COVID-19: Donald Trump hopes to see sports stadia full again by August

Washington: US President Donald Trump told top officials of American sports leagues that he hopes live sports events with fans in stadiums can start sooner than later.

“We’re not going to have to have separation for the rest of our time on the planet,” Trump said. “It would be great if we could have stadiums full by August.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner Rob Manfred, National Football league (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell, National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman, Representatives from the PGA and LPGA tours, IndyCar, Major League Soccer (MLS) and professional wrestling all participated in the conference call, the White House said.

He also told Goodell that the NFL season could kick off as scheduled in September.

American sports leagues, as is the case with competitions around the world, have all been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The US has emerged as the new epicentre of the viral outbreak with over 8,000 deaths reported and more than 3,10,000 cases of infection.

The spread of the pandemic in the global scale has had a far reaching effect on sports around the world. On March 25, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the unprecedented decision of postponing the Tokyo Olympics, which was scheduled to start on July 24.