Professional sports worldwide ground to a halt recently as the coronavirus pandemic prompted one country after another to prohibit large public gatherings. Lots of sports leagues didn’t wait on official guidance, preemptively suspending or holding off seasons– sometimes after gamers or coaches tested positive for the infection.
But prior to ending, some soccer leagues tried to salvage their seasons by playing video games in empty stadiums, just like the talk shows that began shooting without live audiences. The bizarre and short-term phenomenon of matches played against a backdrop of empty bleachers proved tempting to the world’s sports professional photographers. Really a testament to soccer’s reputation as the world’s game.