Sigi's tips | Jannik Sinner keeps his distance

It's a close result. The German national handball team only won 10-0 against group opponents Cape Verde at the World Cup in Egypt. At least no goal conceded. That's rare in this sport, but in this case it's understandable. The Africans did not compete and were severely punished for it. With just a 0:10 defeat. In the end, the corona virus raged so violently in the Cape Verde team that only nine players remained.

The regulations, however, stipulate ten men, including the goalkeeper. Unlucky. Germany cheers. So you're definitely in the main round. Great. The Czech Republic and the USA didn't even start after far too many positive tests. North Macedonia and Switzerland moved up because the game should definitely be played with 32 countries. Meanwhile, the handball bubble turns out to be as full of holes as a tea ball. People who have nothing to do with sports go in and out of hotels, eat there, and use the elevator with athletes. It is simply a farce, even if the interviews with German officials, for example, lead us to believe that the world is almost ideal. In the end, the team that is most successful in the fight against Covid-19 will win the title. All the actors who didn't want to take part were right because they probably suspected that health care looked different. The Handball World Cup in Egypt has degenerated into a farce. © APA/afp / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT

It's not particularly funny in Australia, which is far away from us, where the word "quarantine" is taken much more seriously than in the rest of the world. The impact on the Australian Open, which is scheduled to and probably will begin on February 8th, could be dramatic. Players whose charter flights to Melbourne had fellow travelers who had a positive corona test after landing are not allowed to leave their hotel rooms for the next 14 days. Training is not permitted, at most a few sit-ups, which can be intensified a little by placing your legs on the edge of the bed. Otherwise, eat, sleep, watch TV, wait.

The stars, meanwhile, are staying 650 kilometers away in Adelaide and are practicing hard. One of them is Jannik Sinner from Sexten, who enjoyed this special treatment as Rafael Nadal's training partner. Andreas Seppi from Kaltern, on the other hand, has to hope that he can leave his room for a maximum of five hours to train. The ultimate consequences are already foreseeable: Some will compete fully trained and full of energy, but many will no longer know what a tennis racket feels like during their first match. The Australian Open also becomes a farce. But, according to the general tenor, health comes first. Anyway. Visiting the autocrat: Rene Fasel (right) in Minsk. © APA/afp / NIKOLAY PETROV

Back to Europe, with all the tests of course. Landing in Minsk. The departure was in Zurich for Rene Fasel, President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). He flew with his entourage to Alexander Lukashenko to give the President of Belarus a big hug and to assure him that he, the President, wanted to stick to the Ice Hockey World Championships in Minsk. How otherworldly, I ask myself, can one be? It was also rumored from his visit to Minsk that he, Fasel, was also of the opinion that the people imprisoned in prisons were not imprisoned because of their political opinions, but because they had committed crimes. Fasel thus adopts Lukashenko's reading style.

Now he's finally facing the headwind that will hurt him the most. Two of the big and really long-standing sponsors (Skoda and Nivea) are unequivocally calling for the World Cup in Minsk to be canceled. This is apparently the only language Fasel understands. Meanwhile, Franz Reindl, the President of the German Ice Hockey Association, has still not made a clear statement. He is now being asked by many political circles to finally speak out clearly against a World Cup in Belarus. Top German sport has finally committed itself to supporting democracy and human rights internationally. So what is Reindl waiting for? Oh yes, I forgot: He is considered one of the possible successors to Rene Fasel...

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Sigi's tips | Jannik Sinner keeps his distance

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