Digest

SOCCER

Female referee makes history in Juve victory

Stephanie Frappart of France became the first woman to referee a men's Champions League game on Wednesday as Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 750th career goal in a 3-0 win for Juventus over Dynamo Kiev.

The Italian champion was already through to the last 16, along with Group G leader Barcelona, but can still pip the Spaniards to top spot, sitting three points behind them ahead of their trip to Camp Nou next Tuesday.

"Another barrier has been broken down, we know that she is very good, which is the most important and fundamental thing," Juventus chief football officer Fabio Paratici said before Frappart's game.

The 36-year-old Frappart has already made history as the first woman to referee in Ligue 1, and took charge of the 2019 UEFA Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea. She also made her Europa League debut in October.

Messi fined for jersey tribute to Maradona

Lionel Messi was fined $720 for taking off his jersey to pay tribute to Diego Maradona, the Spanish soccer federation said on Wednesday.

The federation's competitions committee fined the Argentine player for his actions after scoring in Barcelona's 4-0 win over Osasuna in La Liga on Sunday.

After netting with a strike from outside the box, Messi took off his shirt to reveal the red and black of Newell's Old Boys－the Rosario-based club where Maradona briefly played late in his career and where Messi spent his formative years. The Barca superstar then blew a kiss with both hands to the sky as he looked upward.

The federation also refused to void the yellow card that was shown to Messi for taking off his jersey, and fined Barca $216.

Madrid says pandemic cost club over $120m

Real Madrid lost more than $120 million in income because of the coronavirus pandemic, the club said on Wednesday.

Madrid said the impact of the pandemic represented a 13-percent reduction in income for the 2019-20 season. It closed with a profit of $375,000.

Madrid said it projects a budget of $740 million for 2020-21, about $360 million less than what would have been expected without the pandemic.

First-team players and coaches in soccer and basketball voluntarily agreed to lower their salaries by 10 percent this year.

BASKETBALL

48 NBA players test positive for COVID-19

The NBA said Wednesday that 48 players have tested positive for the coronavirus since testing resumed last week.

The league and National Basketball Players Association said 546 players were tested between Nov 24-30 in the initial phase of testing after returning to team markets. That means about 9 percent of the tests were positive.

Any player with a confirmed positive test is isolated until cleared by rules established by the league and union, in accordance with CDC guidance.

The league, in its preseason guidance sent to teams late last week, made clear that some players testing positive was to be expected.

"During this pandemic, all this stuff is going to be different this season," All-Star Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks said on Tuesday."Some players might get corona, get sick, not be able to be with the team for 10 days. So, I think that's going to be a big part－which team is not going to have positive people. It's going to be a lot of time together. I think that's going to be key."

Durant's Nets to face Dubs on opening night

Kevin Durant is scheduled to make his Brooklyn Nets debut against his former Golden State Warriors teammates before the Lakers begin their title defense in an all-Los Angeles matchup with the Clippers in the NBA's Dec 22 opening-night doubleheader.

The Lakers will be back in action against the Dallas Mavericks on Dec 25 as one of five games on the Christmas lineup.

Durant is expected to play for the first time since the 2019 NBA Finals when he ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing for the Warriors and left for Brooklyn as a free agent that summer.

The NBA announced the national TV schedule for the first three nights of the season on Wednesday. The opening-night games will be played without fans in the arenas, as both New York and Los Angeles are prevented from having them because of virus restrictions.

NFL

Steelers grind out victory to stay perfect

The Pittsburgh Steers improved to 11-0 with a jumbled 19-14 victory over a severely-depleted Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday.

In a midweek contest that was postponed three times because of a coronavirus outbreak in the Baltimore camp, Ben Roethlisberger threw for 266 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The Ravens (6-5) lost their third straight while playing without more than a dozen players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and running backs Mark Ingram and JK Dobbins.

Backup quarterback Robert Griffin III struggled in Jackson's place, turning it over twice in the first quarter and completing 7 of 12 passes before being replaced by Trace McSorley midway through the fourth quarter after injuring his left hamstring.

Xinhua - Agencies