Indiana University holds voluntary football workouts
The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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Indiana University has put its voluntary football workouts on hold after six participants tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
Athletic department protocols require each person with a positive test to self-isolate until further notice as contract tracing begins. Anyone deemed to be in close contact with someone who has tested positive also will be quarantined.
Coach Tom Allen said earlier this summer that he would mix up the workout groups in an attempt to prevent the spread of the illness. He wanted to keep roommates in the same groups while splitting up position groups to avoid losing too many players.
School officials say the pause will not impact voluntary workouts for other teams on campus. Players in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball and field hockey are all participating in voluntary workouts in Bloomington.
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The University of Michigan and Michigan State have announced has positive COVID-19 tests.
Michigan says 121 tests were conducted those days on athletes, coaches and staff with four positives. To date, the athletic department has reported 635 tests with eight positives. All the positive tests have been on athletes.
Michigan State announced it conducted testing on 38 athletes Monday, with three positives. None of the three people had taken part in workouts in the last two weeks. Three additional athletes will need to quarantine for 14 days, since they are roommates of the positive individuals. There were also 27 athletic department staff members who were tested July 13, with one person testing positive. The school said the staff member does not work with the programs back on campus and had no exposure to athletes.
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Southeastern Conference schools will honor the scholarships of athletes who opt not to participate in fall competition because of concerns about COVID-19.
The league announced the decision Friday, saying the athletes will remain in good standing with their team. SEC’s Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously on the issue based on a recommendation of the league’s athletic directors.
The SEC hasn’t announced plans for football and other fall sports yet. The league said it will determine later if the policy should be extended at least to the spring semester
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Ball State athletic department officials are looking to fill three open dates on the school’s football schedule after losing its third non-conference game.
The Cardinals were scheduled to play host to Maine in the Sept. 3 season-opener — before the Black Bears and the Colonial Athletic Association announced they had suspended the fall sports season.
Ball State’s road trips to Indiana and Michigan were canceled last week when the Big Ten opted to conduct a league-only schedule, a move that reportedly will cost the Mid-American Conference school almost $1.7 million in guaranteed money.
If replacement teams cannot be lined up, the Cardinals would now open the season by hosting Wyoming on Sept. 26. Ball State still has eight league games on the schedule, too.
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Five more baseball players tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, raising the total to 80 since testing started in late June.
Major League Baseball and the players’ association said six of 10,548 samples were new positives in the week ending Thursday, a rate of 0.05%. In addition to players, one staff member tested positive.
The week included a five-day span with no new positive tests. Including the initial intake screening that started in late June, 93 of of 21,701 samples have resulted in new positives, a rate of 0.4%. The positives included 80 players and 13 staff members.
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Formula One says two people tested positive for the coronavirus in the latest batch of tests carried out before the Hungarian Grand Prix.
F1 said 4,997 tests for COVID-19 were carried out from July 10-16 ahead of Sunday’s race outside of Budapest.
No further information was given about the two people who tested positive. They have been removed from the Hungaroring vicinity and isolated.
F1 reported no positive cases from more than 8,000 tests carried out over the previous two races held in Austria at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Personnel attending the races are tested every five days with results made public every seven days.
There are two scheduled races at the British GP on Aug. 2 and Aug. 9.
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The world triathlon championships will be staged this year but it’s unclear where and when.
The worlds were originally scheduled to take place in August at the Edmonton world series grand final but they were canceled in April because of the coronavirus pandemic. The governing body of the sport now says a 2020 worlds can go ahead after recommendations from athletes and coaches and talks with national federations.
World Triathlon also canceled three World Cups in Brazil and China.
World Triathlon says it was forced to scrap two World Cups and three Asian Cups in China scheduled for September and October after the country’s government last week canceled all international sports for the rest of the year.
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The Atlantic 10 Conference is postponing its fall sports season, which includes soccer, cross country, field hockey and women’s volleyball.
The conference announced it will try to play those sports in the spring semester, and has agreed to a “look-in” window during September to evaluate whether it is possible to conduct shortened, conference-only seasons in fall sports.
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The restart of the Paraguayan soccer league has been called off after three teams came down with cases of the coronavirus.
The Paraguayan soccer association says Guarani, 12 de Octubre and San Lorenzo cannot play and train until another medical examination is held.
The soccer association did not say how many players or club staff members have become infected.
The league had been scheduled to resume later in the day after a four-month suspension caused by the pandemic. San Lorenzo was to play General Diaz.
Guarani was scheduled to play Guaireña on Saturday and 12 de Octubre was to play Sol de America.
Club executives are expected to meet later in the day to discuss whether other matches will go forward.
Paraguay has done comparatively well in combating the virus. Only 27 people in the country of almost 7 million residents have died with the virus of about 3,300 infected.
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Sporting events in England could be opened up to spectators starting in October.
No fans have been allowed at stadiums since sports resumed in the country in June after a three-month shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says “from October we intend to bring back audiences in stadia ... in a COVID-secure way subject to the successful outcome of pilots.”
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