The most prestigious tennis tournament, Wimbledon, will not take place this year for the first time since the Second World War Because of the Coronavirus outbreak. It is not the first time that an important sporting event has been postponed. This year’s Olympics destined for Tokyo has been moved to next year and the popular Formula 1 is not taking place. But some financial interests are not easy to ignore as the English Premier League as finding out. The TV rights they signed have come to hound it and it might be forced to reopen competitions albeit behind closed doors. Major TV stations cannot let the Coronavirus lockout pass by them. When do you find the whole world at home at the same time? It is an advertising Eldorado that cannot be cowed by COVID-19. Back closer at home, this year’s Genocide commemoration events will be held under the cloud of the virus. The disruption will see the usual town hall meetings on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi taking place on the airwaves to avoid gatherings. So it is not only the Olympics and Wimbledon that be affected by the virus, because, for the first time since 1995, Rwandan will not be able honour their dead in a befitting manner. But the COVID-19 has its positive side. Geopolitics are being remodeled around the virus with the Russians airlifting medical supplies to the US and the Chinese doing the same. In February when China was grappling with the virus, the US had sent it its reserve face masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) because it felt it would not be affected. One thing is for sure; when the COVID-19 storm passes, it will leave a lot of political, economic and social changes in its wake.
