Hong Kong, Feb 18 (AFP/APP): The coronavirus exposes an ignorance of China’s lucrative sports market and poor contingency planning, experts say, after Formula One became the most high-profile casualty of a mass pullout from the country. Formula One chiefs are scrambling to fit the Shanghai race into this season’s schedule after the April 19 grand prix last week joined the World Athletics Indoor Championships and European Tour and LPGA golf tournaments in being shelved because of the deadly outbreak. The Formula E Grand Prix, badminton, skiing and Olympic qualifying events have all been cancelled, postponed or moved elsewhere in recent weeks. All activity in the country’s two most popular sports — football and basketball — has been suspended, but the obliteration of the sporting calendar is regarded as unavoidable given the circumstances. The virus, which emerged in December in the central city of Wuhan, has killed more than 1,800 people, almost all in China, and sparked global alarm. The world’s most populous country has become a major sporting destination in the last decade and top clubs and organisations, among them the Premier League, FIFA and NBA, have courted fans — and their money — in the world’s second-largest economy. Marcus … Continue reading Coronavirus exposes flaws in China’s Sports market