Sports News Roundup: Will the player of future be 'plant-based'?; '21 salary cap to shrivel due to COVID-19 and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Soccer: Will the player of the future be 'plant-based'?

The days of English football's once notorious drinking culture are long gone and few professionals would now list the once obligatory 'steak and chips' as their favourite meal but things are moving to a different level entirely when it comes to what players used to call 'looking after yourself'. Whether it be the influence of dieticians, sports scientists or foreign coaches and team mates, you only need to look at the physique of modern Premier League players to realise they take health and nutrition very seriously.

NFL: '21 salary cap to shrivel due to COVID-19

Unknown financial implications from the coronavirus pandemic might force the NFL to reduce the 2021 salary cap by as much as 50 percent, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. With uncertainty around the 2020 season, including whether fans will be able to attend games at any point, and other revenue-tied variables up in the air, the NFL enters the summer months planning for the limbo that could follow next offseason.

Australian Open at risk due to COVID-19, says Tiley

Next year's Australian Open could be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and even if the first Grand Slam of 2021 goes ahead fans from abroad will not be able to attend, Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley said on Wednesday. The tennis season was halted in early March due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 3.68 million people around the world while killing over 256,000, according to a Reuters tally.

South Korea season openers score with MLB-craving Americans

As Mo Chang-min of South Korean baseball club NC Dinos tossed the bat after knocking the ball over the fence for the season's first back-to-back home-runs on Tuesday, elated American fans watching the game on ESPN flocked to social media. "Guys got swag in this league," one viewer wrote on Twitter, while another said, "The bat flip is awesome.

MLB needs this!" Germany says Bundesliga can restart in second half of May

Germany's Bundesliga is set to become the first of Europe's top soccer leagues to get under way following the novel coronavirus stoppage after the government said on Wednesday that it could re-start in the second half of May. The government said the Bundesliga and second-tier 2. Bundesliga could restart without spectators, adding that the German soccer league (DFL) would decide on the exact dates.

On this day: Born May 7, 1933: Johnny Unitas, NFL quarterback

Johnny Unitas has been described as the first modern quarterback but he is also an early reminder of the physical price that many pay for their glory days in the National Football League (NFL). Unitas played almost his entire 200-plus game career for the Baltimore Colts, where he was a perfect fit, a humble guy from blue collar Pittsburgh who became beloved in an equally unglamorous city.

Golf: 2020 World Amateur Team Championships cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

This year's World Amateur Team Championships (WATC), scheduled for October, have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Golf Federation (IGF) said on Tuesday. The biennial amateur golf competition, which dates back to 1958, had previously been moved from Hong Kong to Singapore due to political unrest.

Motor racing: Ganassi to take on Andretti in Extreme E electric series

Chip Ganassi Racing will take on U.S. track rivals Andretti Autosport in electric racing next year after being announced on Wednesday as the latest team to sign up for the Extreme E off-road SUV series. Ganassi's involvement is a step in a new direction for an outfit with considerable success in NASCAR, IndyCar and sports car racing on both sides of the Atlantic.

U.S. Open winner Andreescu stays focused on becoming world No. 1

U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu has discovered a powerful tool to compensate for limited training opportunities amid the COVID-19 lockdown as the Canadian teenager remains focused on her goal to climb to the top of the women's rankings. Andreescu, currently ranked sixth in the world, won her first WTA title at Indian Wells last year and then beat Serena Williams in the finals at Toronto and again at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows to clinch her first Grand Slam crown.

Doping: Russia to resume testing despite coronavirus outbreak

Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA said on Wednesday it would progressively resume testing later this month hiatus after having imposed a hiatus in response to government measures aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus. Speaking at an online news conference, Yuri Ganus, the agency's director general, said RUSADA had elaborated a plan to resume testing, which it had halted in late March.