Diego Maradona has lent a hand in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in his hometown by autographing an Argentina national team jersey for a raffle.
The sale raised money for an underprivileged area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires affected by quarantine rules.
"We're going to get through it," Maradona wrote on the jersey, a replica of the one he wore when he led his country to victory in the 1986 World Cup.
The jersey was first offered at auction, but is being raffled to those who have given donations in an initiative that has collected hygiene products, masks and around 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of food for charity.
"Diego can't even imagine what he has done for us, it's priceless. I'll be grateful to him until the day I die," said local resident Marta Gutierrez.
In addition to the pandemic, Argentina is facing a serious economic crisis and is in laborious negotiations on debt restructuring with creditors.

Maradona autographs shirt to help Buenos Aires poor

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The US women's national team has filed an appeal against a legal setback in their equal pay lawsuit, saying they are being paid less than the men even though they win twice as much.
In dismissing their equal pay claim last Friday, Judge Gary Klausner said the case was unwarranted because they had previously turned down an offer in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations to be paid along the lines of the US men's team.
"The argument that women gave up a right to equal pay by accepting the best collective bargaining agreement possible in response to the Federation's refusal to put equal pay on the table is not a legitimate reason for continuing to discriminate against them," said USWNT spokesperson Molly Levinson on Friday night.
She listed a series of grievances in the motion to appeal which was filed in a federal district court in California and is part of a larger lawsuit for equal pay.
Levinson said the women are being discriminated against because they are not getting as ..

US women's nationakl team files appeal after legal setbac

AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has revealed that some of his squad members were still recovering from coronavirus.
Serie A has been on hold since mid-March but Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday he was hopeful group training could resume on May 18.
"We have some infected players in the process of recovery," Scaroni told local media.
Scaroni believes Italian football must live with COVID-19 and take an example from the Bundesliga which will restart on May 16.
"We have to get used to living with the virus and this also applies to football," he said.
"It is not possible to stand still until there is zero infection. Basically we can adopt the German formula that provides that those who are sick go into quarantine while their teammates continue."
Milan technical director Paolo Maldini, together with his 18-year-old son Daniel, a youth team player, have both recovered from the virus.
"Maldini father and son are doing well. There are players who are improving, but .

AC Milan president says some players recovering from coronavirus

Tyson Fury is mentally stronger than Anthony Joshua and would overcome his British rival in similarly commanding fashion to how he defeated Deontay Wilder, according to the WBC heavyweight champion's coach Andy Lee.
Fury got his hands on one of the four major world belts again when he ended Wilder's long reign as champion, knocking the previously unbeaten American down twice on the way to a seventh-round stoppage in February.
While he is contractually obliged to face Wilder for a third time and Joshua is scheduled to take on Kubrat Pulev next, the outbreak of coronavirus and subsequent suspension of major boxing shows has clouded the issue.
Speculation is rife that a domestic bout could take priority but Lee can only see one outcome in a fight that would determine the undisputed world heavyweight champion.
"I think (Joshua) is still an improving fighter," Lee told Sky Sports. "A little bit of inexperience and mentally he's not as strong as Tyson.
"I think Tyson would beat him in eight 

Fury's coach backs him to beat Joshua

Real Madrid attacker Luka Jovic has fracture his right heel, the La Liga giants have announced.
In a statement, Real said the 22-year-old's injury had been diagnosed during tests at the club's medical centre, but didn't say how long they expect him to be out of action.
According to Spanish media, Serbia's Jovic picked up the injury while training at home shortly after returning to Spain from his home country at the start of the week.
Jovic caused controversy in March when he left for Serbia while Real were in quarantine after some of the club's basketball players tested positive for coronavirus. He subsequently explained his test for the virus was negative.
He arrived at Real last summer from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported fee of 60 million euros ($65.1 million). Before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had played 22 times for the capital city club in all competitions, scoring twice.

Real's Jovic suffers heel break

American stock car auto racing's comeback later this month from the coronavirus pandemic will cost three tracks their 2020 season races with more schedule adjustments coming soon.
That was the word Friday from the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the closed-cockpit series that is the most popular form of US auto racing.
Races at Sonoma, California; Joliet, Illinois and Richmond, Virginia were named those moved to ovals without spectators this month to jumpstart the US revival of sport in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
Sonoma Raceway officials said the road course tried to find a new date to replace June 14 but couldn't "given the ongoing uncertainty around large events in California."
It will be staged instead on May 27 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which will host a regularly scheduled race three days earlier in what will essentially be made-for-television events.
A planned June 21 race at Chicagoland will be the May 17 comeback event at ...

NASCAR's empty-oval return means lost races at three tracks

Barcelona returned to training after the La Liga champions allowed their stars to enter their facility to prepare for a potential restart to football in Spain.
Lionel Messi and company took the fields at Joan Gamper training centre for individual sessions, for which the players arrived alone in kit and took to the three pitches without passing through the changing rooms.
As well as doing their routines, they were also subjected to tests to see what effect two months of coronavirus quarantine has had on their bodies.
"Finally we are getting back to normal. We hope to carry on and that soon we can get back to enjoying what we like to do most," Arturo Vidal told sports daily Marca.
Sevilla, Villarreal, Osasuna and Leganes also returned to training, while Real Madrid -- who were two points behind league leaders Barca when play stopped in mid-March -- will likely start again on Monday should their players pass virus tests carried out on Wednesday.
That would mark almost two months since ...

Barca return to training as La Liga eyes restart

Nepal police on Friday arrested 45 Chinese nationals stranded in the country because of coronavirus restrictions after a protest turned violent, authorities said.
Holding placards such as "I want to go home!" they attempted to push towards a prohibited zone near the prime minister's office in Kathmandu.
Some police as well as demonstrators were injured after police used batons to stop them and the protesters threw stones.
"They may face charges of protesting in the restricted zone and violating the lockdown under existing laws," police spokeswoman Kiran Bajracharya told AFP.  Nepal suspended international flights on March 22 as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the coronavirus, and remain so until at least May 31.
While several countries, including the US, the UK, Australia and France have chartered evacuation flights for their citizens in Nepal, no official flights have been made to rescue stranded Chinese nationals.

Nepal detains 45 stranded Chinese after demo turns violent

An Indian national will stand trial in Germany accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi's  secret service, a court said Friday.
Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing since 2015.
"He allegedly provided information about figures in the Sikh opposition scene and the Kashmiri movement and their relatives in Germany, and passed this on to his handlers who were working at the Indian consulate general in Frankfurt," the higher regional court in the city said in a statement.
The trial will open on August 25.
The same Frankfurt court convicted an Indian couple for spying on the same communities last December.

Indian faces trial for spying on Sikhs and Kashmiris in Germany

A reported proposal to resume the NBA season by basing teams in a giant quarantined zone was met with skepticism by NBA players, ESPN reported on Friday.
NBA Players Association executive director Michele Roberts told ESPN that the idea of setting up a "bubble" to guard against coronavirus infection had received support in principle.
However, the proposal foundered when players wondered how the zone would be policed in order to guarantee no contact with the outside world.
"When that one was first floated, there was some consternation," Roberts told ESPN. "Are we going to arm guards around the hotel? That sounds like incarceration to me.
"So then, the players were like, 'Well, I don't know that it's worth it to be away from my family for that long.
"We could do all that, and then what happens when one or two or 10 players test positive after that 28-day isolation? Do we shut it down?" Reports last month said the NBA had studied the feasibility of staging the entirety of the post-season 

NBA players skeptical over 'bubble' plans

Taiwanese baseball fans were allowed to cheer their teams at live stadium games on Friday, after the island kept coronavirus infections down and its professional sports leagues running despite the pandemic.
Taiwan's baseball scene -- little-known elsewhere -- has seen a huge surge of global interest in the last few weeks after it became the first professional league to begin a new season, since joined only by South Korea.
Anti-virus restrictions meant Taiwanese fans have had to watch games on their TV sets, with one club placing cardboard cutouts and drumming robots in the stands instead.
But on Friday fans excitedly headed back for some live sporting action.
"I feel very proud that Taiwan is the first to start a baseball season and the first to allow spectators back. I plan to come to every game in this season," 19-year-old college student Sam Kao told AFP.
"I'm really happy to come back to the stadium. I love to watch the game in person to feel the atmosphere," said Lin Wen-hsuan, ..

Play ball: Taiwan baseball fans return to the stands

Italian football giants Inter Milan and AC Milan were both back training Friday two months after a strict lockdown which has hit the northern Italian city hard.
Inter said all their players and staff have tested negative for coronavirus on Friday, clearing the way for them to return to individual training in the afternoon.
"All the medical tests that the first team underwent have come back negative," the team said in a statement.
"Optional individual training sessions will begin this afternoon."
City rivals AC Milan resumed earlier in the week with club technical director Paolo Maldini warning on Friday "not going back on the pitch would be a disaster."
Former Italy captain Maldini, together with his 18-year-old son Daniel, a Milan youth team player, have both recovered from coronavirus.
"You have to be careful, but not to resume would be a disaster from all points of view," 51-year-old Maldini said during a live Instagram chat on Friday with former Milan teammate Filippo ...

Inter, AC Milan back training after two-month lockdown in coronavirus epicentre

Football teams will be allowed to use five substitutes when play resumes after the coronavirus pandemic, the sport's law-making body announced on Friday.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) said in as statement that it had agreed to a proposal by world governing body FIFA for a temporary change to the rules "to protect player welfare".
Teams face likely fixture congestion in a packed calendar as they attempt to make up for lost time when play can resume.
The lay off is expected to have an impact on player fitness levels too.
It also said that competitions which were using video assistant referee (VAR) would be allowed to drop it for the time being.
The change will apply to competitions scheduled to be completed by 31 December of this year, although FIFA and IFAB left open the possibility that the period could be extended.
While teams will be able to make five substitutions, "to avoid disruption to the game, each team will only have three opportunities to make ...

Football to allow five substitutes during post-virus fixture backlog

Fans of Lens have responded with both "great joy" and also "great dread" after the early end to the French season brought their club's promotion to Ligue 1.
The old mining town of Lens has a population of just over 31,000, but fans regularly pack the 38,000-capacity stadium despite their last top-flight league title winning campaign coming back in 1998.
Since promotion last week the club's passionate supporters worry however that they will not be allowed into their cauldron like Stade Bollaert to witness their top flight return.
"I was at work when we heard the news, so on the same day we took out the flags," fan Gaetan Guenard told AFP, pointing to the banners displayed above the window of the signage company where he works.
Recent years have been tough for the town, where the last mine closed in the 1990s, and the club, which has spent most of the last 12 seasons in the second division.
"Here in Lens, with the fervour, there is a strong social need. Its a region that has suffered a .

Lens fans worry promotion will leave empty feeling

Britain's Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden warned on Friday that the Premier League does not yet have the "green light" to resume but restated the government's hope that the season can be completed.
Premier League clubs are due to meet on Monday to discuss the latest plans for "Project Restart" -- a day after an expected minor easing of coronavirus lockdown measures.
Clubs are understood to have been told that the use of a limited number of neutral venues is the only way to complete the campaign, to limit the strain on essential services and discourage gatherings of supporters near stadiums.
But those at risk of relegation argue that the integrity of the competition would be compromised by the neutral-venue plan.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber is opposed to the idea, with the Seagulls hovering two points above the drop zone. Brighton were scheduled to play five of their remaining nine games at home.
Despite extensive contingency planning, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, .

Premier League does not yet have 'green light', minister warns

AC Milan was on Friday awaiting the belated return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from a protracted and productive coronavirus exile in Sweden that has fuelled speculation in his native country that their biggest star was coming home for good.
While most of his AC Milan team-mates have had to sit idle because of the pandemic, Ibrahimovic was busy training in Sweden with players at Hammarby, a first-division club which he part owns.
Unlike much of the rest of Europe, where containment has limited or prevented athletes training, in Sweden restrictions to contain Covid-19 have been more flexible.
The start of the Swedish league, scheduled for 4 April has been postponed, but training has continued as long as players avoid close contact, unlike Italy where individual training only resumed this week.
On Tuesday, only Ibrahimovic and Ivory Coast striker Franck Kessie were absent at the Milanello centre for medical tests AC Milan had asked players to take, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
But on .

Ibrahimovic keeps busy in Sweden, fuelling talk he will stay

Manchester City's Kyle Walker says he is being "harassed" after admitting he breached coronavirus lockdown rules to visit his sister and parents.
The defender was forced to issue an apology last month after media reports that he had hosted a party at his home.
But Walker has hit back at the latest stories, insisting that he is being targeted and that the ongoing controversy is affecting his family's health.
In a statement on his official Twitter feed, Walker wrote: "I have recently gone through one of the toughest periods of my life, which I take full responsibility for.
"However, I now feel as though I am being harassed.
"This is no longer solely affecting me, but affecting the health of my family and my young children too." Walker admitted contravening coronavirus regulations again by visiting Sheffield to see his sister and his parents -- for which he could be fined and cautioned by police.
"In relation to the events on Wednesday, I travelled to Sheffield to give my sister a ...

Man City's Walker says he is being 'harassed' after admitting lockdown breaches

The towering stands of the 42,477-capacity Jeonju World Cup Stadium stood empty on Friday as South Korea opened football's post-coronavirus era without fans, but with an unprecedented international TV audience.
With most leagues worldwide sidelined by the pandemic, the K-League is the first competition of any standing to come back to life and a host of safety precautions have been imposed, with wild goal celebrations and even talking discouraged.
The long-delayed season-opener between defending champions Jeonbuk Motors and Cup-holders Suwon Bluewings will be watched by sport-starved fans in a swathe of foreign countries, even though spectators are not yet allowed at K-League games.
Ahead of the match only the media section of the stadium, which hosted three matches of the 2002 World Cup, was occupied, and rather than cheers of anticipation, the only sound was chatter among journalists and staff.
Paper sheets taped to stadium seats spelled out "#C_U_SOON" and "STAY STRONG", while one ..

'Largely unknown' South Korea league kicks off football's post-virus era

Bored during Pakistan's coronavirus lockdown, Test batsman Shan Masood put on his helmet, picked up his bat -- and Zoom cricket was born.
Masood, 30, was video-chatting with teammates when they grabbed their cricket gear and pretended to play a match.
"A couple of us guys were talking on Zoom and it was pretty late at night and somebody just picked up a ball," Masood told AFP.
"He had a ball (in) his hand and eventually all of us got kitted up and we played... a made-up cricket match."
"So that was quite a funny moment where I kind of had my helmet on. Hassan Ali was seaming into the ball, Imam ul Haq was fielding, Wahab Riaz was the captain," he added.
"(We) just made it into a funny little incident." Cricket, like most other sport, is on hold during the pandemic, much to the frustration of players and fans.
Masood said Pakistan's squad had been training at home -- sometimes using staircases and armchairs as gym equipment -- to prepare for cricket's return.
"Everyone's been training, 

Pakistan players push back boundaries with Zoom cricket

The coronavirus-delayed Chinese Super League could kick off next month but without some leading foreign stars including Paulinho and Marko Arnautovic, the country's football president has warned.
The CSL became one of the first sporting victims of the pandemic in January when its February 22 start date was indefinitely postponed.
It could now begin in late June but might have to do so with numerous foreign coaches and players missing because of temporary restrictions on entering the country, Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan said.
"This is truly a dilemma because as we know, one third of the foreign players and even some coaches haven't come back yet," Chen told state broadcaster CCTV.
"Frankly speaking we will take this into consideration when starting games but we won't wait for them all to get back before we kick off or else it will be unfair to other clubs.
"As long as we're fully prepared in terms of epidemic prevention and control, we'll actively start."
Having .

Chinese Super League could kick off without foreign stars

South Korean football will reach new international TV audiences as it leads the way by restarting after the coronavirus on Friday, but there will be no crowds or wild goal celebrations -- and even talking is discouraged.
With most leagues worldwide sidelined by the pandemic, the K-League is the first competition of any standing to come back to life, watched by sport-starved fans in a swathe of foreign countries.
It will provide the first glimpse of post-virus football, with teams under orders to stick to stringent safety guidelines to prevent any contagion.
Players have been told to avoid excessive goal celebrations, handshakes, close talking and blowing their noses, while the stadiums will be devoid of spectators.
But with fans around the world long deprived of live sport, the K-League has signed rights deals with broadcasters in nearly 20 countries including Germany, Switzerland and Australia who will be showing games live.
The K-League, whose start was delayed two months by the ...

AFP

AFP

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