Latest headlines:
- The head of the Tokyo Olympics withdraws sexist comments
- Tokyo Olympics organizers reveal first-ever COVID-19 game book.
- Rights groups are calling for a boycott of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing
February 5th
Isolated Australian Open players freed from COVID-19
All 507 Australian Open players and staff members forced to isolate themselves at their Melbourne hotel due to a COVID-19 case tested negative and cleared to compete in the Grand Slam.
“Everyone who has tested has tested negative,” Tiley told reporters at Melbourne Park on Friday. “So this is a really good result, not only for the community but also for the playgroup.”
The players and staff were ordered to isolate themselves after a worker at the Grand Hyatt hotel they were staying at contracted the novel coronavirus. The warm-up games at Melbourne Park were canceled on Thursday but are set to continue on Friday.
The Australian Open starts on Monday.
February 4th
Liverpool refused to participate in the Champions League in Germany
RB Leipzig will have to find a new venue for the Champions League duel with Liverpool later this month after the German government denied the English champions an exception to strict entry regulations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The German Federal Police informed RB Leipzig today that the described case does not meet the requirements for an exception,” said a statement by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on Thursday.
Leipzig and Liverpool will play the first leg of their Champions League in the round of 16 on February 16.
The head of the Tokyo Olympics withdraws sexist statements and refuses to resign
Yoshiro Mori, head of the organizing committee for this year’s Tokyo Olympics, apologized for sexist comments about women who talked too much, but insisted he would not leave his post.
Mori, 83, a former Japanese Prime Minister, spoke at a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) Board of Trustees this week.
“If we increase the number of women board members, we need to make sure that their speaking time is limited. They have difficulty finishing, which is annoying,” he said, according to local media.
“We have about seven women on the organizing committee, but everyone understands their place.”
His comments sparked outrage online, and the hashtag “Mori, please resign” was trending in Japan.
His apology came at a hastily organized press conference to respond to the comments. But when he was pressured into believing that women talk too much, he replied, “I haven’t been listening to women that much lately so I don’t know.”
3 February
Australian Open: Hundreds Must Isolate After COVID-19 Fall
Up to 600 players and officials linked to the Australian Open tennis tournament are forced to isolate themselves after an employee at the Melbourne hotel they are staying at tests positive for COVID-19.
The players and officials have been told to isolate until they get a negative test for the coronavirus.
The incident is likely to spark warm-up events for the Australian Open due to start next week, but not the Grand Slam itself.
“At this point there is no effect on the actual tournament,” said Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews. “I have to say that (the Australian Open) is important to us, but the issues are much broader and it is about public health and safety.”
The state of Victoria, whose capital is Melbourne, reintroduced binding rules for wearing masks for public interiors from Thursday.
The Olympic organizers unveil the first COVID-19 playbook
The organizers of the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo have released the first of a series of guidelines aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic and restoring confidence that the event can actually take place this year.
The 32-page “game book”, intended for sports officials, contains bans on singing and singing during events and the obligation for event participants to wear masks “at all times” except when eating, sleeping or outdoors.
The guide also encourages those traveling to Japan to attend the Games to maintain physical contact with others at least two weeks prior to their arrival in the country.
Separate guidelines are expected for athletes, the media and broadcasters.
Human rights groups are calling for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Games
A coalition of 180 human rights groups has called for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over reported human rights abuses by ethnic minorities in China.
The coalition is made up of groups representing Tibetans, Uyghurs, Inner Mongols, Hong Kong residents and others. The collective has issued an open letter to the world’s governments calling for a boycott of the Olympics “to ensure they are not used to encourage the Chinese government’s appalling violations of law and crackdown on dissent.”
Next year’s winter games, which are scheduled to begin on February 4, 2022, are scheduled to take place despite the coronavirus pandemic.
February 2nd
Aussie tour of South Africa scrapped
Cricket Australia said it had “no choice” but to back off its tour of South Africa for this month and next amid concerns about the new, contagious strain of coronavirus in the country.
Teams should play three tests if biologically safe protocols have been agreed.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” said Nick Hockley, Interim CEO of Cricket Australia.
“It has become clear that traveling from Australia to South Africa is currently an unacceptable health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community.”
Your hosts believe their biosecurity bubble would have protected the players. “To be informed about the decision in the 11th hour is frustrating,” said Cricket South Africa chief and former captain Graeme Smith.
Venue for RB Leipzig – Liverpool fit together in the air
RB Leipzig were given through February 8th to find one solution for the staging their first and home game Champions League Round of 16 Game against Liverpool. Under state restrictions on people entering Germany from areas affected by new COVID-19 mutations, which include Great Britain would not be Liverpool able to travel to Leipzig for the match.
The only exceptions are for to the German citizens or foreigners residing in Germany. These people must present a negative test for the Sars-CoV-2 virus before entering the country. The German Interior Ministry has announced that there will be no exceptions for athletes traveling to sporting events.
Due to COVID restrictions, RB Leipzig Liverpool may not be able to host in its home country
“UEFA is in contact with the clubs concerned and the German Football Association (DFB), which in turn is in contact with the federal government, The European Football Association replied to a request from the DPA news agency. “”We are currently unable to provide any further information.“”
Updated under UEFA regulations for the knockout phase, the home team is responsible for ensuring that the The game may be played in a neutral location if government law prevents it in his homeland.
On Tuesday, the spokesman for RB Leipzig, Till Müller, said they had asked the authorities to look into the matter carefully. “Of course we are in talks with the authorities, UEFA and Liverpool,” said Müller. “This also includes the fact that on Monday we applied for an exemption for the Liverpool team to join.”
Aside from moving the game to a neutral location, possibly in Austria, another option could be to reverse the home games as the current restrictions only apply until February 17th, one day after the home game in Leipzig. However, it is not clear whether Liverpool would agree, and neither are they guarantee that the current Restrictions are not extended.
February 1st
Leon Draisaitl receives 6 assists for Oilers
Germany’s Leon Draisaitl amassed six career assists while teammate Connor McDavid scored one goal and five points to lead hosts Edmonton Oilers to a wild 8-5 win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. McDavid now has up to 22 points in the season while Draisaitl is at 21, the most of an Oilers player in 11 games since Wayne Gretzky had 26 points in 1987-88. The NHL record for assists in a game is seven, which was set in 1947 by Gretzky (three times) and Billy Taylor.
Draisaitl became the first NHL player to submit six assists in one game since Philadelphia’s Eric Lindros on February 26, 1997, and only the 29th in league history.
Two other Germans also climbed onto the scoreboard; Edmonton’s Dominik Kahun scored the first goal in just eight seconds. With this, Gretzky achieved a franchise record for the fastest goal to start a game. Tim Stützle, No. 3 in the 2020 overall ranking, also scored his second goal of the season for the Senators.
Italian association investigating the Ibrahimovic-Lukaku incident
The Italian Football Association (FIGC) launched an investigation into the verbal clash between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku in the quarter-finals of Coppa Italia last week.
Former Manchester United team-mates held back as the players left the field at the end of the first half. Inter Milan’s Lukaku seemed outraged by something AC Milan’s Ibrahimovic said.
The BBC reported that a microphone on the edge of the field had taken Ibrahimovic to Lukaku with the words “Do your voodoo” on it. This was an obvious reference to Everton owner Farhad Moshiri’s 2018 comments that the Belgian turned down an offer to stay in Merseyside on the advice of a “voodoo embassy”.
Both players have already been banned from a game.
Union signs Croatian striker Musa on loan
The Bundesliga club Union Berlin entered the transfer market just a few hours before the winter transfer window closed. The league’s eighth-placed teams announced on Monday that they have loaned Croatian striker Petar Musa from Slavia Prague.
“I am very happy that the move to Union worked and I can hardly wait to play in the Bundesliga,” said the 22-year-old. “The team has had a great season so far. I want to help the boys continue to be successful.”
