Sports News Roundup: Argentina's love of Maradona overcomes COVID-19 fears; No. 1 Gonzaga too much for No. 6 Kansas and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Maradona mourning shows again Latin America's devotion to sport and arts

The crowds that bade farewell to Diego Maradona in Buenos Aires on Thursday were in keeping with the devotion Latin America has reserved for the passing of its sporting and artistic idols, from Brazilian Formula 1 great Ayrton Senna to Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The body of Maradona, who died from a heart attack on Wednesday, lay at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires and tens of thousands of his compatriots braved the coronavirus pandemic to pay their last respects to one of the world's best footballers who led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup.

Belarusian medallist, facing crackdown at home, clings to Olympic comeback dream

Decathlete Andrei Krauchanka knows that reaching the Olympics is seldom an adversity-free path, but the political crisis in his native Belarus has made his quest for a final chance to compete on the world's biggest sports stage even harder. The 2008 Olympic silver medallist said he was dismissed from the national team and sacked from his job after signing an open letter demanding new elections, and later briefly jailed for participating in protests against veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Top 25 roundup: No. 1 Gonzaga too much for No. 6 Kansas

Forward Drew Timme scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting as top-ranked Gonzaga opened its season with a 102-90 victory against No. 6 Kansas on Thursday afternoon at the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida. Freshman Jalen Suggs, a top-10 prospect who is Gonzaga's highest-ever recruit, scored 24 points and had a game-high eight assists. Corey Kispert, a preseason All-American, added 23 points for the Bulldogs, who will play Auburn in the tournament Friday.

Reigning league MVP Jackson tests positive for COVID-19: NFL report

Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, the NFL's reigning Most Valuable Player, has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the Ravens rescheduled game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, a report on the league's website said. The Ravens had been due to face the Steelers on Thursday but the game was postponed with several Baltimore players and staff members having tested positive this week or deemed to have been in close contact.

'Adios Diego': Maradona buried as world mourns flawed soccer great

Argentina's Diego Maradona, one of the world's greatest ever soccer players, was buried on Thursday amid a global outpouring of grief from the streets of Buenos Aires to Naples in Italy. The death of Maradona at the age of 60 on Wednesday, following a heart attack, has sparked both mourning and celebrations of a true sporting star, who was a genius on the soccer field but lived a life marred by struggles with addiction.

Japan's Olympics minister: not government's role to look into bid payments

Japan's Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto said it was not the central government's role to look into reports about large payments the Tokyo campaign made to various entities in the run-up to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) vote in 2013. In response to a question from a lawmaker about Reuters' reporting on the subject, Hashimoto said it was the responsibility of the Japanese Olympic Committee and the Tokyo metropolitan government to explain the bid's activities.

Naples unites in grief over death of adoptive son Maradona

Fans streamed to Napoli stadium on Thursday to pay their respects to Diego Armando Maradona, grieving a man who achieved god-like status in the Italian city where he played some of his most sublime soccer. The diminutive Argentine left Naples almost 30 years ago, but his spirit never departed, with a giant mural of him still staring down on the traffic-clogged streets and his photograph placed alongside images of saints in shop windows.

'You have to be here': Argentina's love of Maradona overcomes COVID-19 fears

Argentines in their thousands, wearing soccer jerseys and face masks, packed into snaking queues on the streets of Buenos Aires on Thursday to pay their last respects to flawed soccer genius Diego Maradona - despite concerns around the spread of COVID-19. The crowds, which some expect to reach a million people to see Maradona's casket after his death on Wednesday, reflect the soccer star's status in the South American country, where he has almost cult following and is fondly known as "God".

F1 driver salary cap should not handicap sport's top talent, says Hamilton

Any proposed cap on the salaries of Formula One drivers should be careful not to hold back the sport's top talent, newly crowned seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday. Formula One has been discussing a cap on driver salaries as part of a wider effort to level the financial playing field between the wealthiest and poorest teams on the grid.

Maradona wanted to be embalmed and put on show, friend says

Few people had the power to say no to Diego Maradona in life but his family appear to have put their foot down on an unusual last request. Maradona, who died from a heart attack on Wednesday aged 60, told friends during the coronavirus lockdown that when he died he wanted to be embalmed and put on show for fans, according to Martin Arevalo, a journalist who was close to the former Argentina captain.

(With inputs from agencies.)