For some it's plain dark, as sports takes a backseat and focus now on saving lives

Pedestrians wearing face masks walking past a board showing the number of days to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Yokohama on Monday (March 16). Doubts are growing in Japan about the Tokyo Olympics, with growing opposition to holding them as scheduled and some urging officials not to risk lives by pressing ahead during the coronavirus emergency. - AFP

BEIJING/TOKYO/LONDON/NEW YORK/PARIS: Silent stadiums and empty venues made for a gloomy weekend for sports fans but the fear on Monday (March 16) was it could only get worse amid the widening Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

With governments opting for increasingly stringent bans on the size and number of public gatherings, most major sports events across the world have been suspended or scrapped.