World Sports News in Brief

Neymar out of Nantes game with rib injury

Neymar will miss Paris St Germain's Ligue 1 game at Nantes on Tuesday with a rib injury he picked up in the first half of the 5-0 win over Montpellier on Saturday.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Montpellier - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 1, 2020  Paris St Germain's Neymar in action. (Photo: Reuters)
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Montpellier - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 1, 2020 Paris St Germain's Neymar in action. (Photo: Reuters)

The runaway league leaders said on their website that although the Brazilian finished the match, the injury was confirmed by tests conducted on Monday. Neymar needed treatment after tangling with Arnaud Souquet near the end of the first period and angrily complained to the fourth official in the tunnel at halftime.

* Napoli snatched two late goals to beat Sampdoria 4-2 away on Monday in a Serie A match which featured two controversial VAR decisions and a spectacular effort by veteran Fabio Quagliarella for the hosts. Diego Demme and Dries Mertens struck in the final 10 minutes as Napoli continued their mini-revival under fiery coach Gennaro Gattuso with a third successive win in all competitions.

* The Chinese Grand Prix is set to be discussed by Formula One this week amid speculation the April 19 Shanghai race could join a growing list of sporting events hit by the coronavirus. The grand prix is scheduled as the fourth round of what would be a record 22 race season.

* Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has suffered a muscle injury in his right leg, the Spanish club said on Monday, leaving them short on forwards. Morata suffered the injury during the 1-0 derby defeat by Real Madrid on Saturday which left his side sixth and 13 points behind their rivals who are top of La Liga.

* Wales and Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale has launched a new esports organisation called Ellevens Esports, with a team from the franchise set to make their debut at the FIFA eClub World Cup in Milan this week. The venture is co-owned by Bale and 38 Entertainment Group, founded by investor Jonathan Kark and former footballer Larry Cohen.

* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics. Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on Jul 24.

* Daniel Maldini continued his family's long association with AC Milan when he made his league debut on Sunday to follow in the footsteps of his father Paolo and grandfather Cesare. The 18-year-old attacking midfielder, wearing the number 98 shirt, came on in stoppage time of Milan's 1-1 home draw with Hellas Verona.

* Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast on Fox attracted an average TV audience of 99.9 million people, a 1.7% increase from last year's U.S. football championship, according to preliminary Nielsen data released on Monday. Fox, owned by Fox Corp, said the average viewership reached 102 million when the network added people watching a Spanish-language simulcast and streaming the game on Fox, NFL and Verizon platforms.

* The attacker of Bayern Munich Robert Lewandowski received the award for the best Polish footballer of the year on Sunday. The event has been organised by the paper "Pilka Nozna" since 1973 and it's believed to be the most prestigious plebiscite in the Polish football. As the captain of the Poland team, Lewandowski got the most important award for the best player of the year.

Reuters, Xinhua