All day Monday, NFL teams executed roster moves ahead of the league year set to officially start on time Wednesday. In the morning, teams applied franchise tags to prominent players. Starting at noon, the negotiating period for free agents, called by some the “legal tampering” period, kicked off and led to megabucks contract agreements, which cannot be officially signed until Wednesday. The blockbuster trade of superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins momentarily became a top trending topic on Twitter, even breaking through coronavirus updates.

The burst of NFL news happened after league officials made appeals to delay the activity and while many others grumbled. Some league officials believed it would be bad optics for news of multimillion-dollar contracts to trickle out as the rest of the country struggled with fallout and financial distress from the coronavirus. While NFL teams handed out their big contracts, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged nearly 3,000 points. Team officials were frustrated by uncertainties regarding how they could meet and conduct physical examinations on free agents.

Some of those questions were answered Monday evening, when the NFL and NFLPA released a joint statement regarding next steps in the offseason. During free agency, NFL teams will be barred from bringing a player to their facilities or meeting players at other locations. The NFL and the union are also developing ways for players’ medical histories to be shared among teams, and for players to undergo physical exams in their hometowns.

One executive with an NFC team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said that teams did not know those measures were coming, but that they should have been expected.

“I think that’s some of the common sense that had to be in place at the start of the league year, they put in place,” the executive said. “You can’t encourage travel of any kind. You just send a team plane – that’s the last thing you want the optics of, people flying privately. The common sense approach is the same as the rest of the country. You can do anything remotely. You just can’t travel.”

In another update to the offseason schedule, organized team activities have been suspended indefinitely and will not begin as scheduled April 6 for teams with new head coaches and April 20 for other teams. The league and union will meet occasionally to determine a new start date.

Despite internal misgivings at the outset of free agency, the NFL seemed to receive few complaints from fans and outside observers, and many fans seemed to use the business-of-football updates as a welcome distraction as they stayed home from work or consumed coronavirus news.

The league also announced Monday that it would make changes to its plans for this year’s draft, keeping it on schedule for April 23-25 but not having it be a public spectacle as in past years, citing coronavirus concerns.

Officials from the league and owners’ side and the NFL Players Association, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, offered conflicting accounts of how the NFL revved into action during a pandemic.

The NFL could not unilaterally delay the beginning of the new league year Wednesday, which coincides with the opening of the free agent market. That could be done only through an agreement between the league and the NFLPA. The sides were in contact Sunday, after the NFLPA announced that players had narrowly ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the league and team owners running through the 2030 season.

People familiar with the NFL’s thinking described a disagreement between league officials and the union in which DeMaurice Smith, the NFLPA’s executive director, declined overtures to halt business as usual.

According to one person familiar with the planning of the league and owners, the owners’ labor bargaining committee favored a postponement. According to that person, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke Sunday morning with Smith, and Smith would not agree to a postponement. At least one owner had a similar conversation later Sunday with Smith, that person said.

One person familiar with the union’s thinking said the Sunday phone call between the league and the union included ample discussion, no conflict and ultimately an agreement that the league year should begin Monday for lack of a better alternative.

Goodell, Smith, New York Giants co-owner John Mara and Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter, the NFLPA’s newly elected president, took part in the call, the person familiar with the union’s thinking said. Mara is the chairman of the owners’ labor negotiating committee.

“They all came to an agreement there would be no purpose to delaying the league year because it’s just about signings,” the person familiar with the union’s thinking said. “There’s no magic reason to push the year back. It’s just the start of business and teams can start signing players. . . . A core reason for why not to push it back was, two weeks from now, two months from now, what’s going to change? Are people going to magically be able to travel? The situation in our country is going to get worse before it gets better, from what experts say.”

The account from the league’s side was consistent with a report by ESPN that the NFLPA would not consent to a postponement because players are not traveling for free agency and the business transactions can be done by phone. The union also feared that the coronavirus-related conditions could worsen from here, according to the ESPN report.

Smith told ESPN on Monday morning that the league did not propose a delay to free agency during their conversations.

The league informed teams late Sunday that free agency would proceed as scheduled. Teams had until 11:59 a.m. Monday to use franchise or transition tags to limit players’ free agent mobility. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was among 14 players franchise-tagged by the deadline. The Arizona Cardinals were the only team to use a transition tag, applying it to running back Kenyan Drake.

Free agents could negotiate with all teams beginning at noon Monday. The deals began to be lined up Monday afternoon, though they cannot be official until the formal opening of the free agent market Wednesday at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Hopkins’ trade from the Houston Texans to the Arizona Cardinals, which netted Houston a second-round draft pick and fading-star running back David Johnson (along with a swap of fourth-rounders), headlined the day’s action, which included tight end Austin Hooper agreeing to a deal with the Browns, defensive lineman Arik Armstead deciding to stay with the San Francisco 49ers for a deal worth up to $85 million (while San Francisco shipped another defensive lineman, DeForest Buckner, to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a first-round pick) and quarterback Kirk Cousins agreeing to a two-year extension with the Minnesota Vikings.

Front office executives with several teams expressed dismay with the situation as the day began. Some were upset that teams were forced to conduct their offseason business at a time when many of them have closed their facilities and sent employees home. Others fretted about the optics.

“It’s a bad look,” an executive with one team said.

But not everyone took such a dim view. Former longtime Cowboys executive Gil Brandt wrote Monday on Twitter: “I might be in the minority but I think the NFL made the correct (and very difficult) decision to conduct business as usual [regarding] free agency. Whether this was the intent or not, it is giving people a small break from worries in stressful times. There’s something healing in that.”

The NFC team executive saw wisdom in both arguments. Waiting to start the league year would have invited uncertainty about the state of affairs regarding the coronavirus and further logistical challenges. Would the schedule release be pushed back, too? What about the draft? But the hardships the nation faces make announcing contracts seem out of touch. In the end, the country seemed to embrace the drip-drip-drip of NFL news. But the league will face more hard decisions, because hard decisions are now a way of life for every institution.

“The NFL is usually a microcosm of America,” the NFC team executive said. “It’s a strange time in America, and it’s a strange time in the NFL.”

The 28-year-old Bostic was an emergency one-year signing by the team last spring when Reuben Foster went down with a season-ending knee injury on the first day of offseason workouts. He played well, recording 105 tackles (56 of them solo) and intercepting one pass.

New Redskins Coach Ron Rivera said he was impressed with Bostic and had indicated that he would like to keep him. Four hours into Monday’s contact period with free agents, Bostic and Washington agreed to the deal.

Earlier in the day, the Redskins lost a different player Rivera had said he wanted to keep, when guard Ereck Flowers agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal with the Miami Dolphins, according to Flowers’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

The world No 3 duo took the opener 21-15 but their campaign came short in the following games, losing 17-21 8-21 after 62 minutes of battle.

“We were playing well in the first two games but they changed their game in the third and put us on the defence,” said Sapsiree.

Dechapol said: “We didn’t start well in the third game. We let them dictate play and they never let us get back into the game. However, reaching the final is beyond our target. We just hope that we will finally win in the future.”

The pair, however, received runners-up’s cheque of US$38,500 as a compensation. No representatives from Thailand have ever won a title at the All England.

The last Thai mixed doubles players to reach the final were Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkham in 2011.

“Unless there’s a total shutdown of the country, where people can’t leave their houses and things like that, these fights will happen,” White told ESPN Saturday. “We’re gonna move on. These fights will happen. These guys will compete. We will find venues, and we will figure this thing out. I mean, the only thing that’s gonna stop us is a complete government shutdown, where everybody is confined to their homes.”

While the NBA, NHL, NCAA, PGA, NASCAR, MLB and Bellator MMA have suspended events and most people are practicing social distancing in an effort to slow the virus’s progress through the population, White said that events on March 28 and April 11 will take place, as will all the rest of the UFC schedule. Those bouts were moved from Columbus, Ohio, to Portland, Oregon, to Las Vegas, where UFC’s own Apex facility is located.

He planned to move Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 170, which features a welterweight fight between Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards, from London to a venue in the United States, but that was placed on hold Sunday morning. White’s plans hit a snag Saturday, when the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended all combat sports events in the state, pending its next meeting March 25. Further complicating matters is a travel restriction issued Saturday by President Donald Trump.

“Obviously, things are changing by the hour,” White said. ” … (T)hey announced new travel restrictions for the U.K., so (the March 21 event) can’t continue in London. But the fight will go on. We’re working on finding a new venue, likely in the United States, and I have my matchmakers literally working right now to put together the undercard.

“As of now, fights can’t happen at the Apex here in Las Vegas. So, we’re working to find new locations, but the fights will go on; they will continue. We’re not stopping.”

UFC 249 is the next big pay-per-view event, featuring the lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, and it’s set for April 18 in Brooklyn. However New York’s state of emergency order bans all gathers of more than 500 people.

“So, we had possibly a couple different venues for that fight, including Nevada,” White said. “So, now the whole Nevada thing went down, so we’re looking for another venue. I hope by (Sunday morning), I should have two venue options for that fight. That fight will happen. It will go on. The fans are all freaking out about that, do not worry. Khabib versus Tony will happen.”

Nurmagomedov is planning for the event to go on somewhere on schedule. “I don’t understand what is going on outside the gym,” he wrote on Instagram. “I am in the gym and I am working hard. What will happen next no one knows.”

In a UFC event Saturday night in Brasilia, lightweight Charles Oliveira submitted Kevin Lee via guillotine in the third round. White’s decision to continue fights came last week as other leagues were shutting down for a while and after he conferred with President Trump and Vice President Pence.

“I talked to the president and vice president of the United States today about this and they’re taking this very serious and they’re saying, ‘be cautious and be careful but live your life and stop panicking,'” White told ESPN last Thursday.

The in-form Thai duo put up a gutsy fight, rallying from 16-18 behind in the decider to beat Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yujung of South Korea   21-18 17-21 21-19 in the Saturday’s semi-final n 83 minutes.

They stand a shot at making history. With a win on Sunday, both will become the first Thai players to triumph at the All England tournament.

“Overall, the side that created better opportunities took points,” said Sapsiree in search  for her best career title this week. “We were too defensive in the second game and lost it.”

Chonburi-born Dechapol who has won alongside Sapsiree three times in the BWF Word Tour last year said: “We took turned winning the points. We had to take charge at the net more in the third game to break their momentum.”

The last Thai to come closet at winning the tournament was  Ratchanok Intanon when she reached the final in 2017 only to lose to Tai Tsu Ying of Taiwan in straight games. Both Ratchanok and Pornpawee Chorchuwong were stopped in the women’s singles quarter-finals on Friday.

“We will maximize all our efforts in the final. There’s nothing to lose. We will appreciate it no matter what happens,” Sapsiree said.

The Tokyo Aquatics Centre will be used for the diving and artistic swimming events at the Olympics, and the swimming event at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The walls and floor of the main swimming pool are movable and its length and depth can be adjusted. Once the events end, the number of seats will be reduced from about 15,000 to about 5,000 to save on maintenance costs.

According to the Tokyo metropolitan government, the facility was built on a reclaimed area that contains a lot of water. A survey conducted prior to construction found that the area could liquefy in the event of an earthquake. For this reason, about 15,000 holes, about 70 centimeters in diameter and about 10 meters deep, were dug into the ground and filled with gravel that will drain well to stabilize the ground.

At the Ariake Arena in Koto Ward, Tokyo, where volleyball games will be held, dealing with the possible environment disruption caused by light shining on nearby high-rise condominiums has become an issue.

If Ariake Arena had been built with a dome-shaped structure, which is common for a sports facility, the sunlight that hit the roof of the facility would have reflected onto the upper floors of the condominiums, causing residents to experience excessive glare. To avoid this problem, the metropolitan government has adopted a structure in which the roof is low in the middle and raised at the ends. Doing so makes it easier for light to gather at the center of the roof, reducing the amount of light reflected.

It also reduces the facility’s volume, thus lowering heating and cooling costs.

There are also some facilities that were forced to change their construction plans. The Ariake Gymnastics Centre, in the same ward, was originally scheduled to be demolished after the Games, and was estimated to cost about ¥8.9 billion. However, it turned out that the planned buildings needed to be made more earthquake-resistant, and the construction cost finally amounted to about ¥20.5 billion. The facility will be converted into an exhibition hall for about 10 years after the Games, but there are no plans for the future.

The ‘Use of Esports by a Sports Brand’ category sees Dorna Sports acknowledged for the MotoGP Esport Championship, up against Formula One Digital Media (for F1 Esports) and the NBA and Take-Two Interactive (for the NBA 2K League).

The ‘Use of Esports by a Sports Brand’ award celebrates the innovative use of esports by ‘traditional’ sports brands, from teams to athletes, broadcasters to rights holders and many more. The MotoGP™ eSport Championship, now in its fourth season, continues smashing boundaries and Dorna Sports is delighted to see the series recognised by the prestigious awards, which received entries from 45 sports and over 30 countries this year.

The MotoGP™ eSport Championship’s numbers over the first three seasons demonstrate the high level of interest in the series, as well as its incredible rate of growth. Worldwide coverage provided by 15 television partners and digital channels across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – as well as on motogp.com and the MotoGP™ eSport official website – have given the Championship a truly global presence: 64 million video views online, 247 million impressions and over eight million engagements, with more than 50% of the audience between 13 and 24 years old. With 20 Online Challenges and seven on-site events as well, the MotoGP™ eSport Championship is one of the biggest racing competitions in the gaming landscape.

2019 came to a dramatic close with AndrewZh claiming the crown for Ducati, beating two-time Champion Trastevere73 (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in an exciting changing of the guard. Now, the search for the 2020 Champion is in gear too. The 2020 online Pro Draft is underway before the four on-site rounds in the Global Series, so there’s never been a better time to tune in and get involved.

Tournament officials announced the storied event, golf’s first major of the year, will not start on April 9 as planned and offered no timeline on when it might be rescheduled.

“Ultimately, the health and well-being of everyone associated with these events and the citizens of the Augusta community led us to this decision,” Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, said in a statement. “We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters Tournament and our amateur events at some later date.”

The decision came less than 24 hours after the PGA Tour canceled the final three rounds of the Players Championship, as well as the Tour’s schedule through April 5. The Masters was scheduled to take place the following week, which means the world’s top players won’t likely play a tournament again until at least mid-April.

Rescheduling the Masters would surely be tricky, and tournament officials might have to target September or later. There is no hole on the summer golf calendar that isn’t otherwise occupied by an existing PGA Tour event. Augusta National holds its tournament in April to take advantage of ideal conditions and weather. Temperatures are hot enough by summer that the course is typically closed until early fall.

The PGA Tour concludes on August 30 in Atlanta, just a couple of hours west of Augusta. The Masters could seek to host its tournament shortly after that, before international players return to their home countries.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan met with reporters Friday morning and highlighted the difficulty in rescheduling a big golf tournament as he explained why the Tour opted to cancel the Players Championship rather than postpone it to a later date.

“As you look into the rest of the season, we have tournaments in every market [that] are well on their way to playing their events, to fundraising,” he said at a news conference in Florida. “You’ve got charities just like we have here that are counting on those events. . . . We’re going to continue to go forward with the schedule that we’ve outlined and hopefully we can get back and play as soon as possible.”

The Masters has been held in Augusta, Georgia, every year since 1934, except for 1943-45, when it was canceled due to World War II. Tournament organizers had originally said on March 4 that the Masters would take place as scheduled. As major sporting events have been scuttled and sports leagues shut down this week, pressure mounted over the past 24 hours and speculation grew as to whether the Masters would take place without fans or perhaps be canceled altogether.

“Unfortunately, the ever-increasing risks associated with the widespread Coronavirus covid-19 have led us to a decision that undoubtedly will be disappointing to many, although I am confident is appropriate under these unique circumstances,” Ridley said in the statement.

Golf officials had considered hosting their tournaments without spectators. In fact, the PGA Tour on Thursday announced it would do just that for the final three rounds of the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Florida, after allowing fans to follow the first-round action in person. But the Tour reversed course Thursday night, canceling the remainder of the tournament – which Monahan called the tour’s “Super Bowl” – along with the upcoming Valspar Championship, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event and the Valero Texas Open.

Monahan said he was strongly influenced by two things: Players came off the course following the opening round with a lot of questions, and later in the evening, Tour officials learned that Disney World and Universal Studios were temporarily closing their gates to visitors.

“That was the final thing that we heard that said, ‘You know what, even though we feel like we have a safe environment and we’ve done all the right things, we can’t proceed, and it’s not right to proceed,'” Monahan said.

The next event on the PGA calendar is the RBC Heritage, which is scheduled to begin on April 16, though Monahan noted that tour officials will continue to monitor coronavirus developments.

“We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavoring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate,” the PGA Tour said in a statement. “But at this point – and as the situation continues to rapidly change – the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.”

In the United States, NASCAR postponed Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the March 22 race at Homestead-Miami speedway, and the NCAA canceled the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments scheduled to begin next week. The NHL announced it is pausing its season, while MLB suspended spring training games and delayed the start of its regular season. The Players Championship was canceled after one round.

Here are the latest developments:

NASCAR

NASCAR announced Friday that Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the March 22 race at Homestead-Miami speedway have been postponed. The races originally were to be run without fans present before the circuit changed its mind Friday.

“We believe this decision is in the best interest of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, officials and everyone associated with our sport,” the circuit said on Twitter. “We will continue to monitor this dynamic situation as we assess future race events.”

Sunday’s IndyCar race in St. Petersburg, Florida, which likewise was to be run in the absence of fans, also has been postponed. All IndyCar races through April have been canceled.

Little League

Little League International on Friday announced it is recommending that its leagues suspend all activities until at least April 6.

“For those leagues that have already begun their seasons, we kindly ask that you postpone all league activity that may involve the gathering of individuals for games, practices, events, or meetings,” the organization said in a statement on its website. “If you have not started your season, we kindly ask that you modify your schedule and season plans to start no earlier than April 6.”

The start date of the Little League International Tournament has not yet been postponed, and Little League International said it “will be considerate of the missed game play opportunities as we establish a new policy for tournament eligibility for the 2020 tournament season.”

The Little League World Series is scheduled for Aug. 20-30 this year.

UEFA

Almost every European soccer league or competition that hadn’t shut down did so Friday, with UEFA canceling next week’s Champions League and Europa League matches, and professional leagues in England, France and Germany calling off matches for the rest of the month.

A decision has yet to be made on this summer’s Euro 2020 national team competition. The tournament reportedly may be delayed until 2021 to give Europe’s professional leagues more time to finish their seasons.

PGA

The PGA Tour announced Thursday evening that it was discontinuing the Players Championship after one round was played, and it was canceling all events on its tours through the Valero Texas Open, which was to take place April 2-5.

“We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavoring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate,” the PGA Tour said. “But at this point – and as the situation continues to rapidly change – the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.”

Sometimes referred to as golf’s “fifth major,” the Players Championship had its usual throngs of fans in attendance as it started play Thursday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The PGA Tour had said fans would not be allowed on Friday and for the remainder of the tournament, before it decided to take further measures.

There was no immediate word on whether the Players Championship – which saw Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama take the lead by two strokes with an opening-round 63 – would be rescheduled. The PGA Tour said it would take questions on Friday morning. Under the announced timetable, the first tournament to be played after the suspension of events would be The Masters.

UFC

UFC President Dana White said Thursday that his company would continue to stage its upcoming events, beginning with one Saturday in Brazil that won’t have fans in attendance. The following weekend, a UFC card in London will “proceed as planned,” as British authorities are currently placing no restrictions on sports events.

That is far from the case in Ohio, and White said that an event that was slated to take place in Columbus on March 28 will be moved to an arena that the UFC owns in Las Vegas. He added that the UFC was working with the Nevada State Athletic Commission to “screen athletes” before letting them compete.

Saying his company has always gone “overboard with health and safety,” White told ESPN, “I talked to the president and the vice president of the United States today about this, and they’re taking this very serious. They’re saying, ‘Be cautious, be careful, but live your life and stop panicking.’ Everybody is panicking, and instead of panicking, we’re actually getting out there and working with doctors and health officials and the government, to figure out how we keep the sport safe and how we can continue to put on events.”

XFL

The XFL announced Thursday that it will not be playing the rest of its regular season slate. The league, which began play this year, said it was “committed to playing a full season in 2021 and future years.”

The XFL also made sure to note that “all players will be paid their base pay and benefits for the 2020 regular season.” That could have been an attempt to not only allay players’ fears but also differentiate itself from the Alliance of American Football, another fledgling league that suffered a financial collapse last year in the midst of its first season, leaving players, coaches and others in the lurch.

The XFL is halfway through its 10-week schedule. The league appeared to leave open the possibility that it might stage a postseason at some point.

FIA

After a member of McLaren Racing tested positive for coronavirus and the Formula 1 team withdrew from the Australian Grand Prix, the entire event was canceled on Thursday.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced it made that decision in conjunction with Formula 1 and with the “full support” of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, after consulting with the nine other teams entered in the race.

“All parties took into consideration the huge efforts of the AGPC, Motorsport Australia, staff and volunteers to stage the opening round of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship in Melbourne,” FIA said, “however concluded that the safety of all members of the Formula 1 family and the wider community, as well as the fairness of the competition take priority.”

NWSL

The National Women’s Soccer League is canceling its preseason slate after “receiving guidance from local and state authorities and medical personnel,” the organization announced Thursday. The NWSL regular season is set to begin April 18.

“Our priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our players, coaches, staff, and fans,” NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird said in a statement. “We are reviewing all contingency plans related to our regular season schedule and are monitoring developing events and their potential impact.”

The Colonial Athletic Association announced Thursday that a game official who worked at its men’s basketball tournament last week has tested positive for coronavirus.

“The official did not exhibit symptoms of the virus until 72 hours after the game he worked,” the conference said, “but out of an abundance of caution the conference has made the involved institutions and tournament personnel aware of the situation so they can take proper precautionary measures.”

The tournament took place in Washington, D.C., at the Entertainment and Sports Arena. That facility is used for practice by the Washington Wizards, and for games by the Washington Mystics and the Capital City Go-Go.

NCAA

After announcing Wednesday that its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would be closed to the public, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors on Thursday announced in a statement they had canceled the events, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships.

The men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, scheduled to begin next week, had been held every year since 1939 for men’s college teams and 1982 for women’s teams.

MLB

With Opening Day on March 26, Major League Baseball on Thursday suspended spring training games and delayed the start of the regular season by at least two weeks.

“MLB and the Clubs have been preparing a variety of contingency plans regarding the regular season schedule,” the league said in a statement. “MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hopes of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.”

Minor League Baseball will also delay the start of its season.

Held under “Power of Unity”, other corporate supporters are: Toyota Motor Thailand, Osotspa Pcl, Advanced Info Service Pcl, Bridgestone Sales (Thailand), Ajinomoto Sales (Thailand), Delivery Hero (Thailand), Boonrawd Trading Co, The Swatch Group Trading (Thailand) Ltd, AyudhyaAllianz CP Life Insurance Co, and CP Meiji.

NBTC, AIS and Plan B will broadcast the Games live on all platforms.

The “Power of Unity” project will broadcast the Olympic Games live from Tokyo through online channel. The press conference also showed the preparedness of Thai athletes to participate in the Tokyo Games, which will be held from July 24 to August 9, and Paralympic Games from August 25 to September 6.

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, Kongsak Yodmanee, governor of SAT, Assistant Prof Pakdee Manaves, deputy secretary-general of NBTC, and Maj-General Charouck Arirachakaran of NOCT also attended the press conference.

Phiphat stated that his ministry is committed to supporting Thai athletes to be able to compete in the international arena particularly the Olympic Games. An athlete participating in the Games will not only build a reputation and good image for Thailand, but also encourage the public, especially younger people, to exercise more. Good health of Thai people will lead to lower cost of public health and unite people in the country.

Regarding the Covid-19 outbreak, the NOCT said it has watched closely the movement of the virus and continuously worked with the IOC and WHO on preparedness of Thai athletes for the Games.

Meanwhile, the host country has a high standard of protective measures, including screenings at each competition venue, hotel, and accommodation for the athletes. Thai athletes have been encouraged to determine and focus on practising. If an athlete has to participate in any international competition, he or she will be instructed to strictly follow the guidelines of the host country, for their own safety and that of their colleagues.

Dr Kongsak said the role of the SAT is to support the preparedness and improve the capability of the athletes from the beginning of the practice until the time of the competition. “We’ve collaborated with the NBTC and the private sector to acquire the rights to broadcast the Olympic Games in Thailand for Thai fans to cheer on their representatives in all channels. This will be the first time Thai fans can see all 33 sports as well as the opening and closing ceremonies to be broadcast live through HDTV in digital TV system, T-Sport Channel and out-of-home digital media.”

Regarding concerns over the Covid-19 outbreak, the SAT has stepped up safety measures for Thai athletes and personnel who will be participating at the Games. “Apart from the high-standard safety measures provided by Japan, the host country, we’ve also worked with partners to find the best solution. Health insurance for Covid-19 has also been arramged for each participant.”

The SAT has collaborated with Toyota to create activities under “Power of Unity” concept to send moral support to Thai athletes. The activities will include:

• Thai National Flag Run: An opportunity for Thai fans throughout the country to send their moral support via the national flag that will be run through the whole country and be present at the Games.

• Virtual Run: An opportunity for every fan to be able to send his or her moral support to the Thai athletes.

• A song “Power of Unity” has been composed by leading artists, to send moral support to Thai athletes.

• Live broadcast of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games will be held in “Tokyo 2020: Ready to Watch Live Experience Park” from July 24 to 26.

Assistant Prof Pakdee Manaves, deputy secretary-general of broadcasting at NBTC, said the NBTC has always supported any broadcast of international sports in which Thai athletes took part. The Olympic Games is one of the seven “must haves” to be broadcast on free TV or digital TV. “Based on our ‘must have’ regulation, the NBTC is pleased to collaborate with SAT to broadcast the Games live for Thai audiences to watch every sport through 12 channels including satellite TV and online channel such as AIS PLAY. This will also be the first time for Thais will be able to watch the opening and closing ceremonies through digital out of home from Plan B. This means you will never miss a game of the Olympics no matter where you are”.

Maj-General Charouck Arirachakaran, vice president and secretary-general of the NOCT, said the oresident of the IOC is still positive that the Tokyo Olympics will be organised as planned and believes the opening ceremony on July 24 will be a success.

Despite concerns over Covid-19 outbreak, the IOC has worked closely with the organiser, Japan, as well as the WHO and the committee of China and other participating countries. This is to build safety measures for participating athletes and staff from every country.

Thai athletes participating in the Games are fully prepared, from the screening process. The SAT has provided knowledge and science relating to sports to Thai athletes. To maintain safety measures, every athlete is required to strictly follow WHO guidelines regarding Covid-19. Currently, there are 14 Thai athletes approved to participate in the Games and many more are awaiting the results of qualifying rounds. The NOCT hopes the Thai athletes will receive moral support from Thai fans, to win the medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.