Spain coach Luis Enrique says playing behind closed doors is “sadder than dancing with your own sister”, as football faces the prospect of games without supporters for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume last weekend following the two-month shutdown, with strict hygiene measures enforced at all matches across the country.

“(Playing without fans) is sadder than dancing with your own sister. It’s not attractive,” Luis Enrique told the “Colgados del aro” (“Hanging from the hoop”) basketball show on Wednesday.

“I watched the German football and it’s a sad sight. You hear the voices, you even hear the insults… you lose the intimacy of the better moments.

“But you also have to understand it’s a business that generates lots of money, and even if the spectacle is a long way from that when there’s fans it can help in dealing with the confinement.

“Watching football again or any other sport, as a fan it’s interesting,” he added.

Luis Enrique returned to his job as Spain coach in November after resigning last June to take care of his daughter, Xana, who died in August of cancer.

“(As a player), I would have liked to get back playing as soon as possible. I have no fear,” he said.

“I was a bit scared at one moment for my parents, my in-laws and the elderly people I cherish and above all for the people who may suffer. But on a personal level, I have zero fear.”

Euro 2020 has been postponed by a year due to the health crisis and Luis Enrique admitted the uncertainty was affecting everyone involved.

“We’re going day by day. We’re waiting for football to return and later down the line we will restart with some friendlies.

“In theory, the national team should play friendly matches in September as usual. But there are more important things right now so we need to be patient.”

Source AFP

Gareth Bale has said he would be interested in playing in Major League Soccer in America if he leaves Real Madrid.

Bale has not been a regular in Zinedine Zidane’s team this season and the 30-year-old almost departed last summer, before a move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning fell through.

Any MLS club keen to sign Bale would likely have to overcome the huge financial implications of a deal. Bale’s Madrid contract ends in 2022 and earns him close to 30 million euros ($33 million) a year before tax.

“I really like the league,” said Bale, speaking to the Hat-Trick podcast presented by the ICC, in an episode released on Thursday.

“I think it’s grown so much over the years. When we come over and play them in pre-season, the games are difficult, the standard is getting a lot better. The clubs are improving, the facilities are improving, the stadiums are improving.

“I think it’s a league that’s on the up and still rising. I think a lot more players want to come over to America now and play. I would definitely be interested in it.”

Bale was also asked about the banner he celebrated with after Wales qualified for Euro 2020 in November, which caused a stir in the Spanish press.

The banner taken from the crowd read, ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order’, as an indication of Bale’s priorities.

“We were just joking around,” said Bale. “A few of them were saying ‘if we do qualify, let’s try to find it and bring it out. I was like, ‘do what you want but I won’t be going to get it. They found it and brought it down.

“We were all celebrating as a team and I’m not not going to not jump around with my teammates. It was a bit of banter, a bit of fun.”

Bale is keeping fit at home as the coronavirus pandemic means players are waiting to see if La Liga can resume, with the plan to restart games behind closed doors in June.

“The club are sending us two weeks of programmes every two weeks,” Bale said. “We’re sticking to that, you can change it a bit if you want to do a bit more or a bit less depending on how your body is feeling. We have a guideline and we’re doing the best we can to tick over for the time being.”

Source: AFP

The Wimbledon championships were cancelled for the first time since World War Two on Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic struck another blue-ribbon sports event off the calendar and wiped out the entire tennis grasscourt season.

While the decision had looked inevitable for some time, since the virtual shutdown of world sport and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, Wimbledon had been one of the few events not to have been officially cancelled or postponed.

But after emergency talks between the various stakeholders over the last few days, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced that it was impossible for the grasscourt Grand Slam, scheduled for June 29-July 12, to take place.

“It is with great regret that the main board of the All England Club and the committee of management of the championships have today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic,” the AELTC said in a statement.

“The 134th Championships will instead be staged from June 28 to July 11, 2021.”

Following the cancellation of the grasscourt major, and with the pandemic worsening in Europe and the U.S., the men’s ATP Tour, women’s WTA Tour and the International Tennis Federation extended the suspension of professional tennis for another five weeks to July 13.

“At this time, tournaments taking place from July 13, 2020 onwards are still planning to proceed as per the published schedule,” a joint statement from the three governing bodies said.

Britain’s death toll from the virus reached 2,352 on Wednesday, according to NHS figures.

The French Open, originally due to be held from May 24-June 7 has been postponed and controversially rescheduled by the French tennis federation for Sept. 20-Oct. 4, shortly after the end of the U.S. Open.

‘No vaccine = no tennis’

Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo doubts whether either tournament will be played though.

“I think we’re going to have to draw a line under the 2020 tennis season,” Mauresmo said on Twitter this week.

“International circuit = players of all nationalities plus management, spectators and people from the 4 corners of the world who bring these events to life. No vaccine = no tennis.”

Unlike the French Open which is played on clay, Wimbledon’s scope for re-arranging the start date was extremely limited.

While Centre Court and Court One boast a roof, playing elite level tennis outside on grass would have been extremely challenging in late summer or autumn with a lack of light and problems caused by dew forming on the surface late in the day.

Shortening the format of the tournament, or playing behind closed doors, would also have proved extremely unpopular with the players.

“While in some ways this has been a challenging decision, we strongly believe it is not only in the best interests of society at this time, but also provides certainty to our colleagues in international tennis given the impact on the grass court events in the UK and in Europe and the broader tennis calendar,” AELTC chief executive Richard Lewis said.

Tickets holders will be offered the chance to purchase tickets for the same day and court for 2021 championships as well as being issued with a refund for this year’s event, organisers added.

Wimbledon has been held every year since 1946 after a six-year hiatus because the country was at war.

(REUTERS)

He is the latest victim of the coronavirus outbreak. The former president of Olympique de Marseille (OM) Pape Diouf died after being hit by Covid-19. His death has been confirmed by RTS, Senegal’s public television channel. He was 68 years old.

Hospitalized in Dakar, where he was under respiratory assistance, Pape Diouf was to be repatriated from Dakar to Nice by medical plane but his condition deteriorated, the plane could not take off and he died on Senegalese soil.

A former journalist, players’ agent and then head of OM from 2005 to 2009, Diouf had notably contributed to building the 2010 French championship team after 17 years without a title for OM.

By Haggai Fung Achuo

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola have each donated One million Euros to fight the coronavirus outbreak in Spain.

Messi donated a total of 1 million Euros to 2 hospitals, one in Barcelona and the other in his own country Argentina. Guardiola’s contribution will go to a campaign being promoted by the Medical College of Barcelona and the Angel Soler Daniel Foundation.

The money will be used to help purchase medical equipment and protective material for the hospital staff involved in treating those admitted to hospital. Spain is one of the worst affected countries in Europe, with nearly 2,700 deaths and almost 40 thousand positive cases.

Source: Presstv

Cameroonian basketball player Joel Embiid, of the Philadelphia 76ers, is donating $500,000 (Sh53,201,100) to coronavirus relief and helping team workers who have had their salary temporarily cut due coronavirus outbreak.

The Sixers announced they will slash salaries up to 20% for a few employees to help the franchise stay afloat throughout this 2019-20 season hiatus. 

In a statement regarding the temporary salary reductions for some employees, Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil said, “To ensure we can continue to support and operate our businesses during these uncertain times without reducing our workforce, we are asking our full-time, salaried employees to temporarily reduce their pay by up to 20 percent and move to a four-day week.” 

And according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Embiid is donating $500,000 to help survival and protection efforts in the community.

“Philadelphia 76ers star has decided to pledge $500K to COVID-19 medical relief—to help survival and protection efforts in the community. AND he’s committed to helping Sixers employees who will suffer financial hardship in light of the franchise’s salary reductions,” Ramona Shelburne tweeted.

Embiid, who has been in self-isolation since March 11, is the third highest-paid player on the team, making $27.5 million this season as part of his max-scale rookie contract extension.

The Sixers announced last Thursday that three members of the organization tested positive for the coronavirus. 

The NBA suspended their regular season on March 11 after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. A total of nine players have tested positive for the virus.

About Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid was born on March 16, 1994, to a military officer, Thomas Embiid, and his wife, Christine Embiid, in Yaoundé, Cameroon. His father was also into sports and played handball.

He grew up playing volleyball and soccer and didn’t start playing organized basketball until 2011 when he was 17 years old.

Joel Embiid was discovered by Luc Mbah a Moute, another Cameroon native, and an NBA player, at a basketball camp in the country. Embiid moved to the US at the age of 16 taking Moute as his mentor.

He played one season of college basketball at the University of Kansas before declaring early for the NBA.

Joel Embiid declared for the 2014 NBA Draft on April 9, 2014. He was selected for the third overall pick by Philadelphia 76ers six days after his declaration.

He signed a rookie contract with the 76ers on August 26, 2014.

Culled from Standard Media

The International Olympic Committee is considering a postponement of the Tokyo 2020 games and has given itself a deadline of 4 weeks to make a decision.

The IOC’s executive board met on Sunday amid mounting pressure from athletes and national Olympic committees for the games to be delayed because of the coronavirus crisis.

The IOC said cancellation is not on the agenda but a scaled-down games will also be considered. However postponement by either several months or probably a whole year is thought to be the most likely outcome.

The development marks a significant shift by the IOC which as recently as 5 days ago, said it was “fully committed” to go-ahead with the Tokyo Olympics.

Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz has died at the age of 76 after contracting coronavirus.

Sanz had been admitted to a Madrid hospital on Tuesday after suffering the symptoms of the coronavirus.

His son said he had a respiratory disease. Sanz was in charge of the Spanish Giants from 1995 to 2000 overseeing two champions league titles, with the 1st coming after a 1-0 win over Juventus in 1998.

The 2nd was in 2000 when they crushed Valencia 3-0 in Paris. He was ousted as president of the club by Florentino Perez that same year.

Tens of thousands of people flocked to a cauldron with the Olympic flame in northeastern Japan over the weekend despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The flame arrived in Japan to a scaled-down welcoming ceremony on Friday as doubts grew over whether the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead on schedule as the deadly virus causes chaos around the world.

The pandemic has already shredded the global sports calendar, with top sports leagues suspended and major tournaments postponed. More than 50,000 people on Saturday queued to watch the flame displayed at Sendai station in Miyagi, chosen as part of the “Recovery Olympics” to showcase the region’s revival after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

Some had to stay in a 500-meter queue for several hours, local media said. Many of them wore masks as they took pictures with the cherry blossom-shaped cauldron.

“I queued for three hours but watching the Olympic flame was greatly encouraging,” a 70-year-old woman told public broadcaster NHK.

But organizers, concerned about the bigger-than-expected gathering, have warned the viewing event could be suspended if a crowd becomes “extremely dense,” local media reported.

The nationwide torch relay begins on March 26, starting from the J-Village sports complex in Fukushima that was used as a base for workers during the 2011 nuclear disaster. But organizers have been forced to scale back the relay, closing daily ceremonies to the public and urging spectators to “avoid forming crowds” along the route.

(Source: AFP)