The Latest: Canadian Football League team reports virus case
The Latest on the effect of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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A member of the Canadian Football League's B.C. Lions operations department has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Lions issued a statement Friday night announcing they were made aware of an employee who has the coronavirus. The person, who has not been named, is currently at home in isolation.
The team says the employee was last at club headquarters on March 13. The team remains in constant communication with doctors to determine the best course of action for ensuring the safety of other employees who have been in contact with the infected person.
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The IIHF Council has confirmed that the 2020 Ice Hockey World Championship scheduled to take place in Zurich and Lausanne has been cancelled because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
The decision to cancel the tournament didn't come as a surprise after IIHF President René Fasel acknowledged the likelihood of that happening following an IIHF executive committee conference call Tuesday.
Fasel cited numerous challenges facing officials, ranging from health directives in place limiting attendance to travel bans making it difficult for nations to send their teams. Another issue was players lacking practice time, with most of world’s hockey leagues having either indefinitely suspended or canceled their seasons.
On Monday, the NHL announced it will wait 45 days before it can provide guidance on when teams can potential reopen practice.
“It’s really scary,” said Fasel, who lives in Switzerland. “Europe is just collapsed. It’s really a strange feeling. Our neighbors yesterday, the federal counsel decided to close all the restaurants and everything. It’s like war.”
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The owners of the Boston Bruins say they have established a $1.5 million fund for employees of the team and TD Garden who have lost work because of the suspension of the NHL season.
The Bruins were the last team in the league to commit to taking care of part-time and game-day employees.
According to a statement from the team, the Jacobs family would help workers “who will be financially burdened if the six remaining regular season Bruins games are not played.”
The NHL suspended its season on March 12 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Even though his side could potentially reach the Champions League quarterfinals, Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas wants the French league to take priority.
Matches in both competitions are currently suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“If we want to save the (French) league we must absolutely finish before June 30,” Aulas told RTL radio. “You have to make choices, be brave. Drop the Champions League, the (domestic) cup finals and international matches. Concentrate only on the (French) league.”
Aulas added: “I want the league to finish. Even in empty stadiums.”
Lyon leads Italian champion Juventus 1-0 from the first leg of their last-16 match in the Champions League on Feb. 26. The return leg in Turin has not been played because of the outbreak.
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Marseille President Frank McCourt wrote to reassure the French soccer club's employees after they were put on temporary, technical layoffs.
“I am taking a few minutes to make sure you and your families are well,” McCourt said. “We are going through this difficult time together and we're seeing governments getting better and better organized.”
Marseille and other top-tier clubs have started putting players on temporary, technical layoffs, which translates to a cut in pay of 16 percent with the state picking up a portion of that to a monthly maximum of 5,400 euros ($5,810).
A player earning 40,000 euros ($43,000) net per month would receive 39,000 (about $42,000).
Therefore its impact is greater on those on the highest salaries, in terms of lost revenue.
A player earning 300,000 euros net per month will only get 252,000 euros from the club plus 5,400 euros from the state for a monthly loss of around 42,600 euros per month. If the suspension lasts a year, this would add up to about half a million euros per year.
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The U.S. track federation added its name to a growing chorus of calls to postpone the Tokyo Games because of the coronavirus.
In a letter to the CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USA Track and Field CEO Max Siegel urged the federation to advocate for the postponement of the Games, which are to start July 24.
USATF joins USA Swimming, which sent a similar letter to the USOPC on Thursday.
The USOPC leadership has been in agreement with the IOC, that it’s too soon to make any decisions regarding postponing the games.
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Brazil’s Olympic Committee has called for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be postponed until 2021.
The Brazilian body said in a statement published on Saturday that the decision is a necessity due to the seriousness of the pandemic and “the consequent difficulty for athletes to keep their best competitive level.”
It also said that it continues to "trust in the International Olympic Committee.” Brazil organized the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, the first in South America.
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Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton says he has been self-isolating for more than a week after meeting people who later tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Hamilton was at a charity event in London on March 4 also attended by actor Idris Elba and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of the Canadian prime minister. Both were later found to have the virus.
In a message on social media, Hamilton says he’s shown “zero symptoms” but has been isolating himself from other people ever since March 13, when the Australian Grand Prix was called off.
Hamilton said that “I did speak to my doctor and double checked if I needed to take a test but, the truth is there is a limited amount of tests available and there are people who need it more than I do.”
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