2021: the great deconfinement in sports

The year 2021 was marked by a certain return to normal in the circuits and sporting events of the planet, before being again turned upside down by COVID-19 in December.

• Read also: Year in review: the outcry of 2021

Tokyo Olympics

One year late

After postponing to 2020, the Tokyo Games were finally held in the summer of 2021. The organizers nevertheless raised the possibility of canceling the prestigious event at the last minute, when the health situation was worrying in Japan. . Eventually the Games were held, but spectators were barred from entering almost all of the competition venues. Part of the local population has also expressed frustration at this closure.

National Hockey League

The famous Canadian section

After having held the 2019-2020 playoffs in “bubbles” in Edmonton and Toronto the previous summer, the National Hockey League (NHL) chose to start its next campaign in January 2021 and reduce it to 56 season games. regular. Due to border constraints, the Bettman circuit has exceptionally regrouped all the Canadian teams in the same section. If the season could be disputed, the COVID-19 however made its own, in particular with the Vancouver Canucks, which had to be stopped between March 24 and April 18.

For the Montreal Canadiens, who reached the Stanley Cup final, the players did not play in front of spectators at the Bell Center – in very limited numbers – before the sixth game of their first round series against the Maple Leafs of Toronto.

The NHL thought it had returned to some normalcy in 2021-2022, but the Omicron variant made its mark at the end of the year. The majority of teams saw more than one of their skaters contract the virus, many matches were postponed, and players eventually gave up on participating in the Beijing Games in February 2022.

Major League Soccer

A late return to the country

Canadian Major League Soccer (MLS) teams, including CF Montreal, have been forced to start their 2021 season in the United States. The training of coach Wilfried Nancy has therefore established a temporary home in Florida, at the home of Inter Miami CF. Canadian clubs were stuck with our neighbors to the south until mid-July. Back home, the Montreal club then played the majority of its clashes at Stade Saputo in front of a limited number of spectators, until Quebec Public Health changed its rules in October.

Canadian football league

Reduced capacity at Percival-Molson Stadium

Having given up on its 2020 campaign, the Canadian Football League has postponed its start of the 2021 season to August 5 and reduced its number of games to 14 in the regular season. This decision was mainly motivated by the objective of giving more chances to the teams to play in front of spectators, an essential condition for the good functioning and the viability of the circuit. She was the right one.

In his end-of-season report, Montreal Alouettes president Mario Cecchini indicated that an average of 13,063 spectators turned up at Percival-Molson Stadium, where the authorized capacity at the start of the calendar was 15. 000 people.

Major baseball and NBA

Exile in the United States

As in MLS, the Canadian teams of these two circuits had to go into exile for a long time in the United States to be able to play. The Toronto Blue Jays kicked off the campaign at their training complex in Florida and also played home games in Buffalo. They played their first game in the country on July 30. For their part, the Toronto Raptors have moved to Tampa, Florida for the entire 2020-2021 campaign. In September, they got the green light from the federal government to play their home games this season at Scotiabank Arena in Queen City. During the twelfth month of the year, however, health authorities decided to reduce the capacity of the Raptors’ home to 50%.

NFL

Return to normal, or almost

In February 2021, the NFL concluded its 2020 season with a Raymond James Stadium featuring around 25,000 spectators, including 7,500 healthcare workers invited for free, for the Super Bowl LV game. Usually, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ home can accommodate over 65,000 people.

As for the current campaign, there are no longer any limits for the number of spectators present in all the stadiums of the league. A minority of teams also ask their supporters to be vaccinated against the virus to attend a match.


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