Basketball and hockey arenas shuttered along with ballparks. Tennis and golf tournaments wiped out or postponed. Motor sport circuits silenced.
The spread of the coronavirus paused every major sport and left a hole in the lives of billions during two months of weekends without any live elite competition to watch — until now.
When the German Bundesliga lockdown ends on Saturday, a sense of normality will be restored with a very unusual feel. The sporting world and national leaders will be watching with as much trepidation as hope. “The Bundesliga is going to be important,” Colombia President Iván Duque said. "It’ll be the benchmark.” The first major European league to resume is about so much more than filling the void for social distancing