With fans barred from entering stadiums due to the impact of coronavirus, Danish league leaders FC Midtjylland took an imaginative approach to their return to action with a 'drive-in' broadcast for supporters.
The club installed giant screens in the parking lot of their MCH Arena to allow fans to watch matches from the their cars from the more than 2,000 available spaces.
Like all lower division soccer clubs, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed Minneapolis City SC into dangerously uncharted waters. The club, which was founded in 2016, plays in the fourth tier NPSL. Back in late March, the season was cancelled and the team’s highly anticipated U.S. Open Cup first round match against Chicago FC United was postponed indefinitely.
European football will continue its cautious return to play following the COVID-19 stoppage over the next week as a number of the continent's smaller leagues restart with some novelties and one team in serious trouble for breaking coronavirus rules.
Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Serbia, Austria, Croatia and Ukraine are among countries which will again be able to enjoy league football, albeit in unusual circumstances with no spectators allowed at games. They join Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia and the Faroe Islands where play has already restarted.
As major American sports leagues plot their respective paths back to action, they are having to balance the requisite safety measures and local stay-at-home restrictions with the formulation of return-to-play scenarios.
While over in Europe the mantra is something like “just get it done” due to the nature of how domestic leagues work (no playoffs, relegation), American competitions like the NBA are being forced to get creative due to both time constraints and the hard truth that no one’s interested in watching the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Sounds do battle right now.
The hosts for the 2020 ESPYs have been announced. This year, the ESPYs will shift its focus from outstanding athletic achievement to highlighting the impact athletes have made outside of sports. This shift in showing the world that there's more to athletes than just their performances on the field or court aligns with the current global situation we are in. While sports took a halt, many athletes did not.
Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird, USWNT standout Megan Rapinoe and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson will be the voice of this years ESPYs.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has said he hopes a derby between Real Betis and Sevilla will kick the Spanish top-flight season back into action on June 11 after being paused for three months during the coronavirus pandemic.
"There is a possibility that there is a game on June 11, which would be the only match that night and perhaps there will be a tribute to all the people who have died (from the virus)," Tebas told Spanish television network Movistar on Sunday. "I hope that date can be confirmed and we would like the game to be the Seville derby, kicking off at 10pm."
PRAGUE — The top Czech soccer league resumed on Saturday after a two-month break due to the new coronavirus pandemic, with Teplice beating Slovan Liberec 2-0 in a match that included pre-kickoff temperature checks and other protective measures.
The re-start made the Czech league one of the first in Europe to take to the pitch again, following the Bundesliga which resumed last weekend in neighboring Germany.