Billions of people globally woke up on Friday to a tech outage that has disrupted flights, banks, media outlets and various companies.
The sports world was also a victim of the widespread Microsoft outage linked to cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.
With numerous sporting events set for the weekend — and not to mention, the 2024 Olympics gearing up to welcome hundreds of athletes to Paris — the worldwide disruption has caused quite a stir.
Let’s dive into some of the sporting events and athletes who have already been impacted:
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WNBA All-Star weekend
Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler was supposed to compete at the WNBA All-Star weekend, however, her flight to Phoenix was canceled due to the outage.
"FLIGHT CANCELLED :( So yaaaaaa no airlines have flight leaving out in time to make it to PHX in time for the Skills Challenge!" the star took to X.
The 33-year-old was chosen to participate in the WNBA Skills Challenge on July 19 against Phoenix Mercury's Sophie Cunningham and Brittney Griner, Atlanta Dream's Allisha Grey, and Connecticut Sun's Marina Mabrey.
Fans are now calling on private pilots and charters to save the day, however, time is ticking for Wheeler as the challenge starts at 6 p.m. ET.
Kyle Okposo's day with the Stanley Cup
Florida Panthers’ Kyle Okposo waited some time to lift the Stanley Cup —and now he will have to wait even longer.
Due to the outage, the Cup could not be flown from St. Louis to Pagel Arena in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
“I’m crushed,” Okposo said about the disappointing news.
Rightfully so — it was the veteran forward’s first Cup in his 17 seasons as he helped lead the Panthers to win their first-ever championship.
There is no doubt the NHL world is hoping Okposo can have his well-deserved day with the Cup quickly rescheduled.
IT services at Paris Olympics
The outage made its way to France’s capital in time for the Paris Olympics.
The Games released a statement on Friday morning noting how its IT services had been disrupted.
While the impact was limited, there were concerns surrounding the delivery of uniforms and accreditations.
The statement said that ticketing for the 2024 Olympics had been unaffected along with venue preparations.
Since then, Paris 2024 released a statement saying operations were now running normally.
While systems are back up and running, one can only assume that disruptions must be impacting travel to Paris.
Saskia Oettinghaus of the German Olympic diving team was among those having difficulty with airline transportation.
“We are on our way to Paris for the Olympic Games and now we are at a standstill here for the time being,” Oettinghaus said.
Other athletes and spectators traveling to Paris were delayed, according to the Associated Press.
Soccer clubs' ticketing troubles
Numerous soccer clubs across the pond have been unable to sell tickets to games due to the widespread outage.
Numerous leagues including Blackburn, Bolton, Bradford, Chesterfield, Huddersfield, Leyton Orient, Lincoln, Plymouth, Preston, Rotherham and Walsall all reported issues with their e-ticketing services. Manchester United said they were delaying the release of tickets and that the club’s website was down until the issue was resolved.
The outage impacted the selling and processing of tickets or memberships, either in person, over the phone or online, according to Portsmouth FC.
