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Effects of coronavirus on professional races

Page 82 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
The TDU is definitely not happening - The point I was making is that major sporting organisations have for the most part successfully produced 'bubbles' to allow events to happen, but Australia seems to not to trust these bubbles, yet sporting organisations want to come to OZ because they have a grip on COVID - Look at golf where there will be three majors organised with bubbles with golfers coming from all over the world YET Australia has cancelled internationally co-sanctioned golf tournaments - Even the OZ Tennis Open is no certainty to happen, yet the US Open and French Open went off without issues - It's hard to understand.

I don’t think it really is that hard to understand. It’s a question of priorities. Australia has decided that keeping Covid firmly crushed is both achievable and key to allowing a pretty much normal life to go on. Is it really that surprising that the authorities aren’t keen to create opportunities for a reintroduction to occur during high profile events that they waived rules to facilitate?
 
I don’t think it really is that hard to understand. It’s a question of priorities. Australia has decided that keeping Covid firmly crushed is both achievable and key to allowing a pretty much normal life to go on. Is it really that surprising that the authorities aren’t keen to create opportunities for a reintroduction to occur during high profile events that they waived rules to facilitate?

So elite international sporting competitions that have successfully run bubbles are a danger ? This group of people are some of the safest people in the world because they must test negative to enter their bubble and are regularly tested while in their bubble as well as following bio-security protocols - Despite your assertions this logic makes no sense at all.
 
Regarding the TDU it is not that the Aussies can’t run it but that they don’t want to. Some international competition has opened up with rugby union between Australia and New Zealand because both nations are among the most Covid secure developed nations in the world and even with a Covid bubble environment the NZ squad will be subject to quarantine on their return back home.
 
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Australia just confirmed the Indian test cricket team to come and play ( ofcourse thats about 150 less people than a cycling race brings)
On the Australian Tennis Open. its in the state whihc got hit the hardest. Queensland, New Sout Wales or South Australia it would be going ahead no problems.

I went to a football game on the weekend with 45000 people there in New South Wales.
 
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Australia just confirmed the Indian test cricket team to come and play ( ofcourse thats about 150 less people than a cycling race brings)
On the Australian Tennis Open. its in the state whihc got hit the hardest. Queensland, New Sout Wales or South Australia it would be going ahead no problems.

I went to a football game on the weekend with 45000 people there in New South Wales.

Yes, you are lucky that the Aussie and Indian cricketers have made big sacrifices to allow the tour to go ahead - I am guessing that domestic hubs for national sporting competitions should be stopped by XMAS assuming COVID remains under control.
 
Yes, you are lucky that the Aussie and Indian cricketers have made big sacrifices to allow the tour to go ahead - I am guessing that domestic hubs for national sporting competitions should be stopped by XMAS assuming COVID remains under control.
All of the sports here have made huge sacrifices to go ahead over this year. The rugby league players just got out of a 6 month bubble. The strangest decision here though was to continue horse racing the entire time. It never stopped, from march to now not a single day
 
All of the sports here have made huge sacrifices to go ahead over this year. The rugby league players just got out of a 6 month bubble. The strangest decision here though was to continue horse racing the entire time. It never stopped, from march to now not a single day

There was no issue with horse-racing continuing - They did an excellent job with their bio-security protocols which have resulted in one positive case from over ten thousand participants - They should be applauded for their performance - I'll also add that horse racing continued the whole time in Hong Kong - Anyway the TDU has been cancelled - My understanding was the date of entering the soft quarantine was the sticking point - The SA Government wanted teams to arrive on the 2nd of January in which teams would have been able to train each day under police escort - The teams were happy with this soft quarantine but they wanted to arrive 4 or 5 days before the start date, because it is the beginning of the season and teams wanted to train in Europe ( hopefully uninterrupted ) to build up their base - It will be interesting to see if any Asian,Middle East or South American races happen early in 2021.
 
There was no issue with horse-racing continuing - They did an excellent job with their bio-security protocols which have resulted in one positive case from over ten thousand participants - They should be applauded for their performance - I'll also add that horse racing continued the whole time in Hong Kong - Anyway the TDU has been cancelled - My understanding was the date of entering the soft quarantine was the sticking point - The SA Government wanted teams to arrive on the 2nd of January in which teams would have been able to train each day under police escort - The teams were happy with this soft quarantine but they wanted to arrive 4 or 5 days before the start date, because it is the beginning of the season and teams wanted to train in Europe ( hopefully uninterrupted ) to build up their base - It will be interesting to see if any Asian,Middle East or South American races happen early in 2021.
I know of people who were a week off bankruptcy but horse racing was allowed to continue. The hypocrisy and rules for some but not others was a frustrating period and I’m a huge punter including happy valley and sha tin
 
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So it has been confirmed that it was a riders/team based decision to cancel the Tour Down Under rather than the race organisers deciding themselves.

The length of quarantine is definitely an issue. I think that in Australia our aim now must be total elimination of the virus. In Victoria – where we have had the highest numbers and the harshest restrictions – we have had 0 – yes, 0 – new cases in the last four days. Out total number of active cases are down to just 38, with almost all of these being known, and I believe in hotel quarantine. Australia overall probably has less than 100 active cases of covid now.

It will be interesting to see if the Australian Open tennis goes ahead. This is obviously a much bigger deal than the Tour Down Under (even someone like myself, as an Australian who enjoys watching cycling, doesn’t care much at all about the TDU) and it seems somewhat farcical that the US Open and French Open were just played, in places that have thousands upon thousands of active covid cases, yet the Australian Open could be cancelled. But maybe that is partly the point; that covid cannot be controlled at all in America and Europe – hence the having to live with it – whereas in Australia elimination is possible. I only say possible, not probable, because it is unlikely, since we still have people forever filtering back into the country from overseas, and you can’t exactly stop them from re-entering. As we have seen in Victoria, hotel quarantine is no guarantee of keeping covid at bay, for there is human nature….

I suggested a long time ago, that so long as you don’t have male security guards weighing more than 80 kgs, nor female security guards weighing under 80 kgs, then you probably won’t have any problems! :p

As far as horse racing goes, it is pretty scary the level of pull that the industry – backed enormously by betting agencies – must have with Government. I will give you a good example. AFL (Australian Rules Football) is basically a religion over here, or at least it is in the states of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Yet when the pandemic started to gather steam in March, the season – which was just one week old – was put on hold. Yet Horse Racing – which in reality far less people properly care about (a lot of it is more for the punting and drinking) – continued on. Yes, there were some other factors. Some state Governments banned Victorians from entering I believe, or at least without quarantining, making week to week football fixtures nigh on impossible until a hub was developed. Whereas I guess, horses wouldn’t normally travel interstate. But this isn’t the case with big races, and our biggest race is today, the Melbourne Cup. And there are international horses racing, I believe. And I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that horses don’t choose to race themselves. Yes, there are strappers, trainers, owners, and so forth, all probably flying over here, for “the big race”.

Yet, the Australian Open, one of the world’s biggest tennis tournaments, might not go ahead. :rolleyes:

Money talks. Actually it screams. In March (and even more so in June/July) everything in Melbourne stopped. Everything in Melbourne stopped that wasn’t necessary. How could one consider horse racing necessary in comparison to much of what was put on hold?

Not only is horse racing unnecessary, but it is unethical. Money, money, money. Must be funny? No, not always.
 


So it has been confirmed that it was a riders/team based decision to cancel the Tour Down Under rather than the race organisers deciding themselves.

The length of quarantine is definitely an issue. I think that in Australia our aim now must be total elimination of the virus. In Victoria – where we have had the highest numbers and the harshest restrictions – we have had 0 – yes, 0 – new cases in the last four days. Out total number of active cases are down to just 38, with almost all of these being known, and I believe in hotel quarantine. Australia overall probably has less than 100 active cases of covid now.

It will be interesting to see if the Australian Open tennis goes ahead. This is obviously a much bigger deal than the Tour Down Under (even someone like myself, as an Australian who enjoys watching cycling, doesn’t care much at all about the TDU) and it seems somewhat farcical that the US Open and French Open were just played, in places that have thousands upon thousands of active covid cases, yet the Australian Open could be cancelled. But maybe that is partly the point; that covid cannot be controlled at all in America and Europe – hence the having to live with it – whereas in Australia elimination is possible. I only say possible, not probable, because it is unlikely, since we still have people forever filtering back into the country from overseas, and you can’t exactly stop them from re-entering. As we have seen in Victoria, hotel quarantine is no guarantee of keeping covid at bay, for there is human nature….

I suggested a long time ago, that so long as you don’t have male security guards weighing more than 80 kgs, nor female security guards weighing under 80 kgs, then you probably won’t have any problems! :p

As far as horse racing goes, it is pretty scary the level of pull that the industry – backed enormously by betting agencies – must have with Government. I will give you a good example. AFL (Australian Rules Football) is basically a religion over here, or at least it is in the states of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Yet when the pandemic started to gather steam in March, the season – which was just one week old – was put on hold. Yet Horse Racing – which in reality far less people properly care about (a lot of it is more for the punting and drinking) – continued on. Yes, there were some other factors. Some state Governments banned Victorians from entering I believe, or at least without quarantining, making week to week football fixtures nigh on impossible until a hub was developed. Whereas I guess, horses wouldn’t normally travel interstate. But this isn’t the case with big races, and our biggest race is today, the Melbourne Cup. And there are international horses racing, I believe. And I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that horses don’t choose to race themselves. Yes, there are strappers, trainers, owners, and so forth, all probably flying over here, for “the big race”.

Yet, the Australian Open, one of the world’s biggest tennis tournaments, might not go ahead. :rolleyes:

Money talks. Actually it screams. In March (and even more so in June/July) everything in Melbourne stopped. Everything in Melbourne stopped that wasn’t necessary. How could one consider horse racing necessary in comparison to much of what was put on hold?

Not only is horse racing unnecessary, but it is unethical. Money, money, money. Must be funny? No, not always.

If the Australian Open tennis doesn't go ahead like the Tour Down Under it is because the Australian Government doesn't trust the protocols set up by leading sporting bodies throughout the world which are of course set up by Health Authorities - In relation to tennis the template is available with the successful running of the French Open and the US Open in which players/officials/coaches arrive in the country AND then must test negative before entering the bubble which is well contained which is similar to how cycling is conducted - For unknown reasons, Australia doesn't want to play ball - The problem with the TDU was the teams were happy to arrive 4 or 5 days before the race and their soft quarantine, rather than arriving 19 days before the race - Will add its madness for Cycling Australia to have an elite National Championship when most of the overseas based racers are staying in Europe during the pandemic - It's fine to have under 23's, juniors and wheelchair events .

You picked the wrong sport in horse-racing - You should be applauding their efforts to continue in a pandemic in which the whole industry which employs tens of thousands of cases had one positive case - Horse racing continued the whole time in Hong Kong and Japan while it continued in other countries, although many had a break.

Finally, you better hope a vaccine is available in 2021 or there will be little International Sport in OZ in 2022.
 
This is a bizarre decision - I fully support the under 23's, junior and wheelchair categories happening BUT you devalue the elite category when most of the overseas-based riders are staying in Europe over the winter because of the pandemic, and even these overseas-based professionals who return to Oz will not hang around till February for the Nationals - Cycling Australia may have rebadged themselves since November 1 but nothing has changed.
 
If the Australian Open tennis doesn't go ahead like the Tour Down Under it is because the Australian Government doesn't trust the protocols set up by leading sporting bodies throughout the world which are of course set up by Health Authorities - In relation to tennis the template is available with the successful running of the French Open and the US Open in which players/officials/coaches arrive in the country AND then must test negative before entering the bubble which is well contained which is similar to how cycling is conducted - For unknown reasons, Australia doesn't want to play ball - The problem with the TDU was the teams were happy to arrive 4 or 5 days before the race and their soft quarantine, rather than arriving 19 days before the race - Will add its madness for Cycling Australia to have an elite National Championship when most of the overseas based racers are staying in Europe during the pandemic - It's fine to have under 23's, juniors and wheelchair events .

You picked the wrong sport in horse-racing - You should be applauding their efforts to continue in a pandemic in which the whole industry which employs tens of thousands of cases had one positive case - Horse racing continued the whole time in Hong Kong and Japan while it continued in other countries, although many had a break.

Finally, you better hope a vaccine is available in 2021 or there will be little International Sport in OZ in 2022.
I really don't see what the point of complaining incessantly about all this is. The reality is that many Australian citizens and residents still can't get to Australia at all. Whether these sporting events do or don't go ahead is fairly meaningless.

Just as an aside, it's highly unrealistic to expect any state in Australia to risk approving special quarantine arrangements for athletes after the Victorian hotel quarantine debacle.
 
I really don't see what the point of complaining incessantly about all this is. The reality is that many Australian citizens and residents still can't get to Australia at all. Whether these sporting events do or don't go ahead is fairly meaningless.

Just as an aside, it's highly unrealistic to expect any state in Australia to risk approving special quarantine arrangements for athletes after the Victorian hotel quarantine debacle.

The Victorian Hotel Quarantine debacle has nothing to do with my post - It is Australia who is costing itself financially by making it difficult to have international sporting events, while also disappointing the public and costing jobs/livelihoods - Yes the point about Aussie citizens and residents being stuck overseas, while the Embassies suggest to apply for crowd funding, sending people to shelters, applying for loans for excessive air fares etc.etc,etc is far from ideal - Anyway we need to hope there is a vaccine in 2021 or 2022 will be rinse and repeat.
 
The Victorian Hotel Quarantine debacle has nothing to do with my post - It is Australia who is costing itself financially by making it difficult to have international sporting events, while also disappointing the public and costing jobs/livelihoods - Yes the point about Aussie citizens and residents being stuck overseas, while the Embassies suggest to apply for crowd funding, sending people to shelters, applying for loans for excessive air fares etc.etc,etc is far from ideal - Anyway we need to hope there is a vaccine in 2021 or 2022 will be rinse and repeat.

International sporting events are a minuscule proportion of the potential economic impacts of Covid-19. Australia's economy has fared much better than America or Europe. Because Australia managed to keep the virus under control. We were not immune, many people have still died from Covid-19. But compared to America and Europe Australia did well. Australia proved restrictions can work as not only did we bring the virus under control after the initial surge in March but we did it again in the state of Victoria after they lost control of quarantine.

The reasons for Victoria's quarantine debacle are fairly well known even if the official inquiry drags on for political reasons. But as far as the TDU is concerned yes it is the 14 day compulsory quarantine which must be the crucial factor. As far as I know horses don't carry the virus and all people who came for the Melbourne cup would have done so well in advance to comply with the quarantine rules. This won't work for riders from Europe who would lose form quickly. Of course I agree wholeheartedly that a vaccine becomes available as soon as possible.
 
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