Digest

SOCCER

Pele, Maradona join applause for 'heroes'

Pele, Maradona and Ronaldo were among 50 global soccer icons to pay tribute to workers combating the coronavirus pandemic in a video posted by FIFA on Saturday.

The video, which lasts almost one-and-a-half minutes, shows the past and present stars applauding "humanity's heroes" from their respective homes.

"Across the globe, staff and volunteers at medical facilities have been risking their lives on a daily basis to support humankind," world soccer's governing body said in an accompanying statement.

"Some have, sadly, paid the ultimate price. People working or volunteering in law enforcement, pharmacies, shops, warehouses, delivery services, public transport, and safety and security have also been playing a key role in protecting our way of life. To all of these heroic people: football thanks you, football remembers you and football supports you."

Others to participate in the video included David Beckham, Gianluigi Buffon, Cafu, Fabio Cannavaro, Iker Casillas, Zinedine Zidane, Carli Lloyd and Marta, among others.

Mineiro revives bid for Luneng's Guedes

Atletico Mineiro has rekindled its interest in Shandong Luneng striker Roger Guedes as it seeks to reinforce its attack for the Brazilian Serie A season.

The Belo Horizonte-based club made a failed bid to sign the 23-year-old in January but soccer director Alexandre Mattos has not given up hope of striking a deal with the Chinese Super League team.

"There is interest from Roger in returning to Brazil," Mattos said in a local television interview."We are going to try to reach an agreement that is within our means.

"But first we have to come to an agreement with Shandong Luneng and it has to be a permanent move," Mattos added, ruling out the prospect of a loan deal.

Guedes had an impressive loan spell at Atletico in 2018 with nine goals in 12 Brazilian Serie A matches. He scored 13 times in 26 appearances last year for Luneng, with whom he is contracted until July 2022.

DARTS

Price right at home with kitchen victory

Gerwyn Price made light work of Rowby-John Rodriguez in his opening match on the second night of the PDC Home Tour.

Welshman Price was in his kitchen in a hastily arranged setup for the tournament, where players are competing in their own homes and streaming the video.

He averaged 97 in defeating Austria's Rodriguez 5-2.

Rodriguez was back at home in Vienna and says he was given permission by his neighbors to play beyond 8 pm local time, but he continued a disastrous record against third-ranked Price who has now beaten him in all five meetings.

Luke Woodhouse beat Ted Evetts by the same scoreline in a more scrappy encounter.

TENNIS

Serena's coach sets up independent league

Patrick Mouratoglou

Serena Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, says he is starting an independent tennis league to have professionals play matches without spectators starting in May at his academy in Nice, France.

The ATP and WTA professional tours are suspended at least until mid-July because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mouratoglou announced his venture on Saturday, calling it the Ultimate Tennis Showdown or UTS.

He says the plan is to livestream 10 matches per weekend for five weekends in May and June.

The competition is slated to start May 16. That is when 10th-ranked David Goffin of Belgium, a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, is scheduled to face 103rd-ranked Alexei Popyrin of Australia, whose father is the co-founder of the UTS.

The next Grand Slam tournament on the calendar is supposed to be the US Open, which is planning to begin main-draw competition on Aug 31 in New York.

The French Open's start was postponed from May until September, while Wimbledon was canceled for the first time since 1945.

E-SPORTS

Sterling among players for FIFA 20 tournament

Several English top-flight players have signed up to represent their clubs in the ePremier League Invitational tournament this week to generate funds for Britain's National Health Service (NHS) during the coronavirus pandemic.

The inaugural edition of the knockout tournament will see players test their FIFA 20 skills against each other between April 20-25 from the comfort of their homes.

Among the players who have confirmed their participation are Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, Wolverhampton Wanderers' Diogo Jota and Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha.

"The thoughts of everyone at the Premier League are with all those directly affected by COVID-19," Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said in a statement.

"The league, our clubs and players are providing valuable support for communities and the NHS."

Xinhua - Agencies