World Soccer

A hockey team and a soccer club in Russia face being removed from their leagues after government financial support was diverted to fight the coronavirus. The sports ministry in the far eastern region of Primorsky Krai says it sees no point in funding player contracts for another season if it’s not clear when competitions will resume. It wants the Admiral Vladivostok hockey club to drop out of the Kontinental Hockey League and the Luch Vladivostok soccer team to drop down two divisions into the amateur leagues.

Former Marseille president Pape Diouf has died aged 68 after contracting the new coronavirus, a family source told AFP on Tuesday. Diouf was also a journalist and football agent before taking over at the Stade Velodrome. After studying at the prestigious Sciences Po in Paris, he worked at the La Marseillaise newspaper before becoming a football agent, most notably for Didier Drogba, who enthralled the Velodrome in 2003-04.

Former Asian football champions Western Sydney Wanderers have joined other A-League clubs by temporarily laying off their squad and staff, reports said on Wednesday, as the coronavirus shutdown takes a heavy toll on sport. The Wanderers, who won the AFC Champions League in 2014, follow the lead of fellow top-flight clubs Perth Glory and Central Coast Mariners, with Brisbane Roar expected to follow suit, Australian media said. Fairfax and News Corp newspapers both said the Wanderers had put their entire squad and staff on unpaid leave until April 22, when the A-League is to examine when or if the season can continue.

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German football is famed for its vibrant fan culture and member-owned clubs, but as the Bundesliga braces itself for a major financial hit in the coming months, could the coronavirus put an end to fan power? Many clubs are fearing for their financial futures in the crisis, prompting fresh calls to reform the long disputed "50+1" rule, which guarantees supporter influence and limits the power of wealthy investors. "Other leagues are more flexible because they are more open to investors...which could put German football at a disadvantage," sports economist Christoph Breuer told DPA news agency.

Women players suing US Soccer say in court documents filed Tuesday that the federation has acknowledged the jobs of men and women footballers require equal skill. The fierce backlash, not only from the women players but from sponsors such as Coca-Cola, ultimately forced Carlos Cordeiro to resign as president of the federation, to be replaced by vice president Cindy Parlow Cone -- a former US international. US Soccer brought in new legal counsel, which has focused in court filings on refuting the plaintiffs' claims that the federation violated the US Equal Pay Act and other anti-discrimination legislation.

While it's commendable that Lionel Messi and other players are forgoing pay, the fact they have to proves how financially irresponsible major clubs have been.

Norwich became on Tuesday the latest Premier League club to furlough non-playing staff in response to financial concerns caused by the coronavirus. The top division's bottom club will utilise the British Government's coronavirus job retention scheme, which allows staff to claim 80 percent of their wages, to a maximum of £2,500 ($3,100) per month. "Owing to the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Norwich City Football Club will begin the process of furloughing members of its staff who are unable to work at this time," Norwich said in a statement.

The 18 first-class counties and their boards, as well as the MCC, will immediately each receive a share of some £40m in their respective bank accounts on Wednesday, with a further £20m available in interest free loans and grants. "It's no exaggeration to say that this is the biggest challenge the ECB have faced in the history of the game, the modern era certainly," said ECB chief executive Tom Harrison in a conference call. All domestic cricket in England has been postponed until at least May 28, raising questions about whether a full campaign featuring several competitions, including the new Hundred tournament, as well as tours by West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and Ireland is possible as officials contemplate the nightmare prospect of scrapping the season completely.

“Frankly, it’s not comprehendible how this can be going on,” Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, general secretary of the FIFPro players' union, told reporters in a conference call. “Yes, there are players who are reaching out concerned,” Baer-Hoffmann said, noting there are union members in Belarus though the FIFPro network does not have an affiliate in the former Soviet country. FIFPro noted the first reported case of a club opting for liquidation - seven-time Slovakian champion Zilina - after offering players a “take it or leave it” pay cut of 80%.