Digest

BASKETBALL

Zhao suspended for anti-virus violation

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Saturday handed Guangdong Southern Tigers guard Zhao Rui a three-match suspension for violating the league's COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures.

The disciplinary action is the first of its kind since the league resumed behind closed doors in Qingdao and Dongguan on June 20.

To ensure the safety of all participants, the league has enforced a color-coded virus-prevention protocol. Players, coaches and referees have been assigned green credentials and are forbidden to mix with those who have yellow and blue credentials.

Zhao was alleged to have had close contact with yellow-accredited staff, which includes media, in Dongguan on Friday. As well as a three-game ban the 24-year-old has been fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400).

Zhao will also have to undergo another COVID-19 test before being granted permission to return to the players' green area.

OLYMPICS

US athletes call for end to protest ban

United States athletes on Saturday called for the International Olympic Committee to scrap rules barring athletes from protesting at the Olympics.

In a letter sent to the IOC, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee's athlete council requested that Olympic chiefs abolish its anti-protest regulation.

The letter was sent in partnership with former US sprinter John Carlos, who was famously kicked out of the Mexico City Games in 1968 for raising his fist on the medal podium in a black power salute.

"Athletes will no longer be silenced," the US athlete council wrote in the letter."The IOC and International Paralympic Committee cannot continue on the path of punishing or removing athletes who speak up for what they believe in, especially when those beliefs exemplify the goals of Olympism."

The issue is under renewed scrutiny following the wave of protests that have followed the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

SOCCER

Robben plans 'dream' comeback at Groningen

Dutch winger Arjen Robben is planning to end his retirement and make a "dream" return for former club Groningen in his homeland.

The 36-year-old on Saturday said he is aiming to return in time for the 2020-21 Eredivisie season.

"The club can use some help following the corona crisis," Robben said on the Groningen website."I am working on a comeback. We will see if I will succeed. It is my dream now to play in the FC Groningen shirt again."

After leaving Groningen in 2002, Robben won league titles with PSV Eindhoven, Chelsea and Real Madrid before a hugely successful decade with Bayern Munich.

He retired from Bayern a year ago at the age of 35, having helped the club to eight Bundesliga titles as well as the 2013 Champions League.

The 2010 World Cup finalist explained that a banner he saw at Groningen's stadium had resonated strongly with him.

"'Arjen follow your heart,' it said, so after a wonderful adventure of 18 years, I'm coming home."

Zidane unsure over length of Real reign

Zinedine Zidane on Saturday appeared to put a time limit on his second term as coach of Real Madrid.

Two years ago Zidane resigned as Madrid boss only to return toward the end of last season after the dismissals of Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari.

However, speaking ahead of Sunday's La Liga game at Espanyol, Zidane implied he may not be around for too long at the Bernabeu.

"I don't know how long I will train Real Madrid, I haven't got anything in mind," the 48-year-old told reporters.

"In my mind, I have always been a footballer－I was a player for almost 18 years and I said I'd never be a coach, although now I am. It wears you out a lot and we will see how long I continue, but I'm sure it won't be 20 years."

Asked if he was a better coach than a player, Zidane replied:"No way! I was a better player, but I am happy with what I have done and also that I finished my playing career here (at Madrid)".

Argentina great Bilardo diagnosed with virus

Argentina's 1986 World Cup-winning coach Carlos Bilardo has been admitted to hospital after testing positive for coronavirus but without displaying any symptoms, according to local media reports.

His family said that Bilardo is being treated at the Argentine Diagnostic Institute in the capital. The 82-year-old's health was good, according to his relatives.

Bilardo suffers from a brain disorder and lives in a nursing home where 10 other occupants have tested positive for COVID-19.

He managed Argentina from 1982 to 1990, winning the World Cup in Mexico with Diego Maradona and then guiding the defending champion to the 1990 final in Italy.

Argentina has recorded almost 1,200 deaths and over 55,000 cases of the novel coronavirus.

MOTOR SPORTS

Harvick triumphs as NASCAR back on track

Kevin Harvick held off a late charge from Denny Hamlin to win the NASCAR Cup race at Pocono on Saturday as the stock car series got back on the track after a turbulent week.

Harvick, 44, had won at every track except Pocono in NASCAR's current rotation, but he'd come up short in 38 prior appearances at the Pennsylvania venue.

Saturday's race was the first of two this weekend as NASCAR seeks to get the focus back on racing after a week that opened with a federal investigation into a 'noose' found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the only black driver in the series.

The FBI found that the 'noose', used as a garage door pull rope, had been there since at least last October and concluded Wallace wasn't targeted in a hate crime.

Wallace was angered by suggestions on social media that the entire incident was a hoax.

Xinhua - Agencies