countries responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

FIFA SUPPORT

FIFA, who preside over the globe’s most lucrative sport, has pledged its support by donating US$10 million (J$1.3 billion) to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

FIFA has also launched an awareness campaign led by six world-renowned coaches, whose public announcement messages are aimed at galvanising everyone across the world to follow five key tactics that tackle the spread of the disease.

FIFA calls this “the five-step game plan” to defeat the virus – hands, elbow, face, distance and feel – in line with the WHO’s basic protective measures against COVID-19.

But while the world braces for what is likely to be months of further upheaval related to Covid-19, the sports industry will undoubtedly face significant financial duress with more cancellations to come. But given the many years of success, the famous adage “to whom much is given, much is required” comes to mind. One Love.

Tanya Lee has over 10 years’ expertise as a Caribbean sports marketer and is also an athlete manager and publicist.