Human Interest

The novel coronavirus has crippled the global economy and devastated lives and families but Atlético Madrid and Spain midfielder Saúl Ñíguez believes there is a way out if people show solidarity with each other. 

With football on hold during the health crisis, Saúl, 25, has launched Saldremos Juntos (“We'll get through this together”), a campaign to boost Spain's freelancers and small businesses whose livelihoods have been bludgeoned by the pause in activity. 

The players and coaching staff at Serie A side AS Roma have agreed to go without four months' salary to help the club through the crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Serie A has been suspended since March 9 and it is not known if or when the season will be able to re-start. 

There is unlikely to be any relegation from the English Premier League if the season ends with no more play possible because of the coronavirus outbreak, Brighton and Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom has told British media. 

Premier League clubs met on Friday to discuss possible models for finishing the season but all options remained hypothetical after the U.K. government extended lockdown restrictions for another three weeks. Brighton were two points clear of the relegation zone with nine matches remaining when the league was brought to a halt on March 13. 

Barcelona coach Quique Setien is pessimistic that the Spanish top flight season will be able to be completed and has called LaLiga's conditions for the campaign recommencing "a non-starter" due to the continued threat of the novel coronavirus. 

LaLiga has been on hold since March 10 due to the pandemic although president Javier Tebas has said matches could start up again on either May 29, June 7 or June 28, most likely without spectators. Tebas has estimated Spanish clubs would lose around $1.09 billion if the season is not completed. 

The U.S. Soccer Federation said on Wednesday it was shutting down its youth development academy permanently due to the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

U.S. Soccer, the sport's governing body in the United States, said in a statement the decision to shutter the academy, which it founded in 2007 and included competitions across five age groups, was effective immediately. 

Many female footballers are at risk of losing their livelihoods due to the global soccer shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by global players' union FIFPRO said on Thursday. 

The report said specific measures were needed to help women's football during the crisis, which has brought world sport to a standstill and caused the postponement of major international events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Otherwise, it said, the women's game could be facing an existential threat.

The players and staff at Serie A clubs should be tested for coronavirus and then isolated in training camps when they begin preparing for the re-start of the season, the Italian football federation (FIGC) recommended on Wednesday. 

The recommendation will be among the guidelines drawn up by the FIGC's medical committee so that the season, on hold since March 9 because of the coronavirus outbreak, can safely restart, the FIGC said in a statement. 

Major League Soccer will not return until at least June 8, according to multiple reports. The timetable is in line with the latest official word from MLS, which was confirmation that a hoped for mid-May return would not happen due to the ongoing restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus. 

Commissioner Don Garber said MLS remains focused on getting in as many games as possible. Garber expanded the league's guidelines prohibiting group workouts, which initially stretched to April 24. 

The Austrian government said on Wednesday that professional football teams could re-start training to prepare for the resumption of the season, which would be played without fans for the foreseeable future due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. It also added that, when play re-started, the league would be responsible for conducting coronavirus tests on players which would have to take place in the 48 hours before kickoff. 

Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been discharged from a Chinese hospital after recovering from the coronavirus. Fellaini now plays in the Chinese Super League for Shandong Luneng and had tested positive three weeks before being discharged.