The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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UEFA is paying 236.5 million euros ($255 million) in advance to its national federations and easing requirements on how they spend it during the pandemic.
UEFA says each of its 55 members is getting up to 4.3 million euros ($4.7 million) they are due in central funding through next season.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the money “can be used as our members see fit to rebuild the football community.”
Ceferin says “this is a responsible decision to help as much as we can.”
European officials are usually required to spend certain amounts in areas such as youth and women’s soccer, referee training, and operating costs. They are not subject to mandatory UEFA audits.
UEFA’s funding program, called Hat-Trick, is worth twice as much to European federations as they get from FIFA.
The program is worth more than 11 million euros ($12 million) in the current 4-year cycle compared to $6 million in basic funding from FIFA for 2019-22.
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Organizers of the Catalonia Vuelta cycling race say this year’s edition will take place next year.
The 100th edition of the race had already been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was originally scheduled for March 23-29.
Organizers say the cycling calendar has been significantly reduced because of the pandemic and they didn’t want the Catalonia Vuelta competing with other major events. They also did not want to change the race’s format.
Organizers say they want “to celebrate a 100th edition with the maximum guarantees and with the best world cyclists.”
They say the race will be held next year in the last week of March.
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A group of professional tennis players led by Dustin Brown will meet in a series of exhibition tournaments in Germany starting Friday.
The live-streamed event will take place at an academy near the small town of Höhr-Grenzhausen.
The men’s and women’s professional tours are currently suspended until July because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Brown is from Germany and his father is Jamaican. He upset Rafal Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon in 2015.
Brown says on the event’s website he is “happy to have the chance to compete again. ... I am looking forward to going out there doing what I love.”
The shortened matches will be best of three with four games to win a set. Tiebreakers will be played at 3-3.
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The Russian soccer league says it is hoping to resume play in late June and wants to complete its season by Aug. 2.
The league says it is discussing June 21 and 28 with clubs as possible dates to resume the season amid the coronavirus pandemic. Each club has eight more league games to play.
The league says it would keep promotion and relegation if the season can be completed.
The league could expand from 16 to 18 teams for next season with the addition of the two best-placed teams from the second division if the season can’t be finished. It would then shrink back to its current size for the 2021-22 season. The Russian Cup could also be removed from the calendar for next season only.
Players in Russia are currently training on their own at home during a nationwide lockdown and some foreign players have left the country. The league says it has discussed a return to training but didn’t announce any dates for that.
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FIFA wants to let soccer teams use five substitutes to cope with expected schedule congestion caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
FIFA says the temporary plan could help prevent more injuries due to “potential player overload” as soccer competitions catch up with a backlog.
The proposal gives competition organizers the option of letting teams use five substitutes in 90 minutes and a sixth in knockout games that go to extra time.
Teams would still be limited to three stoppages of play to make the changes.
FIFA says the rule could be used by all competitions finishing this year and next and all national team games through 2021.
FIFA’s proposal must be formally approved by rule-making panel IFAB.
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Formula One chairman Chase Carey says he is “increasingly confident” the season can start in July despite the first 10 races being canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The French Grand Prix decided to call off its race on June 28 rather than postponing it. That means the earliest start date is now the Austrian GP on July 5.
Carey says “we are now increasingly confident with the progress of our plans to begin our season this summer” and that 15-18 races can take place.
F1 plans to start racing in Europe “through July, August and beginning of September, with the first race taking place in Austria.”
The plan is then to race in “Eurasia, Asia and the Americas, finishing the season in the Gulf in December with Bahrain before the traditional finale in Abu Dhabi.”
Carey expects the early races to be without fans but hopes they “will be part of our events as we move further into the schedule.”
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The French Grand Prix has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision further pushes back the start of the Formula One season.
The race was scheduled for June 28 on the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet in southern France. The French government has banned public gatherings until mid-July and race organizers decided not to try to postpone the race or try holding it without fans.
French GP managing director Eric Boullier says their plans are “already turning towards the summer of 2021 in order to offer our spectators an even more original event.”
F1 chairman Chase Carey says “while it is disappointing for our fans and the F1 community that the French Grand Prix will not take place we fully support the decision.”
The first 10 races this season have either been rescheduled or canceled.
The Austrian Grand Prix on July 5 is now the earliest potential date to start the season.
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British Grand Prix organizers say they are talking to the government about the viability of holding the Formula One race on July 19 with no fans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The season was due to begin in March but no races have been possible so far.
Silverstone circuit managing director Stuart Pringle wrote an email to ticket buyers saying he is “extremely disappointed to tell you that we are unable to stage this year’s British Grand Prix in front of the fans.”
Pringle says organizers left the decision for as long as possible “but it is abundantly clear given the current conditions ... that a Grand Prix under normal conditions is just not going to be possible.“
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