Serie A side Roma are to fund three intensive care ventilators and eight beds for a hospital in Rome as the coronavirus crisis deepens in Italy. The clubs first-team players and coaching staff each donated a day’s salary to take the club’s fundraising campaign to 460,000 euros.
The World Snooker Championship has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Judd Trump had been due to defend his title at the tournament, which was scheduled to take place from 18 April to 4 May. Organisers hope to reschedule it in July or August. The championship, the 17th and final ranking event of the season, has taken place for 43 years running at the Crucible in Sheffield. World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn said: “These are tough times for everyone but we are determined to get through it.
Swiss Super League side FC Sion have sacked nine players who reportedly refused to sign an agreement for a wage cut during the coronavirus crisis. Former Arsenal players Alex Song and Johan Djourou and ex-Fulham midfielder Pajtim Kasami are among those confirmed as being dismissed by the club.
The Monaco Grand Prix has been cancelled and the Dutch and Spanish races have been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The first four races in Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam and China had already been called off due to the pandemic. The sport’s governing body, the FIA, says it expects the 2020 season to begin “as soon as it is safe to do so after May”. Monaco organisers said it was “not possible” to rearrange a date. It is still hoped the other two races can be rescheduled later in the year.
The Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) has suspended its football league for four weeks after the number of confirmed cases in the country increased from three to eight. According to a statement by The NFF “the shutdown affects all on-field activities the various National Teams, the Nigeria Professional Football League, the other Leagues, youth football programmes and even street football.”
English football will be suspended until at least 30 April because of the continued spread of coronavirus. All games in England’s Premier League, EFL, Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship, and all fixtures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, are currently postponed. The Football Association has also agreed that the current season can be “extended indefinitely”. Under current rules the season had been scheduled to end on 1 June.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has launched a fundraiser to help fight coronavirus and has called on fellow footballers to help “kick this virus away”. The AC Milan striker plays in Italy, the country so far worst affected by the pandemic other than China. It appears Ibrahimovic has made two 50,000 euro donations.
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has made a donation of 30 millions FCFA – around 45,000 euros – to the national committee fighting against coronavirus in his home country of Senegal. The Reds’ player decided to make the donation “spontaneously when he saw the evolution of the situation” with the increase of Covid-19 cases in Senegal, his agent said. Mane also shared a video on social media where he asked his compatriots to take coronavirus “extremely seriously”.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has postponed next month’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) over concerns around the coronavirus pandemic. The fate of the tournament, for African players based in their own leagues, had been in doubt after defending champions Morocco pulled out, while host nation Cameroon had already asked CAF for a delay. It had been set to run between 4-25 April.
Anthony Joshua’s world heavyweight title fight against Kubrat Pulev on 20 June could be moved to July, says promoter Eddie Hearn. The 30-year-old Briton is due to defend his WBA, WBO and IBF belts at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “We do have a potential date in July but, right now, we are hoping June 20 can remain the date,” Matchroom Boxing’s Hearn said. Bulgarian Pulev, 38, is the mandatory IBF challenger to take on Joshua.
The French Open has been moved to September and October as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The event at Roland Garros was due to be played from 24 May to 7 June, but instead will take place between 20 September and 4 October. That means it will begin just one week after the completion of the US Open in New York.
Roger Mayweather, former world boxing champion and uncle and trainer to Floyd, has died aged 58. He was a two-weight world champion in stellar 72-fight career that spanned 17 years. He then became the trainer to his nephew Floyd Mayweather who famously built himself into boxing’s top attraction and its pound-for-pound best fighter during the 2010s.
The 20th National Sports Festival billed to flag off in Benin City, Edo State, this weekend has been postponed. The Minister for Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare, made the announcement on Tuesday via his official Twitter handle. The minister, who had earlier revealed that the sports ministry was meeting with the counterparts in the health ministry, confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate postponement of the biannual multi-sporting event to a later date yet to be decided.
Ex Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has had his Trabzonspor contract terminated through mutual consent the club have confirmed. Mikel will not be paid compensation and has agreed to give up all forward-looking rights and receivables. The midfielder’s contract would have run until 2021 had he stayed on at Trabzonspor.
Euro 2020 has been postponed by one year until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. European football’s governing body made the decision during an emergency video conference involving major stakeholders on Tuesday. The tournament, due to take place from 12 June-12 July this summer, will now run from 11 June to 11 July next year. The postponement provides a chance for European leagues that have been suspended to now be completed.
The Cameroonian city of Douala has been chosen to stage this season’s African Champions League final, while the Moroccan capital Rabat will host the Confederation Cup final. It is the first time the finals will be played in neutral venues. Last June, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) abandoned two-legged finals in favour of a one-match finale. “The two cities got the nod following evaluation of… key facilities such as infrastructure, accommodation (and) medical amongst others,” a CAF statement read.
All football in Ghana has been put on hold because of the coronavirus outbreak. The Ghana Football Association (GFA) took action on Sunday evening following an announcement from President Nana Akufo-Addo, ordering a suspension of public gatherings, including sports events.
Football and cricket activities in South Africa are being suspended as the country seeks to minimise the impact of coronavirus. On Sunday, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa declared coronavirus a national disaster, and the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have responded by suspending their sports in the country. Any gatherings for football of 100 people or more are now banned, while all forms of cricket have now been terminated for a 60-day period.
Liverpool have the most valuable squad in the transfer market from Europe’s top-five leagues, according to research group CIES Football Observatory. With an aggregated value of 1.4bn euros the Reds top the list ahead of fellow Premier League side Manchester City in second. Chelsea are fifth, while Manchester United and Tottenham are in the top 10.
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has set up a fundraising page and pledged financial support to Unicef to help children affected by coronavirus. After turning 27 on Sunday, Pogba set up the birthday fundraiser to “help fight this war against Covid-19”.
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