Coronavirus and sport

The summer transfer window will be moved and contracts ending on 30 June will be extended for a short period under proposals agreed by all football’s major stakeholders, world governing body Fifa has confirmed.

It is now accepted by all parties that the initial hope of completing the 2019-20 season by 30 June will not happen.

After agreement was reached with major stakeholders about the way forward, new proposals have been approved by Fifa’s Bureau of Council.

With many player contracts scheduled to expire at the end of June, it has been agreed those deals will automatically extend until whenever the season eventually ends – with new deals beginning before the 2020-21 season starts.

“It is now obvious that the current season will not end when people thought it would,” Fifa said in a statement. “Therefore, it is proposed that contracts be extended until such time that the season does actually end.

Andrew Benson

BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Formula 1 has put about half its staff on enforced leave while senior figures are to take a salary cut as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The decision follows similar moves by three teams in the past few days.

The F1 leadership group have all voluntarily agreed to take at least a 20% pay cut but will not benefit from the government furlough scheme.

The rest of the staff will be using the job retention scheme that pays 80% of wages up £2,500 a month.

Read the full piece

Who has shaved their head and watched Tiger King during the lockdown?

But then who has also set a dance challenge for World Cup winning team-mates?

England fast bowler Mark Wood tells us what he’s been up to at home in his latest BBC Sport column here.

In case you missed it earlier, Mercedes has made the design of a new breathing-aid device it helped develop freely available to help fight the coronavirus crisis.

The device helps patients with lung infections breathe more easily when an oxygen mask alone is insufficient.

The device was designed in conjunction with University College London.

You can read more about it here.

The qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics have been suspended until 1 December, World Athletics have announced.

Athletes who have already met the entry standard since the start of the qualification period in 2019 remain qualified and eligible for selection.

President Seb Coe said he was “grateful” for the work done by organisers and suspending activities “is the best way to address fairness” for athletes.

Meanwhile, World Athletics also
announced its decision to place 50% of its HQ staff on temporary leave and they will continue to receive their full salary.

The coronavirus pandemic could cost the Premier League and its clubs “at least £1bn”, the league’s chief executive Richard Masters has said.

Masters made the estimate in a letter to Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee.

Knight had written to Masters to express his opposition to some Premier League clubs utilising the Government’s coronavirus job retention scheme to furlough non-playing staff, and warned clubs could face a windfall tax if furloughing did not go hand in hand with wage cuts or deferrals for players.

Masters defended the right of Premier League clubs to make use of the scheme, and highlighted the profound impact of the suspension of competition even at elite level.

“We face a £1billion loss, at least, if we fail to complete season 2019-20, and further losses going forward if the seriousness of the pandemic deepens and extends into the future,” he wrote.

This year’s 2000 Guineas, 1000 Guineas, Derby and Oaks will not take place on their originally scheduled dates “due to the ongoing public health emergency”, Jockey Club Racecourses has announced.

The Guineas was due to take place at Newmarket on 2 and 3 May with the Derby and Oaks at Epsom on 5 and 6 June.

However, Royal Ascot say their meeting from 16-20 June may go ahead behind closed doors “dependent on Government and public health policy and the approval of the British Horseracing Authority for us to re-start racing.”

The Ascot Racecourse statement continued: “This would be for the benefit of the industry, our valued partners and suppliers and our television audiences at home and internationally. Planning for this is now our complete focus and we will update on progress as and when we can.”

Football Association chairman Greg Clarke says English football faces “the danger of losing clubs and leagues” amid economic challenges “beyond the wildest imagination”.

“Many communities could lose the clubs at their heart with little chance of resurrection,” Clarke told an FA Council meeting

“In the face of this unprecedented adversity, all the stakeholders within the game from players, fans, clubs, owners and administrators need to step up and share the pain to keep the game alive.

“It is time for the stakeholders to agree common cause to save our game. Contribute. Football is a team game and now is the time for teamwork.”

Read more here.

Manchester United Foundation and club staff have delivering food and drink to local groups and charities dealing with the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

A total of 30,000 items from the stadium’s bars, kiosks and kitchens were packaged and taken to a number of places in Greater Manchester including Stretford Food Bank and Salford Royal Hospital.

The exhibition of the Olympic Flame, due to remain on display in Fukushima until the end of the month, is to be cancelled over the coronavirus crisis,

Japan declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, leading to Olympic organisers cancelling the event.

The Tokyo Olympic Games will start on 23 July, 2021 and run to 8 August after being postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Surrey have cancelled a deal that was due to bring Australia international Michael Neser to the Kia Oval for the first few months of the season.

County Championship fixtures have been cancelled until 28 May with uncertainty remaining over a return date amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Surrey say the 30-year-old all-rounder agreed to terminate the contract that was due to run until the start of July.

Sunderland have have furloughed first-team players, contracted academy players and backroom staff.

The Black Cats became the second Sky Bet League One club after Portsmouth to utilise the Government’s job retention scheme to cover 80% of employees’ wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.

Sunderland added there was “no intention to ask any players or staff to take a wage reduction or deferral on their salary” and that all employees will be paid in full.

We know he can swim fast but how will Adam Peaty fare on a bike?

The Olympic champion will be switching water for wheels on Wednesday as he takes part in a virtual bike race to raise money for the NHS.

The 2016 gold medallist will race the 100km ride along with Commonwealth Games boxer Callum Johnson.

The 25-year-old was preparing to defend his 100m breaststroke crown won at Rio four years ago before the 2020 Tokyo Games were postponed last week.

La Liga president Javier Tebas says Spain’s domestic football season may resume as early as 28 May in the best-case scenario of options being discussed by the league.

No Spanish side has played a competitive game since 11 March, when Atletico Madrid knocked holders Liverpool out of the Champions League at Anfield.

In a conference call with international journalists, Tebas also said La Liga clubs will lose around €1bn (£884m) if the 2019-20 campaign cannot be restarted.

He also stressed:

• Three potential restart dates of 29 May, 6/7 June and 28 June were being assessed
• Closed-door matches and reduced capacities could be implemented.
• La Liga had already lost €150m (£133m) in sponsorship and ticket revenue
• Spanish football will not ask for any money from central government.
• Eight clubs across the first and second divisions had laid players off.

Read more.

Monday saw the cancellation of The Open, with other majors shifted to later in the year but the Ryder Cup keeping its slot from 25 to 27 September.

Asked how it would feel if the tournament was played without any fans, Englishman Tommy Fleetwood told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It wouldn’t be the same,
that’s for sure, in my opinion not really.

it should be played in front
of fans and the crowds and that’s all part of it, I think it’s an amazing event
to watch but I don’t think any sporting occasion really does work without fans
so if you’re asking me and my opinion doesn’t really count for much in
situations like that then I would say no not really.”

Italy’s Francesco Molinari added: “Like Tommy was saying it’s
not really our call, whoever is going to make the team is going to show up and
play but I mean the crowds are a huge part of the Ryder Cup.

“So I’m sure all the
players would agree that it would be better to wait until we can have a proper
Ryder Cup, there are obviously other considerations that come into it and
that’s why we’re not the ones making those decisions.”

UFC president Dana White says he is close to securing a private island to continue hosting fights during the coronavirus crisis.

White says UFC 249 will go ahead on 18 April at an undisclosed location.

Read more on his plans here.

Andrew Benson

BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has released a video through his
social media channels explaining how he is staying fit and ready for the
Formula 1 season to start once the coronavirus outbreak is under control.

“At the moment through the current situation I
try to stay at home as much as possible of course and try to do my workouts at
home,” said the Dutchman, who is based in Monaco.

“Of course we stay ready, we do sim work – on my
simulator at home – and of course a lot of training as well to stay ready for
whenever we’re going to get started again.”

The first eight races have all been cancelled and
F1 is working through contingency plans as to how the season might start, which
include the possibility of races behind closed doors. It is targeting a date at
some point during the summer.

Earlier, BBC Breakfast heard from South Africa’s Rugby World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi.

His newly created Kolisi Foundation is now supplying protective equipment to hospitals
across South Africa.

“It is quite tough at this moment. I’ve never seen anything
like this in South Africa so we are doing as much as we can,” he said.

“The foundation isn’t fully launched but we wanted to jump on and
help and we are targeting the frontline people and medical teams as much as we
can along with a lot of other organisations who are helping.

“This will be a team effort
from all of us in South Africa – all of us have a role to play.”

Two more MotoGP races have been postponed because of coronavirus.

The Italian Grand Prix, set for Mugello on 31 May, has been called off along with the Catalunya race which was meant to take place on 7 June.

Eight races have now been postponed or re-arranged. The next race on the calendar as it stands is the German GP on 21 June.

Andrew Benson

BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Formula 1 has put about half its staff on enforced leave while senior figures are to take a salary cut as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The decision follows similar moves by three teams in the past few days.

The F1 leadership group have all voluntarily agreed to take at least a 20% pay cut but will not benefit from the government furlough scheme.

The rest of the staff will be using the job retention scheme that pays 80% of wages up £2,500 a month.

Read more on this story here.