National Sports

The Latest: Dates for FA Cup semifinals pushed back

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The dates for the FA Cup semifinals have been changed to July 18-19.

The Football Association originally announced dates of July 11-12 but a short time later decided to push them back.

The FA Cup final is set for Aug. 1.

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The Japanese soccer league will resume on July 4 in empty stadiums.

J-League chairman Mitsuru Murai made the announcement in a online news conference.

The J-League suspended play on Feb. 26 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Both soccer and baseball were able begin play after

The Latest: Pan Pacific swimming won’t be held until 2026

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships won’t be held as planned in 2022 because of a crowded international sporting schedule brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Canada was scheduled to host the quadrennial event in 2022 but instead will host in 2026.

Swimming Canada says charter nations Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States “agreed to defer” the event.

The Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021. That then led to the swimming world championships being pushed back to May 2022.

Swimming Canada

The Latest: English cricket to explore ways to restart

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The head of English cricket says “unorthodox” measures could be explored to ensure at least part of the domestic season is played this year.

The England and Wales Cricket Board says there will be no professional domestic cricket before Aug. 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The governing body says its ambition remains to stage domestic competitions some time over the upcoming summer and that talks will continue with the government and health experts.

The ECB has outlined a slew of proposals for play

The Latest: Postponed Belgian Cup final now set for Aug. 1

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The postponed Belgian Cup final has been rescheduled for Aug. 1. That is one week before the start of the league’s next season.

Belgian soccer authorities say the match between Club Brugge and Antwerp will take place in an empty King Baudouin Stadium.

Club Brugge has the opportunity to secure a league-cup double after it was awarded its 16th Belgian title this month following a decision to end the current season prematurely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

All sporting competitions in Belgium have

The Latest: Spanish soccer federation OKs Monday games

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The Spanish soccer federation says it will allow games to be played on Mondays and Fridays until the end of the season even though a judge has denied the Spanish league’s official request to play on those days.

League president Javier Tebas has said he wants matches to be played every day but the federation had been against the idea.

The federation says it “wants to clearly show its good will” and is also willing to extend the exception into the beginning of next season depending on how the pandemic

The Latest: New dates for Olympic women’s soccer qualifiers

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The final Asian qualifying place for the women’s soccer tournament at the Tokyo Olympics is set to be decided in February.

The Asian Football Confederation says the postponed two-leg series between China and South Korea will be played Feb. 19 and 24. No venues for the games were announced.

The games were previously postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been postponed for one year.

The 12-team women’s tournament is scheduled to start in Japan ahead of the Olympic

The Latest: F1 carmaker McLaren to cut 1,200 jobs

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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Formula One carmaker McLaren says 1,200 jobs will be lost across its entire group’s operations because of the coronavirus outbreak.

It was not immediately clear how the cuts would affect the group’s F1 operation. The sport has yet to start its 2020 season amid the pandemic.

The McLaren Group says “the cancellation of motorsport events, the suspension of manufacturing and retail activities around the world and reduced demand for technology solutions have all led to a sudden impact” on its

The Latest: French tennis federation approves support fund

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The French tennis federation will set aside nine million euros ($9.8 million) for its players who financially struggle as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The money will come from a larger 35-million euro ($38.1 million) support plan for French tennis as a whole. It will go to the players ranked outside the Top 100 who won’t receive any compensation from tennis’ international governing bodies.

Bernard Giudicelli, the president of the French tennis federation, told a conference call Monday that 66

The Latest: Badminton aiming to restart in mid-August

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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Badminton is aiming to begin its revamped schedule in mid-August at the Hyderabad Open in India.

The world tour would resume at the Taipei Open from Sept. 1-6 in an updated calendar released by the Badminton World Federation.

The Thomas & Uber Cup Finals in Denmark are confirmed on the new dates of Oct. 3-11 and the World Tour Finals have been pushed back a week to Dec. 16-20.

The season-ending Finals in Guangzhou is one of five tournaments in China at the end of the year. That is not including the Hong

The Latest: Another Dynamo Dresden player tests positive

by Associated Press

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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German soccer club Dynamo Dresden has reported another case of coronavirus. The already quarantined second-division club has now had four players test positive.

Dresden says on its website that the latest positive result was found in a fifth wave of tests conducted on Wednesday. It adds that another “category one” close contact of its coaching staff has also tested positive for COVID-19.

The player, staff member and staff member’s contact person must now go into quarantine at home for 14 days.

Dresden’s