Reuters Sports News Summary

The NFL, where 70% of the players are black, said it would work with the league's 32 teams to support programs that address criminal justice reform, police reform and economic and educational advancement in light of "historic injustices faced by African-Americans." Golf: Rejuvenated Rose shows no rust in PGA Tour return at Colonial Justin Rose hit the ground running in the PGA Tour's return from a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak with a bogey-free round that left him with an early one-shot lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Golf: Players miss adrenaline rush at fan-free Colonial

The absence of fans at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas as the PGA Tour resumed play on Thursday after a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic took plenty of getting used to for the players. Gary Woodland shot a bogey-free, five-under-par 65 in the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in a threesome with Phil Mickelson and defending champion Kevin Na and felt he was impacted by the lack of energy on the course. Soccer: Shaq cut-out to boost Northampton playoff bid

American basketball great Shaquille O'Neal may not able to travel across the pond to support his favourite soccer club Northampton Town but his face will be in the stands during their League Two playoffs. Although coronavirus guidelines mean matches will be played without spectators, Northampton are looking to fill the stadium with cardboard cut-outs of fans when they face Cheltenham Town in the first leg of the semi-final on June 18. U.S. Soccer president apologizes to Rapinoe

A day after the U.S. Soccer announced that it had overturned its ban on protests during the national anthem, federation president Cindy Parlow Cone apologized to women's national team star Megan Rapinoe for the policy being instituted originally. U.S. Soccer added the rule to its bylaws in 2017 after Rapinoe began kneeling for the anthem to protest racism and police abuses. Rapinoe was following the lead of then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began the same protests in 2016 and hasn't played in the NFL since that year. NASCAR drivers drop helmet designer for flag comments

NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag from all its tracks and races continued to rumble through the sport on Thursday with several drivers dropping helmet designer Beam Designs after the company expressed opposition to the ban. Bubba Wallace, the only African-American competing in NASCAR's top Cup series, and Jimmie Johnson, a seven-times NASCAR Cup series champion, were among drivers who said they would no long be doing business with Beam Designs. Remote battles and cardboard fans as athletics returns in Oslo

The Diamond League got back underway with an exhibition event in Oslo on Thursday featuring odd distances and remote competition as athletics bids to restart in the wake of the new coronavirus pandemic. With the season's first six Diamond League events postponed due to the outbreak and many athletes still unable to travel, the Oslo meet was the first attempt to salvage something from a year that has also seen the Olympic Games in Tokyo cancelled. NFL pledges $250 million to fight racism

The National Football League on Thursday announced a 10-year, $250 million fund to combat systemic racism following widespread U.S. protests over racial bias and law enforcement brutality. The NFL, where 70% of the players are black, said it would work with the league's 32 teams to support programs that address criminal justice reform, police reform and economic and educational advancement in light of "historic injustices faced by African-Americans." Golf: Rejuvenated Rose shows no rust in PGA Tour return at Colonial

Justin Rose hit the ground running in the PGA Tour's return from a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak with a bogey-free round that left him with an early one-shot lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday. The former U.S. Open champion, who missed the cut in his last two starts before the PGA Tour halted action in mid-March, carded a seven-under-par 63 in pristine scoring conditions early at Colonial Country Club. Diack tells court he slowed handling of Russian doping cases to save sponsorship

Lamine Diack, the former head of World Athletics, on Thursday told a French court he had slowed the handling of Russian doping cases between 2011-2013 to save a sponsorship deal with a Russian bank. Diack, 87, said he had not sought to protect the athletes caught up in the scandal, some of whom later competed in the London 2012 Olympics, but to ensure the cases did not come to public attention all at once. This, he said, would have caused a scandal. F1 likely to add European races as more cancellations loom

Formula One looks set to add more European races to the calendar with grands prix in Asia and the Americas likely to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current schedule features eight races, all in Europe, but with the sport hoping for a season of between 15 and 18 rounds. NHL: Training camps can open on July 10, league says

Formal training camps for the 24 National Hockey League (NHL) teams that could return to action later this summer can open on July 10 if it is deemed safe to do so, the NHL and its players' union said on Thursday. The length of training camps and, therefore, the start date for a formal resumption of play will be determined at a later date, the NHL and NHL Players' Association said in a joint statement.