The race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit is scheduled for Aug. 30. The Formula One season has yet to start, with nine races so far either cancelled or postponed. France, with a race at Le Castellet on June 28, has yet to be called off but also looks unlikely to go ahead on the current date after the country extended its ban on public events to mid-July.
* The NFL campaign and an abbreviated baseball season may be possible if games are played without fans and players are kept in lockdown, US President Donald Trump’s leading infectious disease adviser said on Wednesday. Fauci said he would recommend that athletes should be tested roughly once a week after resuming play.
* Tamas Ajan has resigned as president of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) while an investigation into alleged corruption is ongoing, the governing body said in a statement on Wednesday. Ajan, from Hungary, had been at the IWF since 1976, serving 24 years as general secretary and 20 as president.
* The UFC is aiming to stage a fight card at an undisclosed location on May 9 featuring at least two title bouts, the promotion's president Dana White has told its broadcast partner ESPN. White cancelled the proposed UFC 249 event last week, which was due to take place on Apr 18.
* Premiership club Saracens have asked their highest-earning players to defer part of their salaries until the start of the 2020/21 season and placed staff on the British government's furloughing scheme. Players earning more than 75,000 pounds (US$94,072) will be asked to defer anything above that amount, the club said in a statement on Wednesday.
* The Belarusian Football Federation said on Wednesday it was postponing the start of its women's Premier League after several players were found to have been in contact with possible carriers of the novel coronavirus. Belarus is the only country in Europe still playing a men's national soccer league.
* The second, third and fourth tiers of Scottish football have ended their seasons after a league resolution was passed with a majority vote, the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) announced on Wednesday. Scotland's 42 professional clubs voted digitally on the SPFL's proposal to end the season across the lower tiers (Scottish Championship, League One and League Two) and the top tier Premiership if and when it becomes clear the season cannot be completed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
* Red Bull Formula One driver Max Verstappen took a hat-trick of second places on his V8 Supercars All-Stars esports debut on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Dutchman was a wildcard entry in a Red Bull liveried Holden in the second round of the Australian virtual series alongside New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen and Australian Jamie Whincup.
* Team Ineos rider Geraint Thomas expects his 36-hour shift on an indoor bike to be tougher than the Tour de France but worth the effort to raise money for Britain's National Health Service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 33-year-old Welshman, the 2018 Tour winner, began the first of his three 12-hour stints on the online virtual cycling and running platform Zwift from the confines of his garage in Cardiff on Wednesday.
* 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.
* Formula E launched an esports 'Race at Home Challenge' series on Wednesday involving regular race drivers and gamers in the absence of any real track action due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Formula E's version also aims to raise funds for UNICEF after the announcement on Tuesday of a partnership with the U.N. children's fund's global coronavirus appeal.
* Players and coaches at Parma have agreed to forego one month's wages to help the Italian side through the stoppage caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the club said on Wednesday. Parma became the third Serie A team to agree wage cuts with the players after titleholders Juventus, where salaries will be reduced during a four-month period, and Cagliari, whose squad accepted going without pay in March.
* Austria, which has started loosening its coronavirus lockdown, said on Wednesday it would allow some sports compatible with social distancing like tennis and golf to resume from May 1.
* The Tour de France has been postponed to Aug. 29-Sept 20 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Wednesday. The Tour de France was due to be held from June 27-July 19. The UCI added that Italy's Giro and Spain's Vuelta would follow the Tour in a revised calendar and the men's road race at the world championships in Martigny, Switzerland, would go ahead as scheduled on Sept 27.
* England goalscoring great Jimmy Greaves has returned home after spending a week in hospital, his family said on Wednesday. Greaves, 80, has been in poor health since he suffered a stroke five years ago. There was no suggestion he had any symptoms related to the new coronavirus.
