No games have been played in the 16-team top-flight since March 16 but the league announced that it has proposed two solutions to clubs for the campaign to re-start with eight rounds of matches remaining. Discussions are continuing on how to resume training and get foreign players back to their clubs as well as whether fans will be allowed to attend when games get underway.
* Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb returned to training on Monday as the Balkan nation's government started a phased easing of new coronavirus lockdown measures, manager Igor Jovicevic said. Croatia had been on a tight lockdown since mid-March with only food stores, pharmacies and petrol stations open but some 3,000 professional athletes were allowed to resume training on Monday as most shops also reopened for business.
* The UK government's cabinet minister responsible for sport said he has been in talks with the Premier League with the aim of getting football back on the field as quickly as possible. The Premier League, which has been on hold since Mar 13, remains suspended until at least Apr 30 while lockdown measures are in place in the United Kingdom until May 7, when the government is set to review the current restrictions in place.
* Tottenham Hotspur are the latest side to announce a limited return to training following the suspension of football activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the players respecting social distancing rules as they get back into shape, the club said. Spurs said a limited number of players will be taking part in each session at their Enfield Training Centre, and there will be no access permitted to any building on site.
* Argentina declared its football season over on Monday and said there will be no relegation for two seasons because of the disruption caused by the new coronavirus outbreak. The decision means the Copa Superliga, a 24-team tournament scheduled to end in a playoff in May, has been cancelled. Only one round of games had taken place when the lockdown began.
* Audi will withdraw from the German Touring Car series at the end of the year and focus its motorsport activities on all-electric Formula E and customer racing, the carmaker announced on Monday. The Volkswagen-owned premium brand said in a statement the realignment was also due to the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Liverpool's expansion of their Anfield Road stand has been postponed by a year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the earliest target for completion is now 2023, the Premier League club said on Monday. Liverpool opened their redeveloped Main Stand in 2016, which raised seating capacity to more than 54,000, and the club were set to begin work on the Anfield Road stand in December.
* Double Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth will come out of retirement and return to the NASCAR series, Chip Ganassi Racing said on Monday, taking over the seat vacated by Kyle Larson.
* Belgian clubs on Monday postponed a vote on confirming the cancellation of the rest of the season until next week, keeping open the door for a possible resumption. Following a decision taken at the beginning of the month, the 24 clubs of the Pro League had been scheduled to confirm the premature ending of this season's campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic but delayed the decision, a statement said. The vote will now be held next Monday, May 4 as Belgian sport awaits more clarity on the possible easing of lockdown rules and a window of opportunity to continue playing.
* UEFA has released EUR236.5 million to its 55 member associations who are grappling with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe's soccer governing body said on Monday. UEFA said each association would receive 4.3 million euros from a fund earmarked for targeted areas of development but decided to allow each association to "set its own priorities" due to the new coronavirus outbreak.
* Six-time Olympic gold medallist Viktor Ahn on Monday announced his retirement from short track speed skating, citing several lingering injuries.
* Crystal Palace's chefs will cook 900 meals a week for frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable families in south London during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Premier League club said on Monday. The food will be delivered to doctors and nurses in the National Health Service, elderly and vulnerable people forced to stay at home, impoverished families and the homeless.
* FIFA has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, as a temporary measure, the global soccer body said on Monday. It said the idea was to help deal with possible fixture congestion as leagues attempt to complete the season in a short space of time once play starts again in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
* Formula One hopes to start its delayed 2020 season in Austria in July without spectators before ending in Abu Dhabi in December after races in Asia and the Americas, chairman and CEO Chase Carey said on Monday. The opening race at the Red Bull Ring, belonging to the Austrian energy drink company that owns two of the 10 teams on the starting grid, would be held as planned over the Jul 3 to Jul 5 weekend.
