Inside the first week of the new year and already one can anticipate an event-filled and exciting sporting calendar with several high profile events taking place both at home and abroad.
Top of the list has to be the 2002 Tokyo Olympics followed by the men’s T20 World Cup and the European Football championships.
The heat of the Tokyo summer could be the biggest challenge facing organisers, who constructed a new stadium on the grounds of the venue for the 1964 Olympics. The Games start on July 24 and conclude on August 9 and all eyes will be on our athletes in anticipation of medals. The Paralympic Games will, as is customary, also be held in Tokyo using many of the same facilities including the Olympic Stadium.
For the first time, a major football championship will be held in 12 different countries with Euro 2020 to be staged in a dozen UEFA countries from June 12 to July 12.
Having the largest capacity of any of the stadiums entered for the competition, Wembley Stadium in London will host the semi-finals and final for the second time. Azerbaijan is the only host nation to be eliminated from qualifying to date. Among the other hosts, England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain have already qualified while Ireland, Romania, Scotland and Hungary face play-offs.
Both the men’s and women’s T20 World Cups will take place in Australia in 2020. The women’s event takes place from February 21 with the final at the MCG on March 8. The men’s version will be the seventh and will be held from October 18 to November 15.
Sixteen teams will contest the tournament, with the top nine sides on the rankings and hosts Australia qualifying automatically. The top eight ranked sides earn a bye to the Super 12 phase.
In tennis, the four Grand Slams take up their usual places of prominence while the new ATP Cup comes into being in January before the Australian Open.
Golf’s majors maintain their traditional positions on the calendar with the first of them, the Masters, taking place at Augusta from April 9. In May, the US PGA Championship tees off in San Francisco. The US Open moves to the east coast and will in Mamaroneck, New York. The Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich in Kent, England, will host the Open for the 15th time.
The Tour de France runs from June 25 to July 19, posing a challenge to cyclists keen on competing at the Olympics.
On the local front, there’s the CONCACAF Gold Cup playoff in June to anticipate with the men’s national team under new head coach Terry Fenwick against either the Russell Latapy-coached Barbados or Guyana, while the men’s and women’s Under 20 and Under-17 teams enter World Cup qualifying action. A newly-proposed three-tier domestic league is also in the cards.
The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have agreed on a tournament window between August 19 and September 26, which means that for the third successive year all West Indies contracted players will be available for the duration of the event. With high-calibre international stars also set to take part, fans across the Caribbean will be able to see some of the best talent the cricket world has to offer. This window also means that there will be no overlap with the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new event, The Hundred, meaning both tournaments will benefit from having the best possible players.
Sport has the power to uplift people in times of turmoil. It provides a platform for fans to support their favourite countries, teams and athletes regardless of where they come from. If just for this, we should all look forward to what’s to come with keen interest.
Shaun Fuentes is the head of TTFA Media, a former FIFA Media Officer and currently a CONCACAF Competitions Media Officer.