Sports News Roundup: Special prosecutor to examine allegations against FIFA boss; Four-year ban for Kipsand and more

A total of 25 players and 10 team staff members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since testing began on June 23, the National Basketball Association said in a statement on Thursday.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 03-07-2020 22:44 IST | Created: 03-07-2020 22:28 IST
Sports News Roundup: Special prosecutor to examine allegations against FIFA boss; Four-year ban for Kipsand and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Special prosecutor to examine allegations against FIFA boss, Swiss Attorney General

Switzerland named a special prosecutor to review criminal complaints against FIFA chief Gianni Infantino and Attorney General Michael Lauber after the men held undocumented meetings while Lauber's office was investigating suspected graft surrounding the global soccer body. Lauber last month became the subject of an impeachment process relating to his handling of the soccer inquiry.

Athletics: Four-year ban for Kipsang after giving fake-photo evidence for missed test

Former marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang of Kenya has been handed a four-year ban for anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) that included using a fake photo of a traffic accident to justify one of four missed whereabouts appointments, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday. World Athletics said Kipsang, a bronze medallist at the 2012 Olympics, had four whereabouts failures between April 2018 and May 2019. Three such failures within 12 months lead to an automatic ban.

PGA Tour shortens players' path to return from COVID-19

The PGA Tour announced Wednesday that it will alter its health and safety plan to allow asymptomatic players a quicker road to return. Tour player Cameron Champ will be the first to take advantage of the new standards as he was allowed back into the field at this weekend's Rocket Mortgage Challenge at Detroit after three negative coronavirus tests in a 72-hour period.

NFL: Redskins stadium sponsor FedEx requests team change its name

Key sponsor FedEx Corp has asked the Washington Redskins to change their name, adding to renewed calls for the NFL franchise to be rebranded. FedEx has the naming rights to the team's Landover, Maryland, stadium, known as FedExField, under a 27-year deal for which it paid $205 million in 1999, according to media reports at the time.

NBA: Nine more players test positive for COVID-19

Nine more NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19, less than a week before teams are set to travel to Florida to resume the 2020 season. A total of 25 players and 10 team staff members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since testing began on June 23, the National Basketball Association said in a statement on Thursday.

Tennis: American Gauff can improve the world, says Navratilova

American tennis player Coco Gauff can improve the world, 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova has said, lauding the teenage tennis prodigy for her role in the Black Lives Matter protests against racial injustice. Gauff, 16, released a video on social media protesting killings of African-Americans in the United States amid widespread outrage across the country following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in police custody in Minneapolis.

MLB will be lucky to finish season amid virus surge: Manfred

While attempting to clarify comments he made a day earlier that caused a bit of a stir, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday admitted the league will "be lucky" to play a full 60-game abbreviated season. During an interview on the "Dan Patrick Show" on Wednesday, Manfred said, "The reality is, we weren't going to play more than 60 games no matter how the negotiations with the players went or any other factor."

NFL to play 'Black national anthem' before Week one games

The NFL will play "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a song often referred to as the Black national anthem, prior to the kickoff of Week 1 games, a source familiar with the league's discussions told Reuters on Thursday. The song, written by James Weldon Johnson and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson in the early 1900s, will precede the traditional pre-game playing of the "Star-Spangled Banner," the official national anthem.

Hamilton makes a statement as F1 gets back on track

Formula One got back on track in changed circumstances but familiar fashion at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix on Friday, with Mercedes and six times world champion Lewis Hamilton picking up where they left off last year. The Briton and team mate Valtteri Bottas responded to the 'new normal' resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic by finishing one-two in both free practice sessions on the sport's latest start to a campaign.

Cycling: Quintana hit by car during training, sustains possible knee injury

Former Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana has been hit by a car during training in Colombia and went to a hospital with a possible knee injury, his Arkea-Samsic team said on Friday. "Nairo Quintana has been hit by a vehicle during training, we will give you more information about his condition as soon as possible," the French outfit said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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