"Sport is among the sectors that is suffering the most from the government's measures for coronavirus. There has been great turmoil in Italy."
Perhaps a sports journalist would say the sector he covers is the worst affected, but Roberto De Ponti, deputy editor-in-chief of sport at Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera was not exaggerating when he told CGTN of the "turmoil" COVID-19 has caused. So far, soccer games have been cancelled – this weekend's Serie A games will be played in front of empty stands – and Milan-San Remo, one of cycling's five one-day "Monument" races, also appears under threat.
To understand how the global sports community is being affected by the virus, CGTN Europe spoke to Simon Chadwick of Emlyon Business School. You can read his insights in today's email.
Elsewhere, British Airways owner IAG has postponed its profit forecast because the coronavirus outbreak has forced it to cancel flights across its brands, and there is so much uncertainty as to when business will return to normal.
Talking of uncertainty, the markets have shown just how volatile they can be this week, as profit warnings and lack thereof pushed trades dowwards... and as I write this, news breaks that the FTSE 100 in London has officially had its worst performing week since the 2008 global financial crisis. To get a better picture of how European markets have been affected, make sure to scroll to the bottom of today's briefing to see our handy graph.
Finally, let me remind you to watch our weekly Agenda program with Stephen Cole, on Saturday at 16:30 GMT. Today's video is a preview of Stephen's look at the business of love (well, dating apps).
Happy reading,
Patrick Atack
Digital business correspondent
P.S. Remember to forward this email to your friends and contacts – they can sign up to Global Business Daily here. It's easy and free!
Two weeks after Barcelona's Mobile World Congress was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Geneva Motor Show has been called off for the same reason. Organizers said the decision was made for them by Switzerland's Federal Council, but it could cost the local economy as much as $275 million in lost spending.
European markets have experienced the worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis, as fears from the COVID-19 outbreak convert to businesses losing money, showing lower profit projections, and traders losing confidence.
IAG has become the latest airline company to warn about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its earnings. The group, which owns British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, says its usual earnings forecast at this time of year has been postponed due to uncertainty following the outbreak.
EasyJet has followed British Airways in reducing flights to and from northern Italy as demand falls due to coronavirus deaths in the region. It will consolidate flights, so empty ones can be cancelled to save money.
The first case of COVID-19 has been identified in sub-Saharan Africa. Officials in Lagos, Nigeria, said an Italian national was being treated in hospital after arriving from Milan. The case is not reported to be serious.
Starbucks is reopening cafes across China after the coronavirus outbreak forced widespread closures last month. CEO Kevin Johnson said Starbucks has opened 85 percent of its 4,292 Chinese locations.
Tim Cook said he's optimistic that China is getting the coronavirus under control and said Apple has reopened factories. The company's CEO also said China is a key country for Apple, with so many iPhones manufactured in the city of Zhengzhou that it's nicknamed "iPhone city."
In a case dating back to 2015, German car maker Volkswagen has reached a $900 million deal with a consumer group in a class-action lawsuit over the "Dieselgate" scandal. The cash will be divided among the 260,000 complainants, with amounts depending on the model and age of their affected cars.
Japan's deputy justice minister is to travel to Lebanon to make the case that fugitive ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn should stand trial in Japan. Hiroyuki Yoshiie will meet Lebanese justice minister Marie-Claude Najm to argue the case for extradition, though the countries do not have an extradition treaty in place.
Irish retail sales volumes increased by 3.7 percent year-on-year in January according to the country's Central Statistics Office. However, sales were down month-on-month, due to a successful December that included "Black Friday" sales.
This week on The Agenda, Stephen Cole looks at how dating apps are changing the way people meet – and how they make money with a business model that seemingly leads to nowhere. The Agenda with Stephen Cole airs every Saturday at 16:30 GMT.
Several sporting events have been cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and many others are being affected in different ways – such as soccer club Inter Milan being forced to play rivals Juventus without any fans in the stadium.
To understand the effect of the coronavirus on the world of sports, CGTN Europe spoke to Simon Chadwick, Director, Centre for the Eurasian Sport Industry, Emlyon Business School.
How much has COVID-19 cost the global l sports industry so far?
Thus far, it's very difficult to know exactly how much has been wiped off the value of sport as a result of the virus. Obviously its developing, we know that authorities such as the Olympic Games, Formula One, and European football are monitoring the situation very closely.
My view is, at some stage there will be postponements and money lost. There are noises coming out of China already from, for example, sportswear manufacturers that suggest up to half of their business has been wiped out. But to be able to aggregate this we need a clearer picture of what's been postponed, what's been cancelled, who's been affected in what way. But I think it's safe [to say], in general terms, we're talking about millions, possibly billions of dollars.
Could the Euro 2020 soccer tournament the and Summer Olympic Games be postponed?
I think postponement will be, if not the option of last resort, then certainly the option of penultimate resort.
There are big bucks resting on this, if you take Tokyo for instance its been preparing this for six years, it's spent billions of dollars getting ready. You have sponsors that would've been spending the last two [or] three years thinking about how to activate their sponsorship programs. You have ticketing agencies that would've been putting operations in place.
So the economic and financial costs associated with postponement would be significant. I think it would expose the International Olympic Committee, and maybe the organizers of Tokyo itself, to legal action. And so I think this will be the very last option that organizers would consider.
Why was the Ireland vs Italy rugby game called off two weeks before the event?
I think at the moment in Europe there is a certain moment of hysteria. although I would prefer to view it as taking precautionary measures.
Inevitably, a sport at which there are thousands and thousands of people, even if there is just one person who has been exposed to the coronavirus then, conceivably, the multiplier effect of that [is significant]. These people not only congregate in the stadium, but they go out to bars before and after the game and drink, they go home to their families, they go to work on Monday following the match, so the potential spread of the virus is greatly enhanced by these events.
Who are the biggest losers in the global sports industry?
At the moment I would say Chinese sportswear manufacturers. There's a big running boom taking place in China right now and some of those Chinese brands have been able to build their businesses very quickly over the last three or four years as a consequence. But with people not going to work, with people confined to their houses, with concerns over congregating in busy places, I'm led to believe that some of the revenues associated with some of those Chinese sportswear manufacturers have plummeted dramatically.
It's been a torrid week for traders as markets react to COVID-19, adding to an already dismal start to the year.
These bubbles represent the losses since 1 January on the UK's FTSE 100, the French CAC 40, the German DAX and the pan-European Euronext market.