1 Apr 2020 - PARIS, France, Apr 1 – UEFA have made a move towards clearing the decks for the return of club football by announcing on Wednesday that all international matches that had been pushed back to June have now been postponed until further notice. “This includes the play-off matches for UEFA Euro 2020…

1 Apr 2020 - London, United Kingdom, Apr 1 – Wimbledon organisers on Wednesday scrapped the grasscourt Grand Slam for the first time since World War II as the coronavirus wreaks further havoc on the global sporting calendar. The cancellation of the only grasscourt major at the All England Club leaves the season…

1 Apr 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 1 – Rayton Okwiri describes his loss to Ugandan David Ssemujji at the African Olympic Qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal as ‘daylight robbery’ and has now vowed to prove his worth at the world qualifiers when new dates are announced after the COVID-19 pandemic. Okwiri travelled to…

1 Apr 2020 - MARSEILLE, France, Apr 1 – Tributes poured in Wednesday for former Marseille president Pape Diouf, who has died aged 68 after contracting the coronavirus. Diouf, who became the first ever black president of a top European football club, died on Tuesday in Dakar, his family told AFP. The former…

1 Apr 2020 - MARSEILLE, France, Apr 1 – Former Marseille president Pape Diouf has died aged 68 after contracting the new coronavirus, a family source told AFP on Tuesday. Diouf, who was born in Chad but had French and Senegalese citizenship, led the club between 2005-2009 and helped build the side who lifted…

1 Apr 2020 - WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Apr 1 – New Zealand Rugby slashed wages for all staff and warned of up to NZ$100 million (Sh6.3bn) in lost revenue Wednesday as leading governing bodies scrambled to absorb the blows of the coronavirus pandemic. New Zealand’s emergency measures come after England, Scotland…

1 Apr 2020 - PARIS, France, Apr 1 – Less than three months before the Tour de France’s scheduled start, the possibility of cycling’s greatest show taking place remains shrouded in doubt, while the organisers have thrown up a wall of silence. The highlight of the French sporting calendar is due to embark from…

1 Apr 2020 - BERLIN, Germany, Apr 1 – German football is famed for its vibrant fan culture and member-owned clubs, but as the Bundesliga braces itself for a major financial hit in the coming months, could the coronavirus put an end to fan power? Many clubs are fearing for their financial futures in the crisis,…

1 Apr 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 31 – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keeping in touch with his Manchester United stars as he deals with the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus. The Premier League has been postponed until at least April 30 because of the pandemic and it is feared the season will be delayed…

1 Apr 2020 - WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Apr 1 – New Zealand’s top rugby players will share homemade videos on how they are coping during COVID-19 lockdown and keeping fit in a new show airing Wednesday called “Isolation Nation”. With the Super Rugby season in limbo, pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sport is desperate to…

1 Apr 2020 - SHANGHAI, China, Mar 31 – Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro wrote a heartfelt open letter Tuesday to his homeland, saying seeing the country ravaged by coronavirus “is filling me with anxiety and pain”. “I cannot describe how horrible it feels to see Italy suffer like this, to…

31 Mar 2020 - The Hague, Netherlands, Mar 31 – Ajax have terminated the contract of former wonderkid Abdelhak Nouri, severely brain damaged and in a coma since collapsing three seasons ago, the Amsterdam club confirmed Tuesday. The club intervened ahead of the July 1 date when the contract was due to renew for…

31 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 31 – Former Gor Mahia head coach Dylan Kerr says he regrets turning down a chance to coach the club in 2014, having been approached by fellow Scot Bobby Williamson when he left the record Kenyan champions to take up a job with the national team. Williamson resigned from Gor…

31 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 31 – Tyson Fury says he will never tire of beating Deontay Wilder in anticipation of his third fight against the American heavyweight, even though his potential all-British showdown with Anthony Joshua is on hold for now. Following a controversial draw in December 2018,…

31 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 31 – Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy announced 550 non-playing staff at the club will see their wages cut by 20 percent for the next two months on the same day it was revealed he was paid £7 million (Sh912mn) last season. Spurs accounts to June 30, 2019 revealed Levy was…

31 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 31 – Just another ordinary Saturday on October 26, 2019, Triza Atuka was flying high blocking all shots and striking all spikes for her club Kenya Pipeline at the Nandi leg of the Kenya Volleyball Federation league until misery struck. Atuka collided with KCB’s Lorine Chebet and…

31 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 31 – Even before the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the blowing of the half-time whistle on all football activities in the country, the top-flight of the Kenyan game was struggling financially. With the spread of the pandemic now threatening even the world’s biggest…

31 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 30 – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola joked he will come back “fatter” from a long layoff from football as he urged supporters to follow the advice of scientists and medical professionals on Monday. Guardiola, who donated one million euros ($1.08 million) to help…

31 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 30 – Dillian Whyte’s heavyweight clash with former world champion Alexander Povetkin has been rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic but British promoter Eddie Hearn said boxing could return behind closed doors in June. Matchroom Boxing on Monday confirmed the…

31 Mar 2020 - PARIS, France, Mar 30 – The financial crisis facing football as a result of the coronavirus pandemic has been laid bare in France, where a decision to withhold payments due as part of a broadcast deal for Ligue 1 matches is set to leave clubs reeling. Canal Plus, the pay TV giant and long-time…

31 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 31 – English football’s major stakeholders will meet on Friday to discuss their options to rescue a season derailed by the coronavirus outbreak. The Premier League campaign has been postponed until at least April 30 because of the pandemic, but the chances of a return in…

31 Mar 2020 - SYDNEY, Australia, Mar 31 – Three-quarters of Rugby Australia’s staff were on Tuesday laid off until July 1 as the governing body predicted huge financial losses from the sport’s coronavirus-enforced shutdown. RA chief executive Raelene Castle described the cuts as “the toughest decision in the…

31 Mar 2020 - HONG KONG, China, Mar 31 – Fear, stress and money worries: coronavirus lockdown is hard for anyone, but athletes are facing extra mental health risks as they go from highly active lifestyles to isolation and boredom, experts warn. While some housebound athletes have posted upbeat videos of…

30 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 30 – Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish posted a public apology on Monday for breaking UK government guidelines on social distancing as police opened an investigation into an incident in which a Range Rover crashed into parked cars. Villa expressed their disappointment…

30 Mar 2020 - PARIS, France, Mar 30 – UEFA will hold a videoconference on Wednesday this week with its 55 member federations as part of discussions on the potential rescheduling of matches postponed due to the coronavirus crisis, European football’s governing body announced on Monday. The meeting will see UEFA…

30 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 30 – Harambee Starlets head coach David Ouma has urged his players to ensure they keep their fitness levels up amidst the sports facilities lockdown occasioned by government directives to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Starlets are preparing for the first round of the…

30 Mar 2020 - MADRID, Spain, Mar 30 – Lionel Messi confirmed on Monday that Barcelona’s players will take a 70 per cent pay cut and make financial contributions to ensure the club’s other employees are paid in full during the state of alarm in Spain. In a lengthy message posted on his Instagram account, Messi…

30 Mar 2020 - Tokyo, Japan, Mar 12 – Olympic officials regularly lauded Tokyo as the best prepared host city they had seen. But no one could have planned for the coronavirus pandemic that has forced an unprecedented postponement of the 2020 Games. And while organisers won praise, a plagiarism scandal, corruption…

30 Mar 2020 - TOKYO, Japan, Mar 30 – The Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 next year, organisers said on Monday, after the coronavirus forced the historic decision to postpone the Games until 2021. “The Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The Paralympics will be held from August 24 to…

30 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 30 – Football Stakeholders in the country have called for an urgent and sober resolution to the current impasse surrounding the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections which have been twice quashed by the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT). The initial polls scheduled last year…