Other Sports
1st April
Japan, IOC set July 23 next year for start of delayed Olympics
TOKYO (Reuters) – The postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23 next year and run until Aug. 8, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee said on Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic...
Factbox: Sports events around the world hit by coronavirus pandemic
OLYMPICS * The postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23, 2021 and run until Aug. 8, Yoshiro Mori, head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, has said. OLYMPIC TRIALS * U.S. trials for wrestling (April 4-5) were postponed. * U.S. Rowing postponed its team trials. * U.S. diving trials (April 3-5) were postponed....
Dates in summer 2022 being sought for 2021 world championships
(Reuters) – Athletics’ world championships have been postponed until the summer of 2022 and the global governing body is seeking new dates for the event in Eugene, Oregon that was originally scheduled for 2021. “100% Oregon will be held summer 2022,” a World Athletics spokesman told Reuters on Monday. World Athletics had earlier said in...
31st March
British authorities suspend Saunders’ boxing licence
(Reuters) – WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders had his licence suspended by Britain’s boxing authorities on Monday after a social media post in which he advised men how to hit their female partners during the coronavirus lockdown. The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) said in a statement that Saunders’ licence would be...
Hospital beds replace astroturf at Welsh rugby stadium
LLANELLI, Wales (Reuters) – Workers were laying floors and connecting electricity sockets on an expanse of astroturf on Monday as they raced to create a hospital for patients with COVID-19 inside a Welsh professional rugby team’s training facility. With the sporting calendar blank for an indefinite period due to a national lockdown, the Scarlets have...
Athletes urged to work together
ATHLETES of the Pacific have been urged to work together and be resilient in the fight against COVID-19. With sports being cancelled globally and the region, Oceania National Olympic Commitees, the body overseeing regional sports, has reassured athletes of its help and encouragement during this unprecedented time. Chairperson of the ONOC Athletes Commission Karo Lelai...
Lakhan calls for support from Pacific family
THE Pacific Games Council president, Vidya Lakhan, is pondering on the implications of the official announcement by the International Olympic Committee in postponing the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic to the 2021 Pacific Mini Games. “The decision by the International Olympic Committee to defer the 2020 Tokyo...
U.S. Open venue to host 350-bed temporary hospital amid coronavirus pandemic
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A portion of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is set to transform into a 350-bed temporary hospital on Tuesday, the USTA said, as the coronavirus outbreak strains resources in New York City, which as been dramatically affected by the pandemic. The site of the U.S. Open and the crown...
Veidreyaki: Tokyo Games deferment a blessing in disguise
Former Fiji 7s coach Peni Veidreyaki says the deferment of the Tokyo Olympics is a blessing in disguise for national coach Gareth Baber in his bid to defend the Olympics gold medal. Veidreyaki said it was time for the coach to formulate a winning combination. He said with the current health and safety situation because...
Sports events around the world hit by coronavirus pandemic
(Reuters) – Major sports events around the world that have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic: OLYMPICS – The International Olympic Committee and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded the Tokyo 2020 Olympics must be postponed and held no later than the summer of 2021. OLYMPIC TRIALS – U.S. trials for wrestling (April 4-5) were...
30th March
FASANOC works closely with sporting organisations
FIJI Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee chief executive officer Lorrain Mar says they are working closely with national federations in the country as to how they might adapt to training during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The national federations are the experts for their sport, so FASANOC will consult and be guided by the NF...
Delayed Tokyo Olympics likely to open in July 2021
TOKYO (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese organisers are in final stages of talks to set the opening date for the Tokyo Games in July next year, Japanese media said. The Tokyo event, postponed last week due to the coronavirus pandemic, will most likely have its opening ceremony in 2021 on July...
England players set for pay cuts due to coronavirus crisis
(Reuters) – England’s cricket players must “realise the bigger picture” and will be expected to take a pay cut as the country’s cricket governing body (ECB) tries to deal with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, The Times here reported on Sunday. More than 662,700 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus across the world...
RFU ends season in England: except Premiership
LONDON (Reuters) – England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) on Friday confirmed the end of the 2019-20 season for all league, cup and county rugby in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic but the Premiership has been excluded. The RFU earlier this week suspended all rugby activity until April 14 while the Premiership halted the...
Reports: Bucs, DT Suh agree to one-year contract
Five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a one-year, $8 million contract, multiple media outlets reported Wednesday. Suh recorded 41 tackles, a career-low 2.5 sacks and four fumble recoveries in 16 games in 2019 during his first season with the Buccaneers. He also scored two touchdowns, the...
Motor racing: Self isolation makes training easier for Ricciardo
(Reuters) – Australian Daniel Ricciardo reckons self-isolation makes for a perfect training camp — although it helps to be on the family farm in western Australia with a swimming pool and some machinery to play with. Speaking in a live Instagram Q+A organized by his Renault Formula One team, the Australian talked about what he...
Davis Love III, wife escape fire that destroys home
(Reuters) – American golfer Davis Love III’s home was destroyed by an early morning fire in Georgia on Friday but the 21-time PGA Tour winner said he and his wife were not injured in the early morning blaze. “While everyone in our family is saddened at the loss of our home that was filled with...
29th March
Report: Almost ‘100 percent’ chance NBA resumes without fans
If the NBA regular season resumes, it is almost “100 percent” the games will be played without fans present, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Friday. Windhorst said the NBA will very likely mimic the plan being used in China for a potential end to the current hiatus, which began March 12. In China, ground zero for...
Athletics: Iran Olympic discus trailblazer Hadadi has coronavirus
(Reuters) – Ehsan Hadadi, Iran’s first Olympic track and field medalist, has tested positive for coronavirus, World Athletics reported on Saturday. Hadadi, the Asian discus champion who became a national hero when he won silver at the 2012 Olympics in London, has an athletics base in the U.S. but was at home in Tehran when...
Tennis stars rally in fight against coronavirus
Novak Djokovic and his wife, Jelena, are donating 1 million Euros — about $1.1 million — to buy ventilators and other equipment for hospitals in their native Serbia to assist in the fight against the coronavirus. “The fight is not easy, numbers are not pleasant, but I am convinced that we will manage to make...
‘Challenge’ to decide who covers cost of postponing Tokyo Games: Mori
(Reuters) – Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori has told international federations that deciding who foots the bill for postponing the Games to 2021 will be a “major challenge”, Olympic news website insidethegames here reported on Saturday. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese organizers this week postponed the July 24-Aug. 9 event...
Dybala says coronavirus left him struggling for breath
(Reuters) – Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, one of the highest-profile players to be infected with the coronavirus, has started training again after recovering from the illness which he said left him struggling for breath. Dybala is one of three players at Juventus who have tested positive for the virus alongside defender Daniele Rugani and midfielder...
Coronavirus will not be opportunity for drug cheats says WADA chief
(Reuters) – World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Witold Banka had a message on Friday for any athlete thinking they could take advantage of the gap in drug-testing created by the coronavirus outbreak — “we will catch you” and “eliminate you”. WADA acknowledged last week that the coronavirus pandemic had created challenges for drug-testers with countries...
Team USA weighing roster alternatives in event of spring Olympics
USA Basketball is weighing alternative roster options in the event of a potential conflict between the delayed Tokyo Olympics and the NBA season. If the postponed Games are moved from a July 2020 start to March or April of 2021, NBA players would not be eligible to participate. The NBA regular season typically ends in...
28th March
NHL players discuss possible playoff formats
With the NHL season on an indefinite hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, players have plenty of time to ponder the potential return of the sport. With it looking increasingly likely that a full 82-game regular season won’t be completed, attention is turning to how the playoffs might look. In a Friday conference call involving...
Kavika vows not to repeat mistakes
WORLD Boxing Foundation Australasian heavyweight champion James Singh and Jonasa Kavika will square off for the title of Fiji heavyweight champion later this year. “I wont make the same mistakes again,” said Kavika. The two last met for the World Boxing Foundation Australasian title in November last year where Singh stopped Kavika in a seventh...
Olympic qualification process and late season being studied: Coe
(Reuters) – World Athletics is working to restart a shuttered athletics season and studying any changes that may be needed in the qualifying process for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, president Seb Coe said on Friday. The governing body is hoping to offer a series of meetings that may begin in August and run to October...
Cricket: ICC postpones World Cup qualifiers due to coronavirus
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday that all qualifying events for the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup and 50-overs version in 2023 that were scheduled to be held before June 30 have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The flu-like virus has infected more than 470,800 people around the world...
Athletes qualified for Tokyo 2020 to keep spots in 2021
Athletes already qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before the Games were postponed will get to keep their spots in the rescheduled 2021 competition. About 6,200 of the 11,000 scheduled participants had already secured their positions before the global coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement, which was made official Tuesday. Sebastian Coe, president of the International...
27th March
Nemani welcomes postponement decision
THE permanent secretary for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Maritino Nemani has welcomed the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics Games in Japan. “I believe it was the right decision which everyone should support,” the former national football captain said. “In light of the devastation COVID-19 has brought globally, it makes sense...
