Closing Shot: Keep Your Distance

Spectators at the April 25 boxing match in Nicaragua were spaced at least a meter apart.getty images

Sports leagues are weeks away from resuming play in all but a few countries, with Belarus the only European country whose soccer league has not pressed pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But it’s a different story in Nicaragua, whose top soccer league, Liga Primera, has continued to hold games behind closed doors. The country’s minister of health also has allowed baseball to continue, sometimes with fans, and on April 25, Managua’s Alexis Argüello Sports Center was the site of an eight-fight card organized by Bufalo Boxing Promotions.

Former world champ Rosendo Álvarez, the promoter of the event, told ESPN.com, “Here in Nicaragua, there is no quarantine. The government of Nicaragua and the minister of health have made a great effort so that the pandemic did not leave a mark on this country.”

Then again, the spread of the virus in the country cannot be verified. As of last week, the country had reported only 13 cases and three deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s regime was the subject of protests that turned violent in April 2018, and local journalist Camilo Velásquez told the London Guardian it is Ortega who opposes stopping sporting events from taking place. “Not stopping the [soccer] league is a result of the government’s urgency to prove a normality that doesn’t exist,” Velásquez said. “Since 2018 they’ve been desperate to show things are back to normal, and part of that includes functioning sports.”

It is in that setting that fans attended the fight card, in which lightweights Ramiro Blanco and Robin Zamora squared off in the headline bout.

Attendees were required to have their temperatures checked before they entered the arena. They were not permitted to sit together, as rules required that they “keep one meter of distance between them.” The doctors, trainers and commissioners in attendance all wore masks and latex gloves. 

Meanwhile, in countries like the United States, where mass gatherings could be months away, the conversations leagues are having about how to proceed amid the pandemic are very different.

Plans for returning to competitive action are beginning to materialize for several leagues, including the PGA Tour, NASCAR and IndyCar. As with various scenarios being explored by those and other sports properties, resumption of play anticipates doing so without fans.

The NBA has said that, starting May 8, teams can open practice facilities in states where stay-at-home restrictions have been relaxed, but as of last week the league’s season remained suspended indefinitely. That was the case as well with the NHL and Major League Baseball. MLS has suspended its season at least until June 8, while the NFL’s regular season is still planned to start as scheduled in September.

Meanwhile in Europe, soccer leagues like the Bundesliga — which aims to resume play behind closed doors on May 9 — desperately want to complete their seasons for financial reasons, but their plans depend on approval from their national health ministries.

So as far as playing in front of fans, Nicaragua remains by far the exception, not the rule. But it does provide a glimpse of the odd scene expected to play out elsewhere if fans can only gradually return to stadiums and arenas.

Those attending had to submit to temperature checks.getty images