Roger Federer is the first tennis player to top the annual Forbes list of the world’s highest paid athletes, overtaking footballer Lionel Messi. Federer, 38, moved up four places after earning £86.2m in the past year – about £81m of it in endorsements. Cristiano Ronaldo (£85m), Messi (£84m) and Neymar (£77.5m) come next, while American basketball player LeBron James (£71.5m) completes the top five.
The Premier League is set to restart on 17 June with Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal, subject to government approval. A full round of fixtures would then be played on the weekend of 19-21 June.
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr is to stay on as Super Eagles coach, ending months of protracted contract negotiations. Discussions have been going on since 2019 over the deal, with problems arising after the Nigeria Football Federation insisted publicly that Rohr spend more time in Nigeria.
Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger led the tributes to Cameroonian midfielder Joseph Bouasse Perfection who died from a heart attack aged 21 on Sunday. Rudiger, who played at Serie A club Roma during Bouasse’s time there as a youth-team player, expressed his sorrow at the “horrible news”.
The president of the Haitian Football Federation, Yves Jean-Bart, has been suspended from his post for 90 days. The governing body of world football, FIFA, took the step after allegations emerged that he coerced teenage female players into having sex with him.
Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield would fight Mike Tyson again – if his old rival asks. Holyfield, 57, who retired in 2014, won their two previous bouts in the 1990s, including the infamous ‘Bite Fight’ in 1997 when Tyson was disqualified. Both have planned returns for charity and Holyfield said a three-round fight was possible “if he [Tyson] wants to”.
Striker Odion Ighalo looks set to return to China when his loan deal expires on 31 May, with Manchester United struggling to agree an extension with Shanghai Shenhua. The Nigerian, 30, was signed on a short-term loan deal in January as cover for striker Marcus Rashford, who had been ruled out by a back injury.
Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning beat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in a charity golf match which raised $20m for coronavirus relief efforts in the United States. Legendary NFL quarterback Brady hit the shot of the day, holing out from the fairway on the seventh. “I take my hat off to Tom and Peyton,” said Woods. “This is our arena, this is what we do for a living.
Mauricio Pochettino is willing to look outside the Premier League’s top six for his next managerial job. Pochettino has not worked since he was sacked by Tottenham in November 2019. The 48-year-old has been heavily linked with Newcastle, providing their proposed Saudi Arabia-backed takeover goes through.
NBA legend Patrick Ewing has revealed that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The New York Knicks great, who played 17 seasons as a centre in the NBA, is currently the head coach of the Georgetown University men’s team. He was an 11-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medallist.
Rugby Australia and Queensland Rugby Union have released Izack Rodda, Harry Hockings and Isaac Lucas after they refused Covid-19-related pay cuts. The trio were stood down by Queensland Reds on Monday for not accepting the interim pay deals.
Staying in touch with friends and family, business meetings and quizzes – video calls have become a key part of life during the coronavirus pandemic. And now Danish Superliga club AGF Aarhus are using the technology to bring 10,000 fans to the side of their pitch, despite the season being played behind closed doors when it restarts on Thursday.
Rivals Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be joined by NFL greats Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as they take on a $10m golfing rematch on Sunday. The event will raise money for Covid-19 relief efforts in the United States. It follows Rory McIlroy’s £4m skins event last week involving Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff also in aid of charity.
The NBA is in talks to resume the season at Florida’s Disney World Resort in late July. The season was paused on 11 March because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is hoped Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex can be a “single site for games, practices and housing”.
La Liga can resume behind closed doors from 8 June, says Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The league’s president Javier Tebas said he had hoped Spain’s top flight would restart on 12 June, although La Liga is yet to confirm a restart date. La Liga players this week started training in groups of no more than 10.
Heracles’ striker Cyriel Dessers – who finished the Dutch Eredivisie season as joint top scorer – has said missing out on his Nigeria debut because of the coronavirus pandemic was “painful”. Dessers, 25 – who was tied on 15 goals with Ajax’s Steven Berghuis at the top of the goal-scoring charts when the Dutch campaign ended early – received his first Super Eagles call-up in March. He was included in Gernot Rohr’s squad for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone, but the match was put on hold because of the Covid-19 crisis, denying Dessers a chance to represent the country of his mother’s birth.
The Gambia has become the latest African football federation to declare its domestic league season “null and void” because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement on its website, the Gambian federation (GFF) confirmed its decision, saying there would be “no winners, no promotions and relegation.”
South Africa’s star long jumper Luvo Manyonga, who famously overcame a crystal meth addiction to win gold at the 2017 World Championships and silver at the 2016 Olympics, is in trouble with the law again. The 29-year-old, who was banned from athletics for 18 months after testing positive for the drug in 2012, has been fined for public drinking and contravening South Africa’s strict lockdown restrictions.
The famous San Siro in Milan is set to be replaced by a new stadium after Italy’s heritage authority raised no objections to its demolition. AC Milan and Inter Milan share the venue, which was built in 1926. Last year the clubs filed a request to jointly build a new 60,000-seater stadium next to the existing ground.
Chelsea will allow N’Golo Kante to stay away from training because of coronavirus fears – even if it means missing the rest of the season. The French midfielder, 29, returned to limited training on Tuesday at the club’s Cobham base. But he has since decided to train at home, a move supported by Chelsea.
