Multiple sporting events and regular sporting activities have been cancelled across the country following the confirmation of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the Maldives.
While both the Athletics Association of Maldives and the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) recently put a halt to their regularly scheduled activities, the Maldives Surfing Association has also announced their decision to pause all activities and Youth Development Programs (YDP) scheduled for the months of March and April.
Likewise, the Jazeera Championship has been postponed despite FAM having earlier stated that tournaments will continue even if other activities have been halted. The Jazeera Championship has been postponed to be held until after Ramadan, said FAM.
Similarly, the ongoing Resort League 2020 has also been postponed until further notice whereas the Club Maldives Cup has been delayed till June.
The global COVID-19 epidemic has caused many sporting events across the world being postponed with the most recent one being the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers where the Maldives was set to compete. A match between China and Maldives was set to be held in Southeastern Asian nation on March 26th but reports at the time claimed that the match may be relocated to Thailand due to concerns regarding the country's emerging coronavirus situation from Wuhan City, Hubei Province of mainland China.
While the virus reached the Maldives this past weekend, there have been six confirmed coronavirus cases since then.