Sports News Roundup: Asian Tour targets September return in South Korea; AIU says suspended Naser missed four tests and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Golf: Asian Tour targets September return in South Korea

Golf's Asian Tour said on Sunday it is planning to resume its 2020 season in September with the Shinhan Donghae Open in South Korea as governments around the region move to loosen measures aimed at containing the spread of the novel coronavirus. The $1.181 million tournaments will tee off in the South Korean city of Incheon on Sept. 10, with back-to-back events in Taiwan and Japan lined up in the following weeks, said the governing body for men's professional golf in Asia.

Athletics: AIU says suspended Naser missed four tests as she pleads innocence

World 400 meters champion Salwa Eid Naser was provisionally suspended for registering four "whereabouts failures", the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Sunday. The Bahrain athlete, who won gold at the World Championships in Doha last year, pleaded her innocence despite being suspended by the AIU on Friday for failing to make herself available for anti-doping tests.

Impossible to play under U.S. Open's COVID-19 protocols, says Djokovic

World number one Novak Djokovic has said participating in the U.S. Open would be an impossible task due to the "extreme" COVID-19 protocols in place for the tournament at Flushing Meadows. The U.S. Open, scheduled to begin on Aug. 31, will be the first Grand Slam to be played after the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the season in March. The French Open was postponed to September while the Wimbledon championships was canceled.

McGregor announces his third retirement on Twitter

Former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor has announced on Twitter that he is retiring from the sport for the third time. "Hey guys I've decided to retire from fighting. Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it's been!" the Irishman said, adding a picture of him and his mother and promising to buy her a dream home.

Panthers cut ties with company following CEO's racial email

The Carolina Panthers are cutting ties with a major local promotional partner after the company's founder and CEO was revealed to have sent an email with racially charged comments. Ken Gill, CEO of CPI Security, replied to a mass email from a nonprofit group called Queen City Unity -- asking for action in response to killings of black people by police, like George Floyd -- by writing: "Please spend your time in a more productive way. Better use of time would be to focus on the black on black crime and senseless killing of our young men by other young men. Have a great day, Ken Gill."

Antetokounmpo, Bucks players join Milwaukee protest

Several Bucks players, led by reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, spoke and marched on Saturday in Milwaukee at a protest against racial injustice and police brutality. Among the other Bucks players present were his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo, as well as Brook Lopez, Sterling Brown, Donte DiVincenzo, Frank Mason, and Cam Reynolds. All wore shirts reading "I can't breathe," a reference to the words of George Floyd before he died in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis.

World boxing champion Joshua attends march, says racism is a pandemic

Heavyweight boxing world champion Anthony Joshua described racism as a "pandemic" while addressing protesters at a Black Lives Matter march in London on Saturday. Joshua, one of Britain's highest-profile sportsmen, joined a march through the streets of his home town of Watford before gathering in a park where he recited a poem written by a friend.

Mouratoglou targets new fanbase with innovative league

Patrick Mouratoglou, the longtime coach of Serena Williams, feels tennis needs to reinvent itself and hopes his new league will make the sport more attractive and engaging for a younger generation. The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS), which kicks off in France next Saturday, will have three top-10 players from the men's ATP Tour in Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and David Goffin, joining seven others to compete in a round-robin format over five weeks.

Report: NBA tweaks standings, will clarify roster rules

The NBA continues to fine tune the structure and rules it will follow when the season resumes July 31 at the Disney World campus in Orlando, Fla., including tweaks to the standings and potential roster changes. ESPN reported Saturday that the league will use win percentage -- rather than a measure of games relative to .500 -- to set the order of the standings, a clarification that is necessary because teams have played a different number of games thus far.

Mixed martial arts: Dominant Nunes defeats Spencer to defend featherweight crown

UFC featherweight champion Amanda Nunes dominated Felicia Spencer and scored a comprehensive decision victory on Saturday in retaining her crown, becoming the first two-weight UFC champ to successfully defend both belts. The Canadian challenger went the distance at the UFC 250 event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday, but she was completely outclassed, as Nunes won every one of the five rounds on the judges' scorecards.