The Associated Press
The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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Two Rutgers football players have tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Coach Greg Schiano discussed the test results Monday during a conference call. It was his first media availability since the team was allowed to return to campus last week for voluntary workouts.
Schiano said players and coaches were tested before the team returned on June 15, either with mail-in tests or after being tested locally. One of the positive tests came from those samples and the player was not allowed to return to campus and is being isolated at home.
The second positive test came from a sample taken when the players reported. That player was isolated and three players who had contact with him were placed in quarantine.
The university has a protocol for allowing players who test positive to eventually return, which includes a non-positive test, Schiano said.
Schiano said players and coaches underwent a third screening on Monday.
Incoming freshmen players also were allowed on campus on Monday and they were tested and put in a separate dormitory. They will not be integrated with the rest of the team until they pass a second COVID-19 test.
The workouts are voluntary and Schiano said some players have elected to skip them.
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The ATP men’s tennis tour says it is continuing to “plan and adjust” its precautions and protocols related to the coronavirus pandemic with an eye to its planned Aug. 14 resumption of competition.
The tour issued a statement Monday following word that two top-35 players tested positive for COVID-19 after participating in unsanctioned exhibition matches organized by No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Serbia and Croatia.
There were no social distancing measures observed at the Adria Tour exhibitions.
Three-time Grand Slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, who is currently No. 19, and his opponent in Croatia on Saturday, No. 33 Borna Coric, both said they have COVID-19.
The ATP said it “continues to urge strict adherence to responsible social distancing and health and safety guidelines to contain the spread of the virus.”
Exhibition events have been staged in various places around the world while the ATP and WTA tours have been suspended since March because of the pandemic. The tours announced last week they plan to return in August.
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Louisville football’s season opener against North Carolina State has been moved up a day to Wednesday, Sept. 2 to avoid conflicting with the rescheduled Kentucky Derby weekend at neighbouring Churchill Downs.
The Kentucky Oaks and Derby were postponed from May 1-2 to Sept. 4-5 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The preceding and highly attended Thursday race card known as “Thurby” was set for the same day as the Cardinals’ Atlantic Coast Conference matchup against the Wolfpack, but the schools announced Monday that they had agreed to the switch to avert logistical conflicts with parking and traffic.
“We appreciate the NCAA, ACC and N.C. State honouring our request for a date change for the opening game,” Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra said in a news release. “We are trying to be thoughtful about the shared city resources needed to host a football game and Thurby at the same time.”
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Serbian soccer club Red Star Belgrade says five players have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The club says the players are feeling fine and remain in isolation.
Four of the players have displayed symptoms of COVID-19 while one has shown no symptoms at all.
The club says the five players did not attend the match against Proleter on Saturday when the Serbian league champions completed their season.
About 20,000 fans attended a Serbian Cup semifinal match against Partizan Belgrade this month as the country lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions.
The match against Proleter was also attend by about 20,000 fans. Both gatherings have drawn criticism from the public as Serbia records dozens of new coronavirus cases each day.
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Croatian tennis player Borna Coric says he has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking part in an exhibition event.
The 33rd-ranked Coric posted the news on Twitter.
He says “I want to inform you that I am positive for Covid-19. Please everyone who has been in contact with me for the last few days gets tested!”
He says he is feeling well and has no symptoms.
Coric was among about 1,000 people who were tested for the virus after Grigor Dimitrov announced that he tested positive. That led to the cancellation of an exhibition event in Croatia where top-ranked Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play in the final.
Coric played a match against Dimitrov in Zadar on Saturday in the second leg of the exhibition series.
