Sports News Roundup: Silver says NBA participation at Tokyo Olympics may be limited; Andreescu pulls out of French Open, to take rest of 2020 off and more

MLS regular season to end with Decision Day on November 8 The MLS announced the remainder of the regular-season schedule on Tuesday, culminating with all 26 teams taking the pitch Nov. 8 on "Decision Day 2020." The schedule will feature exclusively intraconference games during the final two weeks of the regular season.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 23-09-2020 10:40 IST | Created: 23-09-2020 10:31 IST
Sports News Roundup: Silver says NBA participation at Tokyo Olympics may be limited; Andreescu pulls out of French Open, to take rest of 2020 off and more
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Angels SS Simmons opts out of final week

Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons opted out of the final week of the season, the team announced Tuesday. "Earlier today, Andrelton Simmons informed the Club that he has chosen to opt out of the remainder of the season," the team in a statement. "This year has presented unique challenges for many and the Angels respect Andrelton's decision."

Cycling thrown into fresh turmoil with Tour doping investigation

Cycling has been thrown into fresh turmoil after French judicial authorities opened a preliminary investigation into potential doping at Nairo Quintana's team Arkea-Samsic on Monday, a day after the Tour de France ended in Paris. Two people had been taken into custody, Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens said, adding that the probe was targeting a "small part of the team" and that those in custody were part of the "close entourage of the main rider", without naming him.

Andreescu pulls out of French Open, to take rest of 2020 off

Canada's Bianca Andreescu has pulled out of the French Open and will take the rest of the season off to focus on her recuperation, the world number seven said on Tuesday. Andreescu, who did not defend her 2019 U.S. Open crown in New York this year, has not played on tour since the WTA Finals in Shenzhen last year where she retired with a knee injury that also kept her out of the Australian Open in January.

Silver says NBA participation at Tokyo Olympics may be limited

NBA participation at the Tokyo Olympics may be limited as the league's next season, which has been pushed back due to the COVID-19 outbreak, would likely be ongoing at the time of the Games, Commissioner Adam Silver told CNN on Tuesday. Normal NBA seasons start in late October and finish in mid-June.

MLS regular season to end with Decision Day on November 8

The MLS announced the remainder of the regular-season schedule on Tuesday, culminating with all 26 teams taking the pitch Nov. 8 on "Decision Day 2020." The schedule will feature exclusively intraconference games during the final two weeks of the regular season.

Texas State coach Kaspar resigns amid allegations of racism

Texas State men's basketball coach Danny Kaspar resigned on Tuesday in the midst of an investigation into allegations he repeatedly made racist statements to student-athletes. Former Texas State point guard Jaylen Shead, now at Washington State, said in a social media post in June that Kaspar pushed players to run faster in practice by yelling "chase that chicken." Shead also said that if he was in front of other players in sprints, Kaspar said he was "running like the cops are behind him."

Exclusive: Brits on bikes as fitness app data shows pandemic boom

Active travel is booming in Britain as millions of commuters, shoppers and schoolchildren get on their bikes to avoid confined spaces on public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the fitness tracker app Strava showed on Wednesday. The city of Liverpool saw the greatest year-on-year rise in cycling, with an increase of more than 220% for people taking at least one trip by bike.

Medvedev falls at first hurdle in Hamburg

Top seed Daniil Medvedev suffered a stunning 6-4 6-3 defeat by Frenchman Ugo Humbert in his first claycourt match of the 2020 season at the Hamburg European Open on Tuesday. Fresh off his run to the U.S. Open semi-finals, world number five Medvedev struggled to find his feet on clay as he was broken three times by Humbert in a lacklustre performance.

Olympics: Japan may ask foreign athletes for activity plans - Yomiuri

Japan will consider asking foreign athletes participating in the delayed Olympic Games next year to submit plans laying out their base camp locations, training sites and host towns as part of COVID-19 countermeasures, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday. While athletes will not have to undergo a two-week quarantine period they will be required to be tested for the novel coronavirus upon arrival, the Yomiuri said citing a draft plan from the government and organizing committee sources.

League fines teams, coaches for failing to wear masks properly during games

The National Football League (NFL) handed a handful of coaches and teams hefty fines for failing to wear masks properly during Week 2 games. The league fined the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks $250,000 each, while the head coach of each team received an additional $100,000 fine for mask noncompliance, a source confirmed to Reuters.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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