Business

Borussia Moenchengladbach's players and coaching staff became the first in Germany to accept pay cuts during the coronavirus crisis to support the club as revenues dry up due to halted matches, sports director Max Eberl said on Thursday. 

The Bundesliga suspension is due to last until at least April 2 though few believe it will resume soon after that date. All continental competitions have also been suspended with the virus's current epicenter in Europe. Germany has recorded about 11,000 cases with 20 deaths. 

The cancellation of major sporting events and the decimation of the luxury, entertainment and travel industries is delivering a hammer blow to a global advertising industry that was already reeling from years of tech-led turmoil.

The inquiry that led to the detention of former Brazil player Ronaldinho enters a new stage this week as prosecutors focus on what they believe is a money laundering scheme involving the businesswoman who invited him to Paraguay. Investigators will begin reviewing files and messages on the phones of the former Barcelona and AC Milan player and his brother and business manager Roberto Assis. 

French federation president Noel Le Graet urged the presidents of Lyon and Marseille to stop bickering about whether the Ligue 1 season should be declared null and void amid the coronavirus outbreak. The season has been postponed indefinitely as French authorities try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which on Saturday had infected 4,499 and killed 91 people in the country. 

"I ask them to regain their composure... and to show dignity," Le Graet told French TV channel TF1 on Sunday. 

UEFA will hold a video conference meeting of all 55 football federations in Europe plus representatives of clubs, leagues and players to discuss the impact of the coronavirus on all football in the region including Euro 2020, it said Thursday. 

UEFA has so far declined to discuss whether Euro 2020, which will be held in 12 different countries around Europe between June 12 and July 12, will be postponed or venues altered. 

UEFA said the meeting would be held next Tuesday and that "discussions will include all domestic and European competitions, including UEFA EURO 2020". 

Members of the U.S. women's national soccer team voiced frustration on Sunday in the ongoing back-and-forth with their federation over pay equality, as a May 5 trial date in their well-publicized lawsuit against U.S. Soccer inched closer. 

At issue was a letter to membership released on Saturday in which U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro said the federation "offered to provide identical compensation to our women's and men's players for all matches controlled by U.S. Soccer." 

The 25th season of MLS began with a bang as both TV ratings and stadium attendance spiked for opening weekend. The highlight was all things Nashville, which saw a league-best attendance of 59,069 for the team’s inaugural game at Nissan Stadium.

As Major League Soccer launched a milestone 25th season on Saturday, the mood was not one of reflection and cautious optimism but bold even outrageous predictions of a future empire. 

Not content to eventually become one of the most successful leagues in North America, MLS has set its sights on supplanting the UK's Premier League and Spain's LaLiga as the world's top soccer product by the time it celebrates its 50th anniversary.