The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association say 16 players tested positive for coronavirus in the first wave of mandatory tests done in preparation for the restart of the season.
Those 16 players were part of a pool of 302 tested on Tuesday. Tests are continuing for all 22 teams that will be participating in the restart at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida, next month. The player names were not disclosed; some, such as Malcolm Brogdon of Indiana and Sacramento teammates Jabari Parker and Alex Len have publicly acknowledged they have recently positive.
That was a 5.3% rate of positive tests leaguewide. The league did not announce results of testing on staffers and other members of team travel parties, all of whom are also part of the mandatory testing program.
The league and the union say that ”any player who tested positive will remain in self-isolation until he satisfies public health protocols for discontinuing isolation and has been cleared by a physician.”
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The Carolina Hurricanes will begin ”voluntary small-group training” at PNC Arena on Tuesday.
The team said Friday those sessions will be closed to the public and media. Sixteen players, divided into two groups, are expected to participate.
Players and staff permitted inside the arena will be tested for COVID-19. Team personnel will follow safety guidelines outlined in the second phase of the NHL’s return plan, as well as those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services.
The team says the arena has received ”extensive cleaning” during the suspended NHL season and there will be ”enhanced cleaning and sanitation efforts” going forward.
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The Davis Cup men’s tennis competition has been canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and will pick up again in 2021.
Matches were scheduled for this September and the Davis Cup finals were set for November in Madrid.
Now the World Group I and World Group II preliminary matches will be played in various sites in either March or September 2021. The finals will be in Madrid during the week of Nov. 22, 2021.
The International Tennis Federation says the 18 nations that already qualified for the 2020 finals will get a spot in 2021.
The ITF has also scrapped the women’s Fed Cup finals for this year and says they will be played April 13-18 in Budapest, Hungary.
The Fed Cup originally was supposed to be played this April but was initially postponed because of the pandemic.
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Diamond League track meets in France and the United States have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers say the Sept. 6 event in Paris and the Prefontaine meet on Oct. 4 in Eugene, Oregon, cannot be held because of the current restrictions on mass gatherings and international travel.
A meet in Gateshead, England, has been postponed from Aug. 16 to a possible date in mid-September.
The next possible Diamond League meet is scheduled for Aug. 14 in Monaco.
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This year’s Fed Cup finals have been rescheduled for 2021 because of ”challenges” related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The International Tennis Federation says the women’s team competition will take place April 13-18 in Budapest, Hungary.
The 2020 event was originally scheduled for April but was postponed because of the pandemic. Officials had hoped to squeeze the competition in this year.
The ITF says there are ”significant logistical and regulatory challenges” to holding ”an indoor mass gathering” at the Laszlo Arena. The tennis body says ”guaranteeing the health and safety of all involved will not be feasible.”
The Fed Cup finals feature 12 national teams competing in a new format.
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Tennis great Goran Ivanisevic says he has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The former Wimbledon champion coaches top-ranked Novak Djokovic and was at the recent Adria Tour exhibition series in Serbia and Croatia.
Djokovic and three other players have also tested positive for the virus after playing in the events. Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki are the others.
Ivanisevic won the Wimbledon title in 2001. He says he twice tested negative for the virus over the past 10 days but has now tested positive.
Ivanisevic says ”I would like to inform everyone who has been in contact with me that I tested positive and ask them to take extra good care of themselves and their loved ones.”
The Croat says he has no symptoms but will self-isolate.
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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
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