Arsenal has advised its players, who were to resume training on Tuesday, to stay at home even though they completed their 14-day isolation period after manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for the coronavirus. Arteta's positive test forced the team to go into self-isolation, while the Premier League has suspended the soccer season until April 30.
The Spanish soccer calendar has been postponed until further notice, LaLiga and the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) said in a joint statement on Monday. All organized soccer in Spain had been postponed for two weeks due to the spread of the coronavirus but was initially due to resume on April 3.
The statement said a joint commission between the two bodies had agreed to postpone all professional soccer competitions until the Spanish government considered they could start again "without creating any health risk.”
Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been diagnosed with COVID-19 following his return to China, the Belgian's Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng announced on its official website on Sunday.
Fellaini, who joined Shandong last January from the English Premier League side, returned to the country on Friday to join up with his club and tested positive for the coronavirus. The former Belgium international did not have a fever and was asymptomatic, the club said, and has now been placed in quarantine.
Julie Ertz might just be the most dominant player in soccer right now — and the most magnanimous.
The two-time Women’s World Cup winner teamed up with her husband to donate $100,000 to Philabundance, a Philadelphia-area food bank, to provide meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ertz and her husband, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, announced the donation on Friday evening through their Ertz Family Foundation.
As football around the world shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic, defiant Belarus kicked off its new season on Thursday and said it would even allow spectators to watch the games.
Cardiff City announced that former midfielder Peter Whittingham passed away at the young age of 35 on Thursday.
The club said in a statement: “First and foremost, Peter was a family man – and somebody who could light up a room with his sense of humor, warmth and personality. Then, as a professional footballer – as a Bluebird – he excelled with talent, ease, grace and humility. Nobody did it better.”
Borussia Moenchengladbach's players and coaching staff became the first in Germany to accept pay cuts during the coronavirus crisis to support the club as revenues dry up due to halted matches, sports director Max Eberl said on Thursday.
The Bundesliga suspension is due to last until at least April 2 though few believe it will resume soon after that date. All continental competitions have also been suspended with the virus's current epicenter in Europe. Germany has recorded about 11,000 cases with 20 deaths.
The cancellation of major sporting events and the decimation of the luxury, entertainment and travel industries is delivering a hammer blow to a global advertising industry that was already reeling from years of tech-led turmoil.
Great news for people who love football and are bored senseless: Sega has announced Football Manager 2020 is now free to play on Steam until March 25 on PC/Mac. That gives you one week to take Gateshead from National League North to the Premier League and European glory.
And if you find yourself hooked come March 25, you’ll be able to continue with your saved file after purchasing the game.
The inquiry that led to the detention of former Brazil player Ronaldinho enters a new stage this week as prosecutors focus on what they believe is a money laundering scheme involving the businesswoman who invited him to Paraguay. Investigators will begin reviewing files and messages on the phones of the former Barcelona and AC Milan player and his brother and business manager Roberto Assis.