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NBA players who are expected to report to Disney World near Orlando in the next few weeks expressed concerns about the safety of the restart as Florida’s positive cases of the novel coronavirus have rocketed upwards, according to Baxter Holmes and Zach Lowe of ESPN.

According to CDC numbers, Florida’ 4,049 new cases on Saturday broke the previous single-day record of 3,822 set the day before. The state is approaching 94,000 infections and, along with Texas and Arizona, has become a national hot spot as the NBA prepares to send its players to a bubble-type set up on Disney’s campus.

Per ESPN, players expressed concerns about the number of infections to the Players Union (NBPA) on a virtual town hall, particularly since Disney workers will not be required to stay isolated in the bubble with players. Those workers include hotel housekeepers charged with cleaning player rooms on a regular basis, although according to ESPN, the drivers of team buses will be required to undergo testing.

Players Association director Michele Roberts, speaking to ESPN, called out Florida’s “approach to reopening” — seven weeks ago, as business resumed, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said the state had not seen the expected explosion of cases (according to the Guardian, Florida had 327 new positive cases on the day of DeSantis’ press conference).

“We are obviously clearly monitoring the situation,” Roberts told ESPN. “While we take some solace in knowing our players will not travel commercially to get to Orlando, that access to the campus is severely limited and, of course, all of the other health and safety protocols in place, the numbers will keep our attention. If necessary to add further restrictions respecting those third parties having access to the campus, we will seek to implement them.”

Public health experts and epidemiologists have praised the NBA’s plan for restarting its season, which was suspended on March 11 after Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. In the wake of Gobert’s positive test, a few other players tested positive as well, including Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart. The league has said it does not expect that a positive test in Florida will derail its restart (in fact, it expects a few positive tests both as players start testing and as the plan unfolds). How the league will proceed in the event of an outbreak remains to be seen.

League spokesman Mike Bass released a statement to ESPN, saying the NBA is “closely monitoring the data in Florida and Orange County and will continue to work collaboratively with the National Basketball Players Association, public health officials and medical experts regarding our plans.”

DELE ALLI is still waiting to hear if he will be banned for Project Restart — THREE MONTHS after being charged by the FA.

Spurs star Dele faces a potential three-match suspension for misconduct, having posted a video on Snapchat mocking an Asian man and joking about coronavirus.

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He was given a March 5 deadline to submit his response — but an FA disciplinary panel is yet to rule on the case.

Tottenham are also waiting to find out if Eric Dier will be banned for the resumption of the season in just two weeks.

Midfielder Dier was charged with improper and/or threatening conduct after jumping into the crowd to confront a fan following the club’s FA Cup exit to Norwich on March 4.

The FA hit him with a charge in late April.

A suspension is also the likely penalty should an independent panel find against the 26-year-old, although police decided he committed no offence.

WAITING GAME

But it is the delay in dealing with Dele’s case which is most puzzling.

SunSport understands the disciplinary panel is able to meet by video.

The independent, three-person panel must rule on whether the midfielder, 24, broke anti-discrimination regulations with his post, which he removed and apologised for.

Speaking at the time of the incident, Jose Mourinho said: “The player understands the gravity of the situation.

“The player is a good guy, the player even in the dressing room has a big Asian friend that he loves.

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“So there was no intention at all. He immediately regrets, immediately makes a public apology. I feel it is unnecessary but I am nobody.

“I think he learned the lesson immediately with the embarrassment and he didn’t need  much time to realise again the childish or naivety of the situation.

“I feel unnecessary. I don’t feel we need more than that.”

PARIS — Formula 1 will finally get underway with back-to-back races at the Austrian Grand Prix in July as part of an eight-race European swing.

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg will host races on July 5 and 12, governing body FIA said Tuesday.

The next race will be in Hungary on July 19 followed by consecutive races at the British GP at Silverstone on Aug. 2 and 9 after the British government exempted elite sports from an upcoming quarantine on foreign visitors.

Further races are scheduled for Spain on Aug. 16 and Belgium on Aug. 30, with Italy completing the European swing on Sept. 6.

“Over the past two months Formula 1 has been working closely with all partners, authorities, the FIA and the 10 teams to create a revised calendar that will allow a return to racing in a way that is safe,” the FIA said. “Due to the ongoing fluidity of the COVID-19 situation internationally, the details of the wider calendar will be finalized in the coming weeks.”

There will be no spectators allowed to attend, although there may be later in the year if health conditions allow it.

Four races have been canceled this season because of the coronavirus pandemic — the season-opening Australian GP, the Monaco GP, the French GP and the Netherlands GP.

F1 hopes to hold 15 to 18 of the scheduled 22 races by rearranging the six that were postponed and finishing the season in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in December.

Notre Dame-Navy shifted from Ireland

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The college football season opener between Notre Dame and Navy has been moved out of Ireland because of the pandemic.

The Irish and Midshipmen were scheduled to meet in Dublin on Aug. 29, but will seek to play at the Naval Academy during the Labor Day weekend. The decision to move the venue came after discussions between the Irish government, medical authorities and the leadership teams at Navy and Notre Dame.

“Our priority must be ensuring the health and safety of all involved,” Navy athletics director Chet Gladchuk said. “I am expecting that we will still be able to play Notre Dame as our season opener, but there is still much to be determined by health officials.”

Notre Dame and Navy planned to stage the 94th consecutive installment of the longest continuous intersectional rivalry in the United States at Aviva Stadium in Ireland. Instead, the schools will strive to play at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., on Sept. 5 or 6.

Hawaii player arrested in quarantine case

HONOLULU — A University of Hawaii football player was among those arrested on suspicion of violating a 14-day quarantine imposed on travelers to control the spread of the coronavirus, officials said.

The Hawaii COVID-19 Joint Information Center said Venasio Vaipulu was arrested Monday by special agents from the attorney general’s office after a witness reported he had returned from a trip on May 18 but left his designated quarantine location almost every day.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney. A voicemail message left with the public defender’s office was not immediately returned. University of Hawaii spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said the school had no comment.

An emergency order issued by the governor requires that people arriving from out of state or traveling between islands stay in their lodgings for 14 days. They may leave only for medical emergencies.

Vaipulu is listed on the football team’s roster as Solo Vaipulu, a junior offensive lineman. Last year, he played in 10 games and started in nine.

Agents arrested Vaipulu on suspicion of a self-quarantine violation and unsworn falsification to authority. He was booked, charged and his bail was set at $4,000.

Elsewhere

South Carolina: Men’s basketball coach Frank Martin said he has recovered from a case of COVID-19.

Martin said he tested positive last month.

Martin, 54, said he didn’t have to go to the hospital. He said he had no significant symptoms of the virus other than some fatigue. Two weeks later at a follow-up visit, a coronavirus test came back negative. Martin said no one else in his family was affected by the virus.

Bowling Green: The Ohio school is working with alumni and former players to reinstate the Falcons’ baseball program.

The said on May 15 it was dropping baseball because of a projected $2 million athletic budget shortfall stemming from the pandemic. Cutting baseball was expected to save $500,000 a year. No other sports were eliminated.

N.C. State: Athletics director Boo Corrigan said the school has begun a schedule allowing student-athletes to return in phases to campus, with the first wave of football players permitted to return to student housing by June 20.

The school announced details of the plan Tuesday in an open letter from Corrigan, who said the plan is to return via “the safest and most responsible path moving forward.”

Corrigan said the first phase has started by allowing members of the football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball programs who live locally to receive examinations and coronavirus testing.

If cleared, athletes would be allowed to participate in voluntary workouts, though they would be divided into small groups.

The second phase begins with football players returning to student housing “no later than” June 20, followed by men’s and women’s basketball players.

The third phase would bring back athletes in fall sports, though Corrigan said only that will come “later this summer” with additional details coming later. The final phase is the return of all other programs ahead of the fall semester.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – The right-wing populist president of Brazil wants the football season to resume even though the five-time World Cup-winning country is a hot spot of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brazil is for many synonymous with football and many of the all-time greats, from Pele to Neymar, hail from the nation.

But Brazil is is also the epicentre of Latin America’s coronavirus outbreak.

The death toll from coronavirus in Brazil has hit 27,878, official figures showed on Friday (May 29), surpassing the toll of hard-hit Spain and making it the country with the fifth-highest number of fatalities.

Football has been suspended in Brazil since mid-March but President Jair Bolsonaro recently told Radio Guaiba that footballers would likely not fall very ill with Covid-19.

“As footballers are young athletes, the risk of death if they catch coronavirus would be dramatically reduced,” he said.

Back in March, he also claimed that thanks to his own sporting past he would only suffer a slight cold if he caught the virus.

The leader says his chief motivation for wanting football to get back under way is to curb unemployment and the misery that accompanies it.

“The players have to survive somehow,” he said, explaining that while some top footballers earn a fortune, those from smaller regional leagues need to play “to feed their families”.

The way Brazilian politics works, it is not in Mr Bolsonaro’s remit to restart football. This must be done by the regional states and municipalities.

When football was suspended, seasons at the regional level were under way, but the national championship had been due to start in May and as yet there are no solid plans to begin.

Mr Bolsonaro and one of his sons held meetings on May 19 with the presidents of two Rio super-clubs, Vasco da Gama and Flamengo.

Photos of the pair wearing the shirts of the two clubs stunned social media, with official supporter groups claiming their image had been sold out to politics.

“This is just political intolerance,” said Flamengo president Rodolfo Landim, explaining that Mr Bolsonaro just wants football back as soon as possible and that he himself “is defending the interests of Flamengo”.

The day after the meeting Flamengo were filmed by a TV Globo helicopter breaking the Rio lockdown rules by training without permission.

Rio state Health Secretary Ana Beatriz Bush said the act of defiance set a terrible example.

“Imagine all the young people who see Flamengo training, they’ll want to go out of their homes and that is not possible,” she said.

Rio Mayor Marcelo Crivella, however, has authorised training to resume in June and sees matches taking place behind closed doors some time in July.

Rio’s two other major clubs, Fluminense and Botafogo, are on record as saying that this seems premature.

One of Brazil’s top sports journalists, Mauro Cezar Pereira, of ESPN Brazil also feels it is too soon.

“It reflects the fact that some clubs are deeply in debt and dependent on broadcasting income. The Bundesliga restart intensified the rush. But unlike in Germany, the infection curve is still climbing in Brazil.”

Players may have little say in the matter, with the president of the Internacional club saying that any player refusing to come back to training should instead resign.

Eighth Immortal Andrew Johns has hinted at a double standard between the punishments handed out to NRL superstars Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr and the two Canterbury players who were last month sacked.

Mitchell and Addo-Carr are both due to appear in Taree Local Court on August 4 on separate firearms charges.

The alleged offences stem from the now infamous camping trip on Mitchell’s Taree property.

Mitchell is facing one charge of giving a firearm to a person not authorised by a licence or permit while Addo-Carr was charged with using an unauthorised firearm.

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South Sydney star Mitchell’s charge carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Mitchell and Addo-Carr were also each fined $50,000 (60 percent suspended) and handed suspended one-match bans by the NRL for breaching NSW’s coronavirus social distancing laws.

Meanwhile, ex-Bulldogs pair Corey Harawira-Naera and Jayden Okunbor had their NRL registrations suspended indefinitely before they were sacked by the Bulldogs last month.

Okunbor and Harawira-Naera allegedly invited two schoolgirls to the team hotel during the club’s pre-season trip to Port Macquarie in February.

Both girls were above the age of consent at the time and neither player was charged by police.

Former NRL CEO Todd Greenberg declared the Bulldogs duo’s alleged behaviour was ‘inexcusable and a very serious breach of the code of conduct’ in announcing the decision to suspend their registration.

Both players reportedly plan to appeal the governing body’s decision, which was followed by Canterbury’s call to tear up their contracts.

And Johns this week suggested the Bulldogs players may have been hard done by when compared to the punishments meted out to Mitchell and Addo-Carr.

“Some people have asked me what’s the difference between what Latrell and Josh have done and what the Bulldogs players have done – what’s worse?” Johns told Wide World of Sports’ Freddy & The Eighth.

“And the Bulldogs players have had their contracts torn up. Where one’s a criminal matter and ones more a moral issue.”

Two Singaporean men have been charged with verbally abusing public servants in separate incidents during the coronavirus outbreak.

Eddie Neo Zhong Jie, 35, and Lew Wei Ming, 37, were each charged with one count of harassment in a district court on Wednesday.

The duo were among eight people – seven Singaporean men and a Taiwanese woman – who appeared in court that day over offences such as assault and failing to wear their masks over their noses and mouths when stepping outside. They are between 35 and 58 years old.

One of them, Mohamed Ali Ramly, 52, was allegedly caught on video verbally abusing a store supervisor with vulgarities and racist remarks.

He is said to have committed the offences when he went to Li Li Cheng Minimart at Block 651 Jurong West Street 61 at around 6pm last Friday.

Another alleged offender, Alan Lim, 55, is accused of slapping and shoving a service attendant at an Esso petrol station in Jervois Road at around 6pm on April 12.

The cases involving all eight alleged offenders are still pending.

According to court documents, Lew allegedly used “insulting words” on a police officer, Senior Staff Sergeant Don Ng Zhen Xuan, outside the School of the Arts in Zubir Said Drive near Orchard Road at around 4.30pm on April 16.

The police said in a statement on Wednesday evening that Lew had allegedly insulted the policeman after the officer issued him a notice of composition for not wearing a mask in the vicinity.

They added that Lew has since been issued a composition fine for failing to put on a mask.

Neo is accused of saying a vulgar word to Singapore Food Agency enforcement officer Muhammad Nazri Roseli at a coffee shop at Block 253 Jurong East Street 24, Yuhua Village, at around noon on April 13.

The police said Neo allegedly committed the offence during an enforcement check on illegal hawking at the eatery.

They added that he has also been issued a composition fine for illegal hawking, which is an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measure) (Control Order) Regulations 2020.

They also said Neo had carried out a business outside his home as a non-essential service provider. They did not state what he was selling at the time.

The police did not reveal details about the fines handed to Neo and Lew.

On Wednesday, the court heard that Neo intends to plead guilty to his charge and will be back in court on May 6. Lew’s pre-trial conference will be held on May 8.

Exiled St George Illawarra forward Jack de Belin could be cleared to return from his indefinite suspension before the NRL season restarts after the coronavirus hiatus, according to reports.

De Belin was the first player banned under the NRL’s controversial no-fault, stand-down policy last February.

The policy, introduced under ex-ARL Commission chairman Peter Beattie, allows the NRL to indefinitely suspend any player charged with an offence carrying a maximum jail sentence of 11 years or more.

De Belin is facing five sexual assault charges stemming from an alleged incident involving a woman in December, 2018.

MORE: Peter V’landys ‘very confident’ NRL can return on June 1

His trial, alongside co-accused Shellharbour Sharks player Callan Sinclair, was initially due to commence in February but was rescheduled to early November before the COVID-19 crisis hit.

Having already missed the entire 2019 season, De Belin’s case is now almost certain to be pushed back to 2021 due to further delays in the court system caused by social distancing rules.

As first reported by News Limited, De Belin is seeking an in-person meeting with NRL CEO Todd Greenberg in a bid to have his suspension lifted.

But the Dragons and NSW lock’s biggest hope of a 2020 return lies in the Rugby League Players Association’s (RLPA) legal challenge of the no-fault, stand-down policy.

The RLPA will argue the NRL violated the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) after failing to consult them before implementing its powers to suspend players before a legal matter has been decided by the courts.

An independent arbitrator will hear the matter in the coming weeks, with News Limited reporting a decision could be reached by the end of April.

If the RLPA prevails, new CEO Clint Newton will push for the policy to be immediately eradicated, clearing the way for the off-contract De Belin to immediately return.

De Belin challenged the no-fault, stand-down policy in the Federal Court in 2019 but withdrew his case in August.

Meanwhile, new ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys this week boldly declared the NRL competition could resume as early as June.

The season was suspended last month after just two rounds due to the coronavirus.