Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Jordan announces $100 million donation to fight for racial equality

Basketball great Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand on Friday pledged $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality. The announcement came as protesters have taken to the streets in U.S. cities over systemic racism and police brutality, following the death last week of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, while a white policeman knelt on his neck in Minneapolis. 'We were wrong': NFL commissioner says league failed to listen to players on protests

National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league made mistakes in not listening to players, in a video on Friday denouncing racism in the United States amid widespread protests over police brutality against black people. "We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest," said Goodell. "We, the National Football League, believe black lives matter." 'NO KNEELING': Trump renews criticism of protests during U.S. anthem

President Donald Trump on Friday lobbed barbs at protesters who kneel during the national anthem, after NFL quarterback Drew Brees apologized for remarks he made about the practice. Brees said this week he would "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag," referring to the possibility of players kneeling during the "Star-Spangled Banner" in the upcoming NFL season. Brees apologized Thursday, saying his words "lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy." NBA approves plan to resume season in July at Disney World

The NBA's Board of Governors have approved a plan to restart the suspended season with a tentative July 31 start at Disney World in Florida amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the league said on Thursday. The plan would see 22 of the NBA's 30 teams play eight seeding games to determine a 16-team playoff field that would follow the traditional post-season format with four best-of-seven series that would crown a champion no later than Oct. 12. LA Galaxy part with midfielder Katai after wife's racist posts

The LA Galaxy has parted company with Serbian midfielder Aleksandar Katai after his wife published "a series of racist and violent social media posts," the Major League Soccer (MLS) team said on Friday. In Instagram posts that have since been deleted, Tea Katai referred to Black Lives Matter protesters as "disgusting cattle" and urged violence against them according to media reports. Ryan donates $500K to Atlanta's black community

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is donating $500,000 toward helping the black community in Atlanta. Ryan, who is preparing for his 13th season with the team, said he can no longer stand on the sidelines as people of color endure social injustice. F1 extends contracts for some closed-race circuits

Some of the European circuits due to host races without spectators on Formula One's initial 2020 calendar have been given one-year contract extensions to compensate for lost revenues, it emerged on Friday. Organisers of the Hungarian, Italian and Belgian Grands Prix, which stand to lose out on tickets sales, revealed new deals. Woods not in field for PGA Tour's return next week

Tiger Woods will not compete next week when the PGA Tour swings back into action after a three-month COVID-19 hiatus as he was not listed in the field released on Friday for the event in Fort Worth, Texas. The 15-times major champion did not commit to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club by the 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) deadline, and thus will not be part of a stacked field headlined by the top five golfers in the world. California to allow pro sports, day camps as coronavirus shutdowns ease

California broadly relaxed its coronavirus-related shutdowns on Friday, moving to allow professional sports to be played without audiences and reopen day camps, tribal casinos, museums and zoos as soon as June 12. North America's start-up operations hit by COVID-19 fallout

On the North American sports scene the Canadian Premier League is a corner store operation and, like all small businesses that have been hit by the new coronavirus, the future is uncertain. Last year, the professional soccer league's first, the eight team CPL established a toehold in the Canadian sports market but is now hanging on by a thread.