The Latest: Tottenham expects big losses with no fans or NFL

By The Associated Press 05 June 2020, 12:00AM

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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English soccer club Tottenham says it is expecting to lose more than $250 million in revenue with Premier League matches being played without fans and its stadium no longer being used for two NFL games this year.

Tottenham’s stadium opened last year and can hold more than 60,000 people. It is unclear when spectators will be allowed into events again.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy says “it is imperative that we now all work together ... to find a safe way to bring spectators back to sport and entertainment venues.”

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Badminton tournaments in Australia, India and South Korea have been canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The suspended Australian Open can’t find new dates. The Hyderabad Open in August and Korea Masters in November were part of the revamped calendar announced last month but have now been put off.

The Korea Open in September is still on.

The world tour is scheduled to resume at the end of August in Lingshui, China.

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The International Olympic Committee is in talks with insurers over compensation for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Games.

Olympic operations director Pierre Ducrey says there is “an open discussion” between the IOC and insurance brokers “to try and find the right level of compensation to help us bear the cost of having to wait another year.”

The IOC pays for insurance against the cancellation of an Olympics but it is unclear if its policy covers a one-year postponement.

Cancellation policies detailed in IOC accounts cost $14.4 million for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and $12.8 million for the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

The IOC said last month it set aside $650 million to cover potential extra costs for the postponement.

Costs for organizers in Japan are expected to run to billions of dollars.

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Borussia Dortmund has defended a group of players who were accused of breaking Bundesliga hygiene rules while getting haircuts.

German newspaper Bild reports that some of the players were pictured without face masks during appointments at home with a celebrity barber. Forward Jadon Sancho was among the players.

League rules during the coronavirus pandemic say players should minimize contact with people from outside their household. They have to wear masks for large parts of game days unless actually on the field.

Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc says he spoke with the players about their behavior and adds that they only removed their face masks to pose briefly for pictures. Zorc adds that the 20-year-old Sancho is still “very young.”

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All referees in Italy’s top soccer league have tested negative for the coronavirus.

The Serie A referees and some from the second division were tested at the Italian federation’s training headquarters on the outskirts of Florence.

They will remain there until June 10 to have further tests and continue training and preparing for the resumption of Serie A on June 20.

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Premier League clubs have agreed to allow five substitutions in soccer matches.

They will adopt the temporary law change when the league resumes on June 17 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

There can still only be three pauses to bring on substitutes.

Premier League clubs have also agreed to temporarily increase the number of substitute players from seven to nine.

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The Italian soccer federation is launching a fund of nearly $25 million to help clubs and their members following the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Save Soccer Foundation will need definitive approval at a federation meeting on Monday.

Federation president Gabriele Gravina says “it’s an initiative which doesn’t have precedents and represents a great assumption of responsibility which the (federation) is taking in favor of the whole soccer system.”

The fund consists of 21,700,000 euros ($24,500,000). It will give up to 5 million euros ($5.6 million) to each of the two divisions below Serie A as well as the same amount to support clubs from the amateur soccer league.

It will also give up to 3 million euros ($3.4 million) to soccer players and the same amount to coaches and their staff.

The fund will also provide 700,000 euros ($800,000) to help women’s soccer clubs that are set to complete the season.

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The European gymnastics championships have been moved to December after being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The men’s event will run from Dec. 9-13 and the women’s championships from Dec. 17-20 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Baku was originally supposed to host only the men’s championships but France couldn’t reschedule the women’s event after missing its planned dates in Paris in April and May.

European Gymnastics president Farid Gayibov says the body will review the coronavirus situation and react accordingly “should the situation at a later date not be considered safe enough any more.”

The European championships for rhythmic gymnastics will stay in Kyiv, Ukraine, but are now set for Nov. 26-29. That is six months later than originally planned.

All three championships were supposed to be tune-ups for the Tokyo Olympics but that event has been postponed to 2021.

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Pope Francis is promoting a charity auction of sports items and experiences in support of two of the hospitals hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Italy.

The “We Run Together” auction includes a personalized bicycle given to Francis by world champion Peter Sagan, a team jersey and captain’s armband signed by former Roma forward Francesco Totti and a swim suit and hat from Olympic champion Federica Pellegrini.

There are also experiences such as training sessions and dinners with various athletes.

Francis says “the true values of sport are particularly important to face this period of pandemic and especially the difficult restart.”

The auctions will take place on the site Charitystars.com starting Monday for two months. There will be a new one every week and each auction will last 10 days.

All funds raised will go to the Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo and Fondazione Poliambulanza in Brescia.

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German soccer club Schalke has apologized to fans for asking them to justify their refunds for games played in empty stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Schalke had asked for evidence of financial hardship if fans wanted tickets refunded this year rather than waiting until 2022.

Schalke says it used “impersonal formulations lacking empathy” and fans will no longer be asked to submit documentary evidence of their personal finances. But the club says the approach was legal under German law.

The Bundesliga was suspended in March because of the coronavirus outbreak and spectators have not been allowed to attend any of the games since the league restarted on May 16.

Schalke has been hit hard financially by the pandemic. Executive board member Alexander Jobst said in March the club faced an existential threat.

The team has also struggled on the field and hasn’t won a league game since January.

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The Swiss soccer league will restart several days earlier than planned to help Europa League contender Basel cope with a backlog of matches in August.

The restart amid the coronavirus pandemic was set for June 19-21 in the top two divisions.

The Swiss soccer federation now says Basel’s Swiss Cup quarterfinal match against Lausanne Sport will be played without fans on June 14 instead of the Aug. 5-6 dates for the other quarterfinal matches.

Basel is scheduled to resume play in the Europa League in early August. It holds a 3-0 lead over Eintracht Frankfurt from the first leg of the round of 16.

Basel also faces a potential clash with this season’s Europa League possibly overlapping with next season’s preliminary rounds.

Basel is currently in third place in the Swiss league and the third-place team should enter the Europa League qualifying rounds in late July or early August.

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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By The Associated Press 05 June 2020, 12:00AM
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