The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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The Vancouver Canucks say the city is out of the running to act as a hub for the NHL playoffs.
Canucks Sports and Entertainment thanked British Columbia health officials for their support during the bid to host the NHL’s summer Stanley Cup tournament.
The team says it will now look forward to welcoming its players back for training camp.
Premier John Horgan expressed his disappointment at the decision, but said the province will not bend public health guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.
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The Minnesota Twins have had “a few” players in their organization recently test positive for COVID-19.
President of baseball operations Derek Falvey said Thursday that each player was “doing well” in self-isolation at home. None of the positive tests came from players currently in Minnesota or in Fort Myers, Florida, where the team’s spring training headquarters are. Falvey declined to specify the exact number or whether the players were major leaguers or minor leaguers. Prior to the recent positive tests, Falvey said, the Twins had no known cases among players or staff.
Major league camps are set to reopen next week, mostly at home stadiums.
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The Seattle Sounders had one player test positive for COVID-19, but the player has recovered and returned to full team training.
Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer said Thursday the player tested positive in the early stages of when the team returned to individual training last month. The player was quarantined and was later cleared to rejoin team activities.
The Sounders will travel to Orlando, Florida on July 3 to begin preparations for the MLS Is Back tournament. Seattle’s first game in the tournament is July 10 against San Jose.
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The IndyCar Series plans to welcome fans back to the track July 9-12 at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
IndyCar officials said all guests will be screened in their vehicles with contactless temperature checks before they enter the parking areas. Only people described as essential racing personnel will have access to the paddock. Face masks and hand sanitizer will be given to spectators as they arrive at the track.
Fans are encouraged to practice social distancing and to wear a cloth face covering where social distancing is hard to maintain. IndyCar officials also are encouraging spectators to print their tickets at home for easier entry.
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Michigan State says two athletes tested positive during a second round of COVID-19 testing, and East Carolina says it had one positive test result this week.
Michigan State says 114 athletes were tested Monday, and the two who tested positive will be isolated for 10-14 days. Also, one athlete will have to quarantine for 14 days after contact tracing revealed close contact with someone who tested positive. No athletic department staff members tested positive.
Michigan State previously announced that one athlete tested positive in testing done June 15. Athletes who have tested negative twice are now permitted to participate in voluntary workouts.
East Carolina says it tested 68 athletes, coaches and staff on Tuesday in its return-to-campus plan. The school in Greenville, North Carolina, didn’t specify who had the positive result.
The school said it has tested 133 athletes and 59 staff members so far. All other tests have been negative.
University guidelines require any individual who tests positive to self-isolate for up to 14 days with daily monitoring from athletics medical staff.
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Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, is using almost $900 million of its cash reserves to help member federations get through the coronavirus pandemic.
All of FIFA’s 211 national members will get a $1 million payment and $500,000 more to spend specifically on women’s soccer.
Each of the six continental governing bodies gets $2 million from FIFA’s reserve fund, which held $2.7 billion after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
FIFA says a further $565 million is available for interest-free loans to federations of between $500,000 and $5 million, depending on their audited annual revenue. Continental confederations can access $4 million.
Many soccer federations get much of their income from the men’s national teams, which have been unable to play since November.
FIFA says the money can go to help “clubs, players, leagues, or others that have been affected” by the pandemic.
Oversight of the money and repayment plans will be led by FIFA governance panel member Olli Rehn, who is governor of the Bank of Finland.
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East Carolina says it had one positive test result for COVID-19 this week.
The school announced Thursday that it had performed 68 tests with athletes, coaches and staff Tuesday in its return-to-campus plan. The school didn’t specify who had the positive result from that group.
So far, the school said it has tested 133 athletes and 59 staff members. All other test results have been negative.
University guidelines require any individual who tests positive to self-isolate for up to 14 days with daily monitoring from athletics medical staff.
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The University of Memphis says three student-athletes and one staff member in the athletic department have tested positive for COVID-19.
All four have been isolated, and medical staff are tracing their contacts. Memphis is neither releasing the names nor identifying the sport or sports involved, citing privacy concerns.
The university shared video Wednesday on Twitter of members of the men’s basketball team returning to campus. Their first stop was the Penny Hardaway Hall of Fame for virus testing.
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Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott says he is feeling “normal” after testing positive for the coronavirus earlier this month.
“I would say I maybe had one or two days where I felt symptoms, and even then it wasn’t too bad,” Elliott said during a Twitch chat with Scooter Magruder this week. “I had a cough and a little bit of shortness of breath. But now I would say I feel good, I feel normal.”
Elliott said he hasn’t resumed working out yet. He said he could have been re-tested this week, but decided that it wouldn’t hurt to wait and get more rest first.
It was revealed June 15 that Elliott had tested positive for the coronavirus. That was about a week after he had been tested.
Elliott’s mother said last week on Twitter that the running back had been around someone who had no symptoms, but then tested positive for the coronavirus three days later. Elliott’s mother and sister were with him during that encounter. Both tested negative.
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Manchester City has been given permission to host Liverpool in the Premier League on July 2 at Etihad Stadium.
The Man City-Liverpool match had been one of five games the police asked to be held at a neutral venue to keep away fans because of safety concerns.
But Manchester City Council’s safety advisory group says there are “no objections” to the match at City’s home stadium.
The safety advisory group included representatives from the city council, Greater Manchester Police, fire and rescue services, and supporters’ groups.
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The rugby final of the postponed European Champions Cup has been set for Oct. 17 and the final of the second-tier Challenge Cup will be the day before.
The matches were called off in April because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The quarterfinals for both tournaments have been rescheduled for the weekend of Sept. 18-20. The semifinals will be Sept. 25-27.
Leinster will host Saracens in the quarterfinals in a repeat of the 2019 final, Toulouse plays at home against Ulster, Clermont Auvergne faces fellow French side Racing 92, and Exeter will welcome Northampton in an all-English clash.
European Professional Club Rugby says it remains committed to staging the finals in Marseille, France.
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