The NFL has set protocols for reopening team facilities and has told the 32 teams to have them in place by May 15. Commissioner Roger Goodell mapped out several phases of protocols in a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The first phase to deal with the coronavirus pandemic would involve a limited number of non-player personnel. That number initially would be 50% of the non-player employees and up to a total of 75 on any single day being approved to be at the facility. But state or local regulations could require a lower number. The individual clubs would decide which employees could return to the facility and when, once the buildings reopen. No players would be permitted in the facility except to continue therapy and rehabilitation for injuries that were underway when facilities were ordered closed in late March. Goodell noted that the league is actively working on the next phase of reopening, which will involve both more staffers and players. He said the players' union is also being consulted on these steps.
The NBA says some players can voluntarily work out at their team practice facilities starting on Friday, with some very specific conditions and only in places where local and state governments have signed off on such openings. But it's unclear how many — if any — players will be back on the floor when the league ban gets lifted. Some teams aren't ready to welcome players back immediately, and many teams aren't allowed to open yet to because of local rules.
In other virus-related sports news:
All but one of the 14 schools in the Southeastern Conference have indicated they plan to reopen their campuses for the fall semester, a step widely believed to be needed to resume football and other sports. South Carolina and Tennessee today became the latest schools in the nation's top football conference to announce their plans, joining Alabama, LSU and others. Vanderbilt hasn't announced its plans for the fall.
The Big 12 has become the first Power Five conference to say it will hold its football media days virtually. About 500 media members are usually credentialed to attend Big 12 media days, which were scheduled to be held July 21-22 at AT&T Stadium near Dallas.
Four MLS teams allowed players to use team training fields for individual workouts on Wednesday. Sporting Kansas City, Atlanta United, Orlando City and Inter Miami let players in for vigorously controlled voluntary workouts on the first day they were permitted by the league. Nashville, Real Salt Lake, LAFC and Houston are among the league's 26 teams that plan to start Thursday, with more lined up next week.
Fans will be allowed to enter baseball stadiums Friday for games in Taiwan for the first time this season. It is part of a gradual easing of restrictions amid the pandemic. The China Professional Baseball League said up to 1,000 people would be permitted to enter ballparks after an agreement between the league and Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center.
A person with knowledge of negotiations tells The Associated Press the Maryland Jockey Club and NBC Sports have set aside three possible dates for the running of the Preakness. The NBC affiliate in Baltimore reported the Preakness will be run Oct. 3. The person tells the AP that is one of the three possible dates, along with one each in July and August. The Preakness was originally set for May 16 as the second jewel of the Triple Crown. The uncertain timeline allows for the possibility of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont being run out of order.
The head of the Australian Open says various contingency plans are being considered for the Grand Slam tournament scheduled for January 2021. They include scrapping it altogether because of the pandemic or allowing just spectators from the host country. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley tells the Australian Associated Press that tournament organizers have "modeled everything." He says the "worst-case scenario" is no tournament at all next year. He says the "best-case scenario at this point" is having an Australian Open with only Australian fans. Wimbledon has been canceled for the first time in 75 years, the French Open has been moved from May to September, and a decision on this year's U.S. Open is expected next month.
Germany's Bundesliga has been given the go-ahead to resume its top two soccer divisions this month. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a loosening of a range of containment measures Wednesday after meeting with the country's 16 state governors. Pressure to relax the rules had been growing as the rate of daily infections in the country has dropped. Matches in the two divisions will be able to resume without spectators and with a range of other conditions designed to prevent another outbreak. Players will be tested and teams will also have to spend time in quarantine before games can restart. The earliest the league can resume is May 16.
Soccer players in Spain have returned to their team's training camps for the first time since the country entered a lockdown nearly two months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. Players for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and other clubs started preparing for the return to training this week. They are all expected to be tested for COVID-19 and should be cleared to practice once the results are back. Most clubs are expected to resume practicing by the end of the week.
The Spanish soccer federation is proposing an end to this season's women's league because of the coronavirus pandemic. The proposal is expected to be approved by the federation's board on Thursday.
Belgium's prime minister says all sporting competitions in the country will remain suspended until July 31 because of the pandemic. The Belgian soccer league says it will respect the decision by the national security council. The league recommended last month ending its season with the current standings declared final.
The Turkish soccer league plans to resume on June 12, a month and a half after it was suspended because of the outbreak. The president of the Turkish soccer federation says he hopes to finish the season by the end of July and host the Champions League final in Istanbul in August. The games will be played without spectators and the Turkish health ministry and its scientific advisory council will determine the conditions and guidelines under which the games will go ahead.
NFL
The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms with veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph as they continue to revamp their secondary. The two-time Pro Bowl selection spent the last nine seasons with the Houston Texans after beginning his career with a five-year stint in Cincinnati. The 2006 first-round draft pick from South Carolina has 750 tackles and 31 interceptions in his 14-year career.
Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is repaying $1.1 million in welfare money that he received for multiple speeches where he did not show up. Auditor Shad White said his office received $500,000 from Favre on Wednesday, plus a commitment that Favre will repay the other $600,000 in installments over the next few months. Favre's effort to repay the money came two days after White released an audit of spending by the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The audit showed Favre had been paid by Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group whose former leader has been indicted in a welfare embezzlement scheme. The audit was released months after a former Human Services director and five other people were indicted on state charges of embezzling about $4 million. They have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in what White has called one of Mississippi's largest public corruption cases in decades.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The NCAA has approved a waiver that will allow schools to spend below the minimum level on athletic scholarships required to compete in Division I. The Division I Council Coordination Committee approved two other blanket waivers Wednesday that had been requested by several conferences in recent weeks in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Basketball and football players will be allowed to participate in summer athletic activities without being enrolled in school.
An NCAA panel has rejected an appeal by former UConn men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie, who sought to overturn findings that he violated ethical conduct rules while leading the Huskies. The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee ruled Ollie failed to prove that information he presented alleging witnesses against him lied outweighed the information that supported the violation findings. In July 2019, the NCAA Committee on Infractions placed the UConn program on two years of probation and sanctioned Ollie individually for numerous violations of NCAA rules during his tenure.
Former Wake Forest center Olivier Sarr says he's transferring to Kentucky. The move gives the Wildcats a veteran 7-footer after the team's entire starting lineup declared for the NBA draft. Sarr is a 255-pounder from France who was the Demon Deacons' leading rebounder and second-leading scorer last season. He announced his decision to play for the Wildcats on social media. He also called former Demon Deacons coach Danny Manning and his staff "family." Manning was fired last month and replaced by Steve Forbes.
East Tennessee State has filled the loss of men's basketball coach Steve Forbes by promoting Jason Shay to the post. Shay spent the last five years as an assistant to Forbes, who left to take over the Wake Forest basketball program. The Buccaneers went 130-43 during that time for the program's best record over a five-year stretch in school history. ETSU set a single-season record for victories this past season, going 30-4 and winning the Southern Conference's regular-season and tournament titles.
HORSE RACING
Trainer Mark Casse, jockey Darrel McHargue, thoroughbred Wise Dan, and owner George D. Widener, Jr. have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Also elected were racehorse Tom Bowling, owner Alice Headley Chandler, and J. Keene Daingerfield, Jr., a trainer who became one of the most respected stewards in the sport. The induction ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 7 in Saratoga Springs, New York. The museum is monitoring state and health regulations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
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