INTERNATIONAL sport in Southern Africa effectively ground to a halt on Saturday as a result of travel bans caused by the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
The Joburg Open tournament, part of the new DP World Tour, was the only major event played – and that was severely curtailed.
A cricket series between South Africa and the Netherlands was postponed after a rain-ruined first game on Friday, while the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe was abandoned.
Four matches in the United Rugby Championship were postponed with two teams from Wales, one from Ireland and one from Italy all trying to get home as soon as possible.
Travel to and from southern Africa was thrown into chaos when the British government announced on Thursday that South Africa and other southern Africa nations had been returned to Britain’s red list following the discovery of the Omicron B.1.1.529
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