World Sports News in Brief

English Premier League announces June 17 restart

The Premier League season will restart on June 17 provided all safety requirements have been put in place, the league said on Thursday after meeting with all 20 clubs.

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Southampton v Aston Villa - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - February 22, 2020 General view of match balls on the pitch before the match. (Reuters)
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Southampton v Aston Villa - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - February 22, 2020 General view of match balls on the pitch before the match. (Reuters)

The season will get back under way on that Wednesday with Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal, which are both games in hand.

* Italy's top-flight Serie A soccer league has been given the go-ahead to restart on June 20 following the novel coronavirus stoppage, the country's sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday.

* The BBC will for the first time air free-of-charge Premier League football games live when the season restarts next month, the broadcaster said on Thursday (May 28). The Premier League, formed in 1992, will restart on Jun 17 provided all safety requirements have been put in place.

* Italy's Serie A can resume on Jun 20 after a three-month absence in a country hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday (May 28).

* The Boston Marathon has been cancelled for the first time in the event's 124-year history because of ongoing coronavirus fears, officials confirmed on Thursday (May 28).

* The John Deere Classic scheduled for July in Illinois, which was supposed to be the fifth event of the circuit's revamped schedule, has been cancelled due to state-related challenges regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the PGA Tour said on Thursday.

* There will be no domestic cricket in England until Aug 1 at the earliest, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Thursday (May 28). The start of the English season had already been twice delayed by the outbreak of the coronavirus, but the previous start date of Jul 1 has now been pushed back another month by the pandemic.

* Major sporting events in France will remain suspended for now until at least June 21, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Thursday.

* World number 12 Petra Kvitova returned to court dressed for the French Open but was happy to triumph in the women's draw at an all-Czech tournament on Thursday as the sports world starts to slowly return from the novel coronavirus shutdown.

* Austrian league leaders LASK Linz have had six points deducted for breaking coronavirus rules regarding training sessions, the APA news agency and other Austrian media said on Thursday. Linz were reported to the league's disciplinary tribunal for staging team practice sessions two weeks ago when they were only allowed to be training in small groups.

* The Stawell Gift, Australia's oldest and richest handicap footrace, has been cancelled for the first time since 1945 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on Thursday.

* The late Kobe Bryant's induction into America's basketball hall of fame has been postponed to 2021, US media reported on Wednesday (May 27). Bryant, who died along with eight others in a helicopter crash in January, was schedule to be inducted into the Massachusetts-based Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Aug 29.

* The Dutch Formula One Grand Prix at Zandvoort has been postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on Thursday. The race at the seaside circuit would have been the country's first since 1985.

* Blackburn Rovers skipper Elliott Bennett and two Fulham players have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in the latest batch of tests conducted by the English Football League (EFL).

* Arsenal chairman Chips Keswick has retired after seven years in the role, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

* Golf's European Tour will resume on Jul 22 with a run of six tournaments over six weeks in the UK, starting with the British Masters, it was announced on Thursday (May 28).

Reuters, CNA