Coronavirus: Here's what happened in the sports world on Saturday
The Associated Press | Posted: May 30, 2020 3:17 PM | Last Updated: June 3, 2020
Spanish soccer league to resume full team training on Monday
The latest on how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting sports around the globe:
- Canada's Mackenzie Tour shuts down golf season
- EPL gets government approval to restart June 17
- Austria's health ministry gives green light to pair of F1 races
Spanish soccer league to resume full team training
The Spanish league says full team training sessions will resume Monday, ahead of the first soccer match to be played following the coronavirus stoppage.
La Liga said the government gave authorization on Saturday for squads to practice together. Until now, players had been limited to individual training before progressing to small groups.
The league, which has been on hold since March 12, will restart on June 11 when Sevilla faces Real Betis without fans. The 11 rounds remaining are due to be played until July 19, according to the government.
Barcelona leads Real Madrid by two points at the top of the table.
Canada's Mackenzie Tour shuts down golf season
Canada's Mackenzie Tour cancelled its upcoming season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Border restrictions, mandatory 14-day quarantines for visitors and gathering restrictions all contributed to the league's decision announced Friday.
"We've weighed all of our options and concluded that it is not feasible to play this summer," Mackenzie Tour executive director Scott Pritchard said in a news release. "With the safety of the communities we play in mind, as well as the well-being of our players, sponsors, tournament-organizing committees, volunteers and golf course staff, we came to the realization that this is the best decision for everyone involved."
The Mackenzie Tour's eighth season had been scheduled to begin this week at the Canada Life Open in Vancouver, the first of a record 13 events on the schedule.
Premier League gets government approval to restart
The English Premier League was given government approval on Saturday to press ahead with its June 17 restart although players will have to stay apart during goal celebrations and disputes to maintain social distancing.
Further details of the league's plans for dealing with coronavirus cases have been disclosed with clubs likely to have to play even if they only have 15 fit squad members.
The season was suspended in March but training has resumed in the last two weeks and the government is now willing to allow games without fans if coronavirus prevention protocols are followed by those in stadiums.
Players and coaches are being tested twice a week for COVID-19.
The government said, where possible, social distancing must be maintained in games including "during any disputes between players and referees, or scoring celebrations."
Clubs agreed during a conference call on Thursday to restart on June 17, which is a Wednesday, even though there are still thousands of new COVID-19 infections each day in England.
No positive results in latest testing round
There have been no positive results from the Premier League's latest round of COVID-19 testing.
The league says a total of 1,130 players and club personnel were tested in the fourth round of screening, with the all-clear raising confidence around the planned resumption on June 17.
"The Premier League can today confirm that on Thursday 28 May and Friday 29 May, 1,130 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19," a statement read. "Of these, zero have tested positive."
US Open's plan to return
Charter flights to ferry U.S. Open tennis players and limited entourages from Europe, South America and the Middle East to New York. Negative COVID-19 tests before travelling. Centralized housing. Daily temperature checks.
No spectators. Fewer on-court officials. No locker-room access on practice days.
All are among the scenarios being considered for the 2020 U.S. Open — if it is held at all amid the coronavirus pandemic — and described to The Associated Press by a high-ranking official at the Grand Slam tournament.
Austria OK's fan-free F1 races July 8, 12
Austria's health ministry on Saturday gave the green light to two Formula One motor races on July 5 and 12 — the delayed season-openers - to be held without spectators in line with plans aimed at halting the spread of COVID-19.
The races are due to be held in the village of Spielberg, about 200 kilometres southwest of the capital Vienna.
Formula One organizers earlier this year announced plans to re-launch its delayed season in Austria without crowds and end it in Abu Dhabi in December after races in Asia and the Americas.
Austria is among countries moving ahead with easing restrictions as new coronavirus infections wane.
Formula One's 10 teams will be limited to a maximum 80 people each at the races when the delayed season gets going in July, the governing International Automobile Federation had said on Thursday.
"The concept calls for strict hygienic measures as well as regular tests and health checks for the teams and their employees," Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said.
Top Rank Boxing returns on June 9
Boxing makes its return with six events in June, most all of them to be held without fans in Las Vegas, Top Rank chief Bob Arum announced Saturday.
The coronavirus pandemic put a halt to boxing, as it has with every major sports league in the country.
"This is a sensible way to push ahead. Hopefully, the fights will be good — I know they will be — but you've got to make sure all the procedures are safe and so forth," Arum said in making the announcement on ESPN.
"Hopefully, we will have demonstrated to the authorities, based on these Nevada protocols, that they work," Arum said.
The fights will start June 9 and be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the MGM Grand Conference Center, with no title bouts scheduled right away.
WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson (13-0) headlines the June 9 card against Felix Caraballo (13-1-2), and Jessie Magdaleno (27-1) at the top on June 11 against Yenifel Vicente (36-4-2).
French soccer league cancelled too soon, ex-minister says
France's former sports minister says the government was too hasty in calling off soccer leagues this season.
The French leagues were cancelled after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in late April they could not resume because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Patrick Kanner, sports minister from 2014-17, thinks the leagues were pressured into cancelling.
Speaking on France Inter radio on Saturday, Kanner said "they were not given any choice" and that "maybe we could have resumed playing in June. He added "there were healthy protocols in place" in case the leagues could resume "of course without fans" at the stadiums.
France is the only one of Europe's five major soccer leagues to cancel its season.
Games in Germany have already resumed and they are set to do so in England, Italy and Spain next month.