German football great Franz Beckenbauer's trial on corruption charges linked to the 2006 World Cup has ended without a verdict after previously being put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The five-year-long trial, held in Switzerland, of 74-year-old Beckenbauer and three other men was suspended because of the health crisis and the statute of limitations has now expired.
Beckenbauer, who headed the organising committee for the 2006 World Cup, had denied the allegations.
FIFA said on Tuesday it was disappointed that the trial would not proceed.
"FIFA is deeply disappointed that the trial related to the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 will not take place because it has now become time barred," world football's governing body said in a statement.
"The fact that the case has now ended without a result of any kind is very worrying, not only for football but also for the administration of justice in Switzerland."
FIFA said it hoped the "truth" around the payment of 10 million Swiss ...

Beckenbauer corruption trial ends without verdict

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday it would be "difficult" to hold the postponed Tokyo Olympics if the coronavirus pandemic is not contained.
The premier's remarks came a day after Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said in an interview with a local sports daily the Olympics will have to be cancelled if the coronavirus pandemic isn't brought under control by next year.
Abe told parliament: "We must hold the Olympics as a testament to humanity's victory over the coronavirus."
"If we're not in such situation, it's difficult (to hold) the Games," he said, insisting the importance of developing vaccines and drugs.
He added: "We've been saying we will hold the Olympics and Paralympics in which athletes and spectators can participate safely and in a complete form. I think (the Olympics) cannot be held in a complete form if the pandemic is not contained."
The pandemic has already forced a year-long delay of the Games, which are now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021.
Mori ...

Tokyo Olympics 'difficult' if pandemic not contained: Abe

The Transat, a single-handed race across the Atlantic which was due to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year, was cancelled on Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The race, due to set sail from Brest for the first time on May 10, is run every four years. The finish would have been in Charleston, South Carolina.
Organisers had considered starting in July but following the latest French measures unveiled on Tuesday, said the Transat would not be raced until 2024.
"We have done our utmost to find a solution that would allow us to postpone the race however none of the scenarios lived up to our expectations in terms of sport, the volume of boats entered, the media engagement and the public activation," said Herve Favre, president of the organisers said on the race website.
Before this year the race had always started from Plymouth, in England.  Previous race or class winners include Francis Chichester, Eric Tabarly, Loick Peyron and Ellen MacArthur.

Solo trans-Atlantic sailing race cancelled

Gary Neville fears Premier League players' lives will be put at risk if football is rushed back too soon after the coronavirus-enforced lockdown in Britain.
Premier League chiefs are aiming for a return to action in June and several clubs opened their training grounds to players this week as they work on "Project Restart".
The English top flight is understood to be aiming to run a huge testing operation to keep footballers safe, with reports of 26,000 tests being lined up for players and staff.
But FIFA's medical chief Michel D'Hooghe said on Tuesday that football should not be played until September and former Manchester United defender Neville is worried that Premier League stars will be put in danger by the rush to return.
"The FIFA medical officer said that football should not take place before September. I think if it was a non-economic decision there would be no football for months," Neville told the Sky Sports Football Show on Wednesday.
"People are now assessing risk. How many 

'How many have to die?': Neville voices fears over Premier League plans

The MotoGP races in Germany, the Netherlands and Finland in June and July have been cancelled, the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) and promoter Dorna Sports announced on Wednesday.
"The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has obliged the cancellation of all three events," they said in a joint statement.
The German Grand Prix was scheduled from June 19-21 at the Sachsenring and the Dutch MotoGP from June 26-28 at Assen, the only circuit to have hosted a motorcycle grand prix every year since the championship began in 1949.
The Finnish race was scheduled to be held for the first time at the brand new KymiRing from July 10-12.
All three countries have prohibited large gatherings to combat the spread of coronavirus.
"It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of these three important Grands Prix," Dorna's CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said in a statement.
"We very much look forward to returning to the Sachsenring and the TT Circuit Assen in 2021, and eagerly await the Grand ...

MotoGP races in Germany, Netherlands and Finland cancelled

England all-rounder Moeen Ali called for a year's delay to the start of the new Hundred as officials met Wednesday to consider the fate of the controversial competition.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have long insisted the new 100-balls-per-side format, to be played by eight franchises rather than English cricket's established 18 first-class counties, is vital in attracting a new audience to the game.
But with world cricket at a standstill due to the pandemic, Moeen fears that even if the Hundred does get the go-ahead, health and travel restrictions may make it impossible to bring in high-profile overseas stars.
"It is better for it to be delayed," Moeen, set to captain the Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred, said during a conference call on Wednesday.
"As players we want the Hundred played with all the best players around the world available to come and play so it makes more sense that way. It is probably going to be too much to squeeze in the last couple of months of the .

England's Moeen Ali calls for Hundred delay

The postponement to 2021 of the Olympic Games in Tokyo because of the coronavirus pandemic will cost the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "several hundred million dollars", its president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday.
"We already know that we have to shoulder several hundred million US dollars of postponement costs," the German wrote in a letter to the Olympic movement, warning that, while the IOC would honour its financial obligations to Tokyo, it would probably have to make cuts.
"We also need to look into and review all the services that we provide for these postponed Games," he said.
"The IOC will continue to be responsible for its share of the operational burden and its share of the costs for these postponed Games." The IOC, which has approximately $1 billion (926 million euros) in reserves, took the historic decision to postpone the Games, scheduled to open on July 24, until July 23 to August 8, 2021.
If the coronavirus pandemic is not brought under control within a year, ..

Postponing Games will cost IOC 'several hundred million dollars', says Bach

Community sport could return first when coronavirus restrictions are eased despite the focus on top-level action, according to a public health adviser to the World Health Organization.
Sport across the globe is at a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic but sporting bodies are in talks with authorities over a potential resumption of competition.
The Premier League is hoping to resume its season on June 8 as part of a plan labelled "Project Restart" while sports ministers in Germany have said the Bundesliga could return from the middle of next month.
But Brian McCloskey, former public health director for the 2012 London Olympics, said the logistics of sport at a much lower level make it more feasible as restrictions are slowly lifted.
"The bigger the match, the bigger the competition, the more complicated those mitigating actions will have to be, and therefore the less likely it is that they can be done safely," McCloskey told BBC Sport.
"So an event that involves lots of travel ...

Local sport easier to restart after virus, says health adviser

Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora warned Wednesday that Italy may have to follow France and the Netherlands and call an end to their football and sports seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I see an increasingly narrow path for the resumption of the championship. If I were a president of a football club, I would especially think of organising myself to safely resume the next championship which will start at the end of August," Spadafora told Italian television channel La 7.
"The decisions being taken by other countries, like France yesterday, could push Italy to follow this line too, which would then become a European line," he added.
In France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced Tuesday that professional football, rugby and other sports cannot resume until the end of the summer, although his sports minister later told AFP it was possible games could be played behind closed doors in August.
The Dutch football federation called an end to the 2019-2020 season ...

Italy's sports minister warns of 'increasingly narrow path' for Serie A return

This year's Vuelta will not start in the Netherlands as planned, organisers of one of cycling's Grand Tours announced on Wednesday.
The Vuelta, or Tour of Spain, was scheduled to begin on August 14 in Utrecht and finish on September 6 in Madrid, but the race had already been postponed to a date as yet unknown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Martin van Hulsteijn, the head of the Dutch organising committee, called a possible autumn start "a bridge too far," saying it presented too many practical problems.
The Vuelta organisers issued a press release saying they had been "forced" to take the decision by the reorganisation of the cycling calendar announced by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and a Dutch government ban on sporting events until September 1.
"La Vuelta 20 will not take off from the Netherlands," the organisers said.
"Due to the exceptional situation caused by the  COVID-19 crisis, the organising committee of La Vuelta Holanda has been forced to cancel the official ...

Vuelta decides planned Dutch start is 'bridge too far'

Derby County have thanked captain Wayne Rooney for the leading role he played in the club agreeing a wage deferral with players to help the English Championship club survive the coronavirus crisis.
Manager Phillip Cocu, his coaching staff, executives and non-playing staff have also deferred part of their salary.
"First team players have voluntarily agreed a substantial deferral that is considerably more than has been reported in the media, while Phillip Cocu and his coaching team, and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Pearce and his staff have also agreed significant deferrals," Derby said in a statement.
"Talks across the club have been held in the spirit of unity and co-operation, and everyone has been fully committed to help and play their part.
"The club would specifically like to thank Wayne Rooney, the team captain, and Curtis Davies, the Professional Footballers Association's club representative, for their help and support."
Derby seem set for another season in the second tier as 

Derby thank Rooney after agreeing wage deferral

Twenty-five years ago professional tournament golf took its first steps in China and, despite a few stumbles, paved the way to establishing the sport in a country where it was once banned as a "bourgeois pursuit for millionaires".
An unlikely alliance between the China Golf Association and a Swedish carmaker with an eye on an emerging market resulted in a tentative toe being dipped into oriental waters in April 1995 for the first Volvo China Open.
China's first professional golfer, Zhang Lianwei, who had given up his amateur status just a few months before, finished third behind Paraguay's Raul Fretes in a field that contained 1988 US Masters champion Sandy Lyle.
Later that year, millions across the world tuned in to see Davis Love III and Fred Couples lift the 1995 World Cup of Golf for the US at China's newly opened Mission Hills resort.
Zhang and another new pro, Cheng Jun, represented China and finished a monster 45 shots adrift, 27th in a 32-nation field.
But it mattered not. ...

Baby steps, boom times and Tiger: pro golf in China marks 25 years

Thierry Henry is adjusting to life on pause with the Montreal Impact as the Major League Soccer side awaits the end of the coronavirus shutdown.
Former France, Arsenal and Barcelona star Henry took over as manager of Montreal ahead of the 2020 season, but saw his reign effectively put on hold after just two games when COVID-19 brought sport in North America to a standstill last month.
Speaking on a video conference call on Tuesday, Henry said he is staying positive as he waits to see how the virus plays out.
Major League Soccer chiefs have said the league won't resume until June 8 at the earliest, as they work through different scenarios which could allow the 2020 season to be completed.
"Nobody knows who is going to move when, what's going to happen. We are waiting to see if we are going to play football again," Henry said Tuesday.
"All we can do on our side is to be focused and prepare to whatever is going to come our way. They are going to take the decision and we are going to have 

Henry playing waiting game with MLS in limbo

A Swiss court has  scheduled a September trial date for Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and FIFA's former secretary general Jerome Valcke, in an alleged corruption case.
The case, involving the pair and a third, unnamed man, relates to alleged criminal mismanagement, incitement to criminal mismanagement, falsifying documents and corruption, the Federal Criminal Court said on its website.
The court is based in the southeastern Swiss city of Bellinzona.  When filing the indictment in February, the office of Switzerland's attorney general (OAG) said the men faced charges linked "with the award of media rights to various World Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments."
After the date was set on Tuesday, Al-Khelaifi's lawyers issued a statement insisting the case was "completely unfounded", and said the allegation against their client was "manifestly artificial."
They also indicated that they had requested the recusal of the prosecutors in the case and had filed a ...

Swiss set trial date for PSG chief, ex-FIFA no.2

Italy's footballers' union (AIC) has slammed the government's decision not to allow a return to training for team sports while easing coronavirus restrictions for individual athletes.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced that individual athletes can train from May 4, but team sports, including football, must wait until at least May 18.
The AIC said the decision left footballers "perplexed and surprised".
"The idea seems discriminatory, even illogical to let individual sporting disciplines enter training grounds, but not professional footballers and other athletes registered for team disciplines," the AIC, headed by former Italian international Damiano Tommasi, said in a statement.
"The rule also risks aggravating and not containing the risk.
"For professional athletes this phase of training after such a long period of enforced stop is necessary to avoid injuries and be ready to start training in groups from May 18."
Italy's 20 top-flight clubs have voted unanimously to complete 

Italian footballers' union furious at ban on team training

The French league (LFP) has said its executive board will meet on Thursday to discuss the effect of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's earlier announcement about cancelling the season.
Philippe said professional football and other sports in France cannot resume until September because of coronavirus restrictions.
France's sports ministry told AFP after Philippe's speech that fixtures could not take place even behind closed doors before the end of July, leaving open the possibility that some matches could still be played in August.
A source told AFP that sports minister Roxana Maracineanu had confirmed the later announcement with club directors from Ligue 1 outfits.
LFP's administrative council will meet at a later date and are set to formally cancel the campaign before calling a general meeting where the end of season standings will be decided.

Ligue 1 delays decision on season fate until Thursday

Spain's professional athletes including La Liga players can restart basic training from May 4, the country's government has announced.
The Spanish top-flight has been on hold since March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the decision was the first move in lifting lockdown measures which will be done in four stages across two months.
"The first phase, or phase 0, is the preparation to transition phase or the de-escalation phase, which we are already in," Sanchez said.
"In the best-case scenario, this de-escalation phase will take a minimum of six weeks and the maximum duration we want to see is eight weeks for the whole of Spain," he added.
Only later in later stages of the process will full sessions be able to take place.
The announcement allows the league's clubs to restart individual sessions with their squad members, a protocol agreed upon by La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation earlier this month.
According to local reports players will ..

La Liga set for individual training return on May 4

This year's Deutschland Tour originally set for August 20-23 has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers have announced.
Large-scale public events in Germany have been banned until August 31 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
"As big as the disappointment is, the current circumstances and the decision by the German authorities make it clear that the Deutschland Tour cannot take place this year," race director Claude Rach said in a statement.
Next year's race will take 2020's course starting in the north-eastern town of Stralsund and ending in Nuremberg.
Cycling's three Grand Tours have all been postponed with the Tour de France re-scheduled for August 29-September 20.

Deutschland Tour cancelled due to virus

Paris Saint-Germain will complete their Champions League season abroad if France's new coronavirus regulations don't allow them to them to play matches in the country, the club's president has said.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi made the announcement after French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said that professional football could not restart until September, putting the current Ligue 1 season in serious danger of being cancelled.
"We respect the French government decision. With agreement from UEFA, we plan on competing in the Champions League, wherever and whenever it is held," Al-Khelaifi said in a statement.
"If it is not possible to play in France we will play our matches abroad, ensuring the best medical safety conditions for our players and all of our staff."
Philippe's announcement to France's National Assembly on Tuesday appeared to spell the end to the current Ligue 1 and 2 campaigns.
However France's sports ministry told AFP after the speech that sports fixtures could not take place ..

PSG could play Champions League matches abroad, says Al-Khelaifi

Andy Murray insists tennis must take it slowly as the sport's bosses consider when to return after the coronavirus.
The men's ATP and women's WTA tours are suspended until at least July 13 due to the pandemic, while this year's Wimbledon has been cancelled.  Premier League football clubs are hoping to finish their postponed season in the summer.
But former world number one Murray believes tennis will be one of the last sports to resume due to the travel required.
"I'm sure all tennis players want to get back to competing and playing as soon as possible. But right now that is not the most important thing, Murray said on Tuesday.
"First of all, we want to get our normal lives back, just being able to go out, see friends, go to restaurants and have your normal freedoms.
"And then hopefully over time, things will start to allow for travelling and sport will be able to go back to normal as well. But I don't see that happening very soon."
Murray believes containing the virus is essential ...

Murray warns tennis chiefs against quick return after virus

The chairman of FIFA's medical committee has said he is "sceptical" about restarting league football during the coronavirus pandemic and suggested national competitions concentrate on getting ready for next season instead.
There has been talk of Germany's Bundesliga and England's Premier League resuming behind closed doors.
But Michel D'Hooghe, the head of global governing body FIFA's medical panel, told the BBC on Tuesday: "My proposal is if it is possible, avoid playing competitive football in the coming weeks.
"Try to be prepared for the start of good competition next season."
Dutch football chiefs have already abandoned this season's Eredivisie, with no promotion or relegation, while the future of the 2019/20 Ligue 1 campaign was thrown into doubt when the French Prime Minister said Tuesday that no major sport in the country could take place until the end of the summer.
Meanwhile D'Hooghe warned too quick a resumption of football could have "consequences of life and death".
The ...

AFP

AFP

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