Coronavirus: Here's what's happening in the sports world on Tuesday
South Korean baseball season to start May 5 without fans
The latest on how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting sports around the globe:
- South Korean baseball tabs May 5 as opening day
- U.S. Olympic track and field trials to begin June 18, 2021
- Golf's St. Jude Invitational planning to have fans in late July
- Tottenham soccer players disregard virus guidelines
- NBA's Magic give $50K US to Central Florida food bank
- Concerns in Germany about testing soccer players
South Korean baseball season to start May 5
South Korea's professional baseball league has decided to begin its season on May 5.
The games will be played without fans until the risk of infection from the coronavirus is gone.
The league's plan is to maintain a 144-game regular-season schedule but scrap its all-star game and shorten the first round of the playoffs from a best-of-five to best-of-three series.
The KBO says it could shorten the regular season if infections erupt. The league will advise players to wear face masks in locker rooms and require them to download smartphone apps to report their daily health status to league officials.
U.S. Olympic track and field trials rescheduled
USA Track and Field has rescheduled its Olympic trials for June 18-27, 2021, at remodeled Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
The national governing body for track announced the new dates Tuesday in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic postponing the Tokyo Olympics to 2021.
USATF worked with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and TrackTown USA to secure the new dates for trials originally scheduled for this June. The competition schedule remains the same, but the timing windows could be tweaked.
The USATF announced last week it has laid off seven people from its 65-person staff and that CEO Max Siegel would take a 20 per cent pay cut to offset lost revenue due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Golf's St. Jude Invitational planning to have spectators
This summer's World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tenn., will take place with spectators in attendance, organizers said.
The tournament at TPC Southwind, won by Brooks Koepka last year, is now scheduled for July 30-Aug. 2, pushed back four weeks from its original dates due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The key point is we are going to not do anything that's not safe for our players, our sponsors, our volunteers and the community of Memphis," executive director Darrell Smith told the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Monday. "We will be 100 per cent aligned with local health department officials, CDC and World Health Organization."
The PGA Tour is scheduled to resume with the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, from June 11-14.
Tottenham soccer players defy virus guidelines
Serge Aurier has become the latest player from English club Tottenham to flout government guidelines during the coronavirus outbreak after posting videos of him training with soccer teammate Moussa Sissoko.
The Ivory Coast defender has now deleted the videos on his Instagram story, which showed him running shuttles and sitting next to Sissoko, disregarding social distancing. Aurier was wearing a face mask. It wasn't clear where the two players were training.
Tottenham says "we shall be speaking to both players involved."
It comes about two weeks after Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho was pictured holding a one-on-one training session in north London with midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, while two other players ran nearby. Mourinho later acknowledged his session was "not in line with government protocol."
Guidelines say people can only exercise outdoors on their own or with members of the same household.
NFL donation aimed at helping domestic abuse victims amid virus
The NFL has donated $10,000 US each to a dozen local agencies around the nation to assist their domestic violence programs.
League vice-president Troy Vincent says the donations come at a critical time because incidents of domestic violence have the potential to spike because of stay-at-home orders resulting from the new coronavirus pandemic.
Vincent says victims are more prone to be abused because "there's nowhere to hide" while required to be at home. He notes anxiety over job and financial uncertainties can serve as triggers for abusers.
Vincent has been a long-time advocate in speaking out against domestic violence after growing up in an abusive household.
Tennis tours, Grand Slams working on virus fund
The men's and women's professional tennis tours say they will administer a player relief fund to help those in the sport dealing with the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The ATP and WTA say they are in discussions with the International Tennis Federation and the four Grand Slam tournaments but did not provide any specifics about how much money they are pooling or how it will be distributed.
Pro tennis has been on hold since early March because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and no tournaments will be played before mid-July at the earliest.
The French Open postponed its start from May to September, and Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time in 75 years.
Dutch government extends ban on events
The government in the Netherlands has extended a ban on large events, including professional sports, until Sept. 1 — effectively ending the country's soccer season.
The Dutch soccer federation responded by saying it intends to cancel the rest of the 2019-20 season and will consult with European governing body UEFA.
UEFA has previously said nations risk losing their Champions League and Europa League entries for next season if organizers end domestic seasons too soon without trying to complete games. However, that stance was eased earlier Tuesday.
Nearly all European soccer leagues are on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, but most still hope to resume play in time to finish the season around August.
Italian teams favour finishing soccer season
The 20 clubs in Italy's top soccer division have unanimously voted in favour of finishing the current season.
The Lega Serie A held an assembly with the 20 clubs by videoconference and released a statement saying all clubs voted "to carry on the 2019-2020 season to the end, if the government allows it to happen."
Serie A has been suspended since the government ordered a nationwide lockdown more than a month ago. Twelve rounds remain along with four games that were postponed from the weekend of Feb. 22.
The lockdown in Italy is scheduled to expire after May 3.
NBA's Magic give $50,000 US to food bank
The ownership of the NBA's Orlando Magic have announced a $50,000 US donation to a Central Florida food bank and have teamed with Papa John's to offer a way for their fans to support food-insecure families as well.
The DeVos family announced the donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Through May 20, fans can also see 25 per cent of their online-order price at Orlando-area Papa John's restaurants donated to the food bank as well.
Magic CEO Alex Martins says "this has been a focus for us over the years, and now more than ever this remains a priority. We will continue to work together to make sure we assist those most vulnerable."
The DeVos family previously announced a $2 million compensation fund for Orlando Magic, Amway Center, Lakeland Magic and Orlando Solar Bears hourly workers for games and time missed during the COVID-19 suspension of seasons. Several Magic players and Magic coach Steve Clifford have also championed various charitable causes during the pandemic.
Concern raised in Germany about testing players
The deputy head of Germany's national disease control centre has cautioned against coronavirus testing for soccer players in order to restart the league.
Regular testing of players and team staff is a key element of a plan to resume German soccer in empty stadiums next month.
Robert Koch Institute vice-president Lars Schaade says he doesn't "see why certain sections of the population ... should be routinely screened," adding he would prefer testing to be focused on people who show symptoms or who are linked to an outbreak of the virus.
The governors of German states Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia have called for a restart of soccer on May 9 but not all states are on board.
Euro playoffs could be held in fall, UEFA VP says
UEFA vice-president Sandor Csanyi says playoffs to decide the last four places in the postponed European Championship could be played in October or November.
The 16-nation playoffs have twice been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Euro 2020 has been delayed one year.
Csanyi tells Hungarian media that October and November are options while there is uncertainty about when soccer can resume in Europe. All 55 UEFA member countries are currently scheduled to play Nations League games in October and November.
Hungary, one of 12 host nations of Euro 2020, was drawn to play at Bulgaria in the single knockout Euro 2020 playoffs. The winner will host either Iceland or Romania with a place in the final tournament at stake.
