Athletes on the run, teams locked in hotels: The South African alternative also affects sport

Cape town The South African alternative to covid-19 is putting pressure on the sports world. The decision of many European countries to suspend flights to and from countries considered at risk raises fears for athletes and puts international tournaments at risk once again.

Rugby, zebra stranded in South Africa

Players and staff for Zebre Rugby, the Parma-based franchise that plays in United Rugby, which also includes South African, Wales, Irish and Irish teams, are stuck in a Cape Town hotel, waiting to return to Italy. . The Zebras left on Wednesday for South Africa where they were scheduled for a two-week mini-tour: they were supposed to play on Saturday in Cape Town against the Stormers and on December 3 in Durban against the Sharks. The official status is still missing, but matches will be cancelled, as will those of other Welsh and Irish teams that were in South Africa these days. Zebre employees at these hours are in contact with the Usl of Parma to organize the return, which also raised a problem due to the lack of scheduled flights. The goal at the moment is to understand whether or not players and technicians should quarantine and whether they should do so in South Africa or in Italy.

Joburg Open Golf, they retired at 19

At stake is the Joburg Open, the first Dp World Tour golf tournament taking place in Johannesburg as there was a public stampede following the UK’s decision to close its borders with South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. And in Johannesburg there were many players from the United Kingdom, 17: England’s Oliver Fisher, David Hoyle, Graeme Storm, Stephen Brown, Matt Ford, Richard McEvoy, Andrew Wilson, Matthew Jordan, Northern Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin, Jonathan Caldwell, Scots Liam Johnston , Richie Ramsey, Craig Howe, Welshman Oliver Farr and Ireland’s Niall Kearney and Paul Dunn.