Coronavirus cancels one of Boise’s largest sporting events. But it will return in 2021
The coronavirus canceled Jaialdi, one of the highlights of Boise’s summer of 2020. And with it, the pandemic postponed one of the largest sporting events of the year, too.
Organizers postponed the Basque Soccer Friendly on Tuesday until the summer of 2021 to coincide with the next Jaialdi, a celebration of Basque culture every five years in Boise.
The second Basque Soccer Friendly planned to feature men’s and women’s games on July 24 and 25 this summer, the Friday and Saturday leading up to Jaialdi. Perennial Spanish soccer power Athletic Bilbao was one of the teams confirmed to play at Boise State’s Albertsons Stadium.
“The teams from the Basque country are committed to come next year,” said Argia Beristain, event director for the game. “Hopefully we can get everything all put back together and calmed down. But we’ve got to put the health of the community first.”
She declined to say who Athletic Bilbao would play or which women’s teams were scheduled to come to Boise.
Boise State hosted the first Basque Soccer Friendly in 2015, drawing 21,984 fans to watch Athletic Bilbao beat Mexico’s Club Tijuana 2-0. That crowd came despite Athletic Bilbao playing two weeks before Jaialdi due to a scheduling conflict.
The game turned Boise State’s famed blue turf green as organizers installed grass over the top of the blue turf to increase the size of the field and meet player safety standards. Proceeds from the game led to a $100,000 donation to the Boise State Basque Studies Program, Boise State spokesman Greg Hahn confirmed.
Organizers planned to announce the teams playing in Boise in March, Beristain said. But the global spread of the coronavirus put those plans on hold and eventually canceled them.
The virus has hit Spain hard. The country ranked second in confirmed cases (204,178) and third in deaths (21,282) as of Tuesday afternoon. And La Liga, the top Spanish soccer league, has indefinitely suspended all games.
Idaho had 1,638 confirmed coronavirus cases and 48 deaths as of Tuesday morning.
“We were all queued up and ready to go live, and then a global pandemic took over,” Beristain said.
No tickets had gone on sale for the game yet, so it will not have to issue any refunds. T-shirts printed for the Kuadrilla fan club will still go on sale, Beristain said. The proceeds will be donated to St. Luke’s Health System.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 10:22 AM.
