Coronavirus: Here's what's happening in the sports world on Monday

The latest on how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting sports around the globe:

• American Hockey League pulls plug on season, playoffs
• MLB owners reportedly approve plan to start season in July
• CFL meets with Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
• Canada's National Bank steps up for lower-ranked players
• Swimming Canada developing plan for safe return to pool
• 2021 World Baseball Classic reportedly cancelled
• Turkish volleyball league cancelled, no champ declared
• Premier League soccer cleared to return

AHL cancels rest of season, playoffs

The American Hockey League did the expected Monday, cancelling the remainder of its season and playoffs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outgoing league president and CEO David Andrews said in a statement the NHL's top minor league simply ran out of time.

"After a lengthy review process, the American Hockey League has determined that the resumption and completion of the 2019-20 season is not feasible in light of current conditions," Andrews said in a statement.

The AHL paused its schedule March 12, following the NHL's lead in the aftermath of an NBA player testing positive for COVID-19.

The AHL current standings — sorted by points percentage — and statistics as of March 12, are considered final and official, and will serve as the basis for determining league awards for the 2019-20 season. The Milwaukee Admirals topped the league at 41-14-5-3.

MLB owners approve plan to start season in early July: report

Major League Baseball owners gave the go-ahead Monday to making a proposal to the players' union that could lead to the coronavirus-delayed season starting around the Fourth of July weekend in ballparks without fans, a plan that envisioned expanding the designated hitter to the National League for 2020.

Spring training would start in early to mid-June, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the plan were not announced.

Each team would play about 82 regular-season games: against opponents in its own division plus interleague matchups limited to AL East vs. NL East, AL Central vs. NL Central and AL West vs. NL West.

Post-season play would be expanded from 10 clubs to 14 by doubling wild cards in each league to four.

CFL meets with more government officials

The CFL met with David Lemetti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, on Monday.

It's the latest meeting the CFL has held in its quest to secure financial assistance from the federal government. Two weeks ago, commissioner Randy Ambrosie divulged the league has asked Ottawa for up to $150 million in assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The league's proposal involves three phases: $30 million now to manage the impact the novel coronavirus outbreak has had on league business; additional assistance for an abbreviated regular season; and up to another $120 million in the event of a lost 2020 campaign

The CFL hasn't given up on staging a 2020 season but has postponed the start of training camps — which were to open this month. It has also pushed back the beginning of the regular season — which was to begin June 11 — to early July, at the earliest, although many provincial governments have said there will be no sports events with large crowds this summer.

Even Ambrosie has publicly suggested if the CFL were to have a season in 2020, it's looking more like it won't begin until September, at the earliest.

According to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying Canada, the CFL met with Lametti and Nadia Kadri, special assistant (policy) for Justice Canada, on Monday. Lametti is the second cabinet minister the league has spoken to, the other being Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, on April 6.

The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying Canada also said the CFL met Friday with Dan Vandal, a Liberal MP for Saint Boniface-Saint Vital.

Canada's National Bank funds tennis players

Canada's National Bank is offering $10,000 to $20,000 to each of 23 tennis players from the country who are facing financial issues because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tennis Canada announced the grants from National Bank on Monday, saying the amounts will depend on a player's ranking.

The money will help professionals ranked from 100 to 750 in singles or between 25 and 100 in doubles, members of the top 100 in the ITF junior rankings who are transitioning to the pros, and players in the top 50 of the ITF wheelchair rankings.

Among the recipients: Sharon Fichman, who is No. 48 in women's doubles; Leylah Annie Fernandez, who is No. 118 in women's singles; Brayden Schnur, who is No. 177 in men's singles; Peter Polansky, who is No. 192 in men's singles; and Rebecca Marino, who is No. 300 in women's singles.

All sanctioned tennis events have been called off since March because of the outbreak. All tennis events in Canada are called off until the end of August, except for the Rogers Cup men's tournament in Toronto. The WTA and ATP are suspended until at least mid-July everywhere.

Swimming Canada unveils plan for return to pool

Swimming Canada has unveiled its plan for the return of aquatic sports as restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic begin to relax.

In an email released Monday, Swimming Canada said a return to pools would be a phased approach, beginning once municipal, provincial and federal regulations give the go-ahead.

The first phase would focus on a small group of top athletes, such as those training at Swimming Canada high performance centres and Olympic and Paralympic Games hopefuls.

Future phases will include expanding and adding groups of athletes, leading to a full return to training and eventually competition. Municipal, provincial and national health guidelines and restrictions would be observed throughout all phases.

The organization said it hopes to be able to host an invitational camp for top pool and open water swimmers Aug. 25-29.

2021 World Baseball Classic is off: reports

Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reported Monday the 20-team event won't be played because of the coronavirus pandemic. USA Today, citing two sources, also reported that the WBC has been cancelled.

The WBC was scheduled to be played in ballparks in the United States, Japan and Taiwan from March 9-23, with the semifinals and finals at Marlins Park in Miami.

The WBC was scheduled to be played in ballparks in the United States, Japan and Taiwan from March 9-23, with the semifinals and finals at Marlins Park in Miami.

The quadrennial event likely won't be played before 2023, Rojas said, explaining that the WBC is part of the MLB collective-bargaining agreement that is due to expire in December 2021.

Canada West conference reduces upcoming schedule

The Canada West conference is cutting schedules and reducing travel in many university sports for the 2020-21 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference said Monday it has had "significant disruptions to member finances" during the crisis.

Canada West says the change will allow for games to occur in a shorter amount of time if COVID-19 restrictions limit the usual competition period.

Football, one of the first sports to start, will go to five games from eight during the regular season.

Soccer, rugby, field hockey, hockey, basketball and volleyball will also see reduced schedules.

The conference says it will revisit schedules for the 2021-22 season.

"While there remains uncertainty around when university sport will return, the CW Board of Directors has worked diligently to ensure that when it does the conference and our members are prepared to navigate the difficult financial realities ahead of us," Canada West president Clint Hamilton said in a statement.

Rugby Canada creates 'return to play' group to plan future

Rugby Canada and its provincial unions have formed a working group tasked with developing a countrywide "return to play" strategy.

The national governing body says the formation of the group comes as various jurisdictions across the country begin to loosen some lockdown restrictions. Still, Rugby Canada CEO Allen Vansen stresses that it will up to health and government authorities to decide when the sport emerges from its current COVID-19 suspension.

Vansen calls the working group "a positive first step in what will be a methodical, long-term process of returning to play safely."

The committee will also have to ponder the possibility of the sport reopening in some jurisdictions earlier than others due to the virus.

"We expect that we'll see different parts of the country enable a form of rugby or certainly training evolving into smaller gatherings ... We're not going to immediately jump back into 15-a-side rugby full-on," Vansen said in an interview.

Turkish volleyball league cancelled

The Turkish volleyball league has been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkish Volleyball Federation president Mehmet Akif Ustundag says no team will be declared champion and no team will be relegated.

He says "the men's and women's leagues have been registered as they stand."

Turkey suspended all league games on March 20 but the country's soccer federation announced last week it plans to resume games on June 12 and host the Champions League final in Istanbul in August.

Kvitova, Pliskova to lead teams for charity

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and third-ranked Karolina Pliskova will lead teams in a tennis charity event during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pliskova's team will include her twin sister Kristyna, 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova, Tereza Martincova and Nikola Bartunkova.

Kvitova will be joined in her squad by Barbora Strycova, Katerina Siniakova, Barbora Krejcikova, Linda Fruhvirtova and Russian player Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Pliskova says "it's a great opportunity for us to play a unique tournament."

The first of the four tournaments that are part of the competition is scheduled for June 13-15 in Prague.

U.K. green lights return of Premier League

Premier League soccer was cleared to return in June as part Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to re-open the United Kingdom.

Games would begin June 1 in empty stadiums due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The plan is part of Johnson's broader return to normalcy protocol in the UK in which he plans to permit "cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed-doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact."

Premier League play was suspended March 13 amid the pandemic. All 20 teams are expected to vote before specific details regarding the league's return are set. On Saturday, the Bundesliga in Germany is scheduled to officially return.

There are 92 games remaining in the Premier League season. Officials had targeted a June 8 return with games being held at neutral sites.

Japanese baseball hopeful of June start

The head of Japanese baseball says the 12-team league is hoping to start play next month but no specific date has been set.

Japan is living under a state of emergency that is in effect until May 31.

Commissioner Atsushi Saito says the all-star game in July has been cancelled for the first time since it was initially held almost 70 years ago. The Japanese season was originally scheduled to open on March 20.

Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University professor Mitsuo Kaku says it would be difficult to set a date for the season to start with the state of emergency still in effect.

Baseball has begun in Taiwan and South Korea in empty stadiums.