Sports News Roundup: Wimbledon canceled due to coronavirus; MLB cancels June's Clubs-Cardinals London Series and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Wimbledon canceled due to coronavirus pandemic

The Wimbledon championships were canceled for the first time since World War Two on Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic struck another blue-riband 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 canceled or postponed.

MLB cancels June's Cubs-Cardinals London Series due to coronavirus

Major League Baseball, which already postponed the start of its 2020 season because of the coronavirus outbreak, said on Wednesday it has decided to cancel its planned return to London in June. The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who make up one of the National League's most storied rivalries, were scheduled to play a two-game series from June 13-14 at the London Stadium, home of English Premier League soccer club West Ham United.

Toronto's event ban doesn't apply to sports teams

Toronto mayor John Tory announced Tuesday a ban on public events until June 30 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the edict doesn't apply to the city's sports teams. The defending NBA champion Raptors and the NHL's Maple Leafs would have been wrapping up their regular seasons now, and baseball's Blue Jays and Toronto FC of Major League Soccer would be early in their campaigns.

American gymnast Biles cried at news of Tokyo postponement

Four-times Olympic champion Simone Biles has finally broken her silence on the year-long postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and said on Wednesday that while the news left her in tears it was the right call. The American gymnast, who is typically very active on social media, appeared on NBC's 'Today' program from her home to give her first public comments since the Olympics were postponed last week because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Olympic flame passed to Fukushima during low-key ceremony

Tokyo 2020 organizers left the Olympic flame in the hands of Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday where it will be on display in a lantern for the next month after the Games were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The handover took place at a subdued ceremony at the J-Village National Training Center in Fukushima, which was originally set to be the starting point of the torch relay.

Motor racing - Silverstone holding out until end of April on British GP

British Grand Prix organizers have set an end of April deadline to decide whether the country's Formula One race goes ahead as scheduled in July or becomes another casualty of the coronavirus. The race, a highlight of a British sporting summer that looks likely to be wiped out by the pandemic, has been the best attended on the F1 calendar in recent seasons with a total crowd of 351,000 last year.

Tennis: Top players donate, lower tier counts cost of coronavirus shutdown

While top players donate to coronavirus relief efforts and post cooking and workout videos online, lower level professionals are counting the cost of the tennis shutdown with some fearing they will be unable to put food on the table if it lasts much longer. Novak Djokovic last week pledged one million euros ($1.11 million) to help buy medical equipment in his native Serbia, while Rafa Nadal has called on fellow Spanish athletes to help raise 11 million euros to fight the pandemic.

World champion Kapas among nine Hungarian swimmers infected with coronavirus

Butterfly world champion Boglarka Kapas is among nine swimmers on the Hungarian national team to have tested positive for coronavirus, the country's swimming association said in a statement late on Tuesday. Dominik Kozma, who won a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2017 world, has also tested positive for the fast-spreading virus that has brought global sport to a virtual standstill and led to the one-year postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

NBA, union negotiating player-pay plan

The NBA and the players association are in discussions regarding withholding player pay in the event regular-season games are canceled, ESPN reported Tuesday night. According to the report, the sides are discussing withholding up to 25 percent of players' remaining salaries in a league escrow, allowing for the players and owners to share in some of the financial loss should the league not complete a full, 82-game regular season.

Golf - Curtis Cup rescheduled from June to 2021

The 41st edition of golf's biennial women's amateur Curtis Cup tournament due to be held in June at Conwy in Wales has been rescheduled to 2021 due to the coronavirus, organizers said on Wednesday. The Royal & Ancient (R&A) and U.S. Golf Association (USGA) said revised dates would be issued in due course. The Cup, a contest between Britain and Ireland and the United States, had been scheduled for June 12-14.