All over the world, sports have shut down. Yet in one country, an alternate universe exists with a very full sports calendar.

Nearly two weeks ago, a national boxing tournament in Nicaragua began as planned. A couple weekends ago, a marathon was run in Managua, the country’s capital. Last week, after an important game in the country’s popular semiprofessional baseball league, fans participated in a caravan that ended with a rally in the town of Jinotepe’s main square. Nary a mask was in sight, nor was social distancing followed.

And the five scheduled matches last week in the country’s top professional soccer league were played, albeit in stadiums closed to the public. Despite protests by some players and teams, La Liga Primera is the only professional soccer league still in action in the Western Hemisphere.

The continued mass gatherings in Nicaragua, one of the few countries, along with Belarus and Tajikistan, that are fully carrying on with professional sports, has worried international health officials and sports figures alike.