SPORTS

Paris, France | AFP | The head of global players’ union FIFPro has given his backing to footballers who do no want to return to training because of coronavirus fears and cautioned that it would be “inhumane and unacceptable” if they were to be punished for taking such a stance. Jonas …

  London, United Kingdom | AFP | Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is optimistic about the chances of completing the Premier League season as the champions-elect returned to training in small groups on Wednesday. Klopp’s side were just two wins away from ending a 30-year wait to win the title when the …

Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is aiming to finish this year’s Champions League by the end of August as football in Europe slowly starts to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. “Our plan is to finish it between now and the end of August,” Ceferin said in an interview with Portuguese …

Paris, France | AFP | Exactly 60 years ago, in an era when going to a big football match meant cramming together with no thought to social distancing, 127,000 people crowded into Hampden Park in Glasgow to see the European Cup final and were rewarded with “a fantasy staged in heaven”. …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  The coronavirus has left the English cricket season in limbo but Lancashire were dealt a devastating personal blow when they lost their chairman, David Hodgkiss. Just weeks later the Manchester-based county have returned record financial results — a fitting legacy for Hodgkiss, who died in …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Premier League clubs will return to training in small groups from Tuesday after the latest stage of “Project Restart” was approved on Monday. Clubs unanimously voted to allow players to start socially distanced training in a bid to meet the Premier League’s mid-June date to …

  London, United Kingdom | AFP | Celtic were crowned champions for a record-equalling ninth consecutive season as the Scottish Premiership campaign was declared over on Monday. Neil Lennon’s men were 13 points clear at the top of the table when the season was stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic in …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | Bayern Munich maintained their four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga as Germany gave fans across the world their first taste of elite football for two months amid empty stands and stringent hygiene guidelines designed to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. AFP looks …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Newcastle manager Steve Bruce believes going to the supermarket or petrol station could pose a greater a risk of coronavirus than a return to football given the strict measures put in place to protect players. However, Bruce warned his squad could “fall down like a …

Berlin, Germany | AFP |  Top flight German football kicked off again on Saturday as the French returned to the beach and Italy announced a resumption of European tourism, providing much-needed relief against the relentless drumbeat of death and economic devastation wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic. The reopenings mark the beginning …