Europe

MADRID — LaLiga side Real Valladolid has formally rejected the Spanish league’s offer of coronavirus test kits for their players on ethical and medical grounds, the club said on Wednesday.

“La Liga offered them to us (the tests), but we have not taken them for medical and social reasons,” club spokesman David Espinar said in a statement. “No player has presented any symptoms and we believe that there are people out there who are much less well off than we are who need them far more than we do. It is those (people) who should have priority.”

The coronavirus pandemic has brought a halt to football around the globe, but it’s also deprived us of one of the most fascinating developments slated for March — Youssoufa Moukoko’s debut for Germany’s U-19 team and his transition into training with Borussia Dortmund’s senior side.

One year ago, Italian midfielder Gaetano Castrovilli was playing for Cremonese in Serie B with a transfer market value of just under $2 million. Fast forward to the present day and Inter is reportedly ready to offer Fiorentina $44 million for the 23-year-old.

The Euro 2020 soccer Championship, trumpeted as a continent-wide feast of football from Dublin to Baku to mark UEFA's 60th anniversary, was postponed for a year on Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic claimed its biggest sporting casualty yet.

The fate of the 24-nation, month-long showpiece due to start in June had hung in the balance ever since Europe's domestic leagues began shutting down in the wake of the sweeping health crisis, which has killed around 7,000 people worldwide.

With social distancing coming to the fore, many are turning to video games to pass the time. In turn, many are realizing — or just remembering — how aggravating the FIFA 20 experience can be. After almost 20 years of the game myself, I can hardly look at it without feeling like Roy Keane at a convention of TikTok influencers.  

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. 

Jan Vertonghen's family was robbed at knifepoint in their London home while the Tottenham Hotspur defender was on Champions League duty against RB Leipzig in Germany on Tuesday night, the BBC reported. The report said police had confirmed that four men wearing balaclavas forced their way into the house while Vertonghen's wife and children were inside.

Wayne Rooney has criticized England's football authorities over how long they took to suspend matches in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak, saying it felt like players were being treated like "guinea pigs.” 

The Premier League, English Football League, Women's Super League and men and women's FA Cup competitions were suspended on Friday following an emergency meeting sparked by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta testing positive for the virus a day earlier. 

Following days of major sports leagues suspending all play around the world, the Premier League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 announced the same for health safety in combatting COVID-19. 

Shortly after an emergency meeting, EPL officials announced Friday play will resume on April 4 (April 2 for Bundesliga) at the earliest should health and safety standards be met by then. 

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".