By Jenny Ortuoste

The Philippine Racing Commission has suspended all racing activities starting this weekend after President Duterte announced Friday night the imposition of a community quarantine on the National Capital Region (NCR) beginning Sunday (March 15) up to April 14.

On Friday, Philracom Executive Director Dr. Andrew M. Buencamino sent a letter to the racing managers of the three racetracks informing them that in support of the President’s proclamation, the “issuance of racing permits shall be temporarily stopped during the duration of the quarantine or until the proclamation has been formally lifted.”

Buencamino also wrote that the racing clubs are ordered to impose “the temporary suspension of all regular racing activities.”

However, “ensayo” or the exercise of race horses “will be at the discretion of the host racing clubs in agreement with the horse owners and trainers concerned” as long as the “objective of the proclamation is not violated,” it was stated in the letter.

The racing clubs were also required to “ensure the necessary precautions to prevent, contain, and mitigate the possible transmission of COVID-19 within the clubs’ premises in accordance with the general preventive measures of the DOH (Department of Health).”

In line with this, Buencamino also wrote the clubs to expect the “regular visit and monitoring of your club and betting facilities by the Commission and the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) racing personnel.”

Philracom and GAB are both agencies under the Office of the President. Philracom supervises and regulates the horseracing sport and industry, while GAB monitors the betting aspect.

On Thursday night, the President told agencies of the executive branch to enforce social distancing as a measure against the spread of COVID-19 by maintaining only a skeletal force at offices.

Buencamino told the Manila Bulletin that in line with this directive, “We will maintain skeletal staff everyday.” They will also accept communications through digital means and through fax from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Unfortunately,” he added, “suspended na races starting tomorrow (Saturday, March 14), as also decided by MJCI (Manila Jockey Club, Inc.) management.”

The Manila Horsepower racing festival was to have been held this weekend at MJCI’s San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.

Prior to the declaration of community quarantine on NCR, Philracom, in a letter dated March 12, had advised racing clubs to bar live audiences from racetracks and allow on their premises only those persons directly involved in the conduct of horseracing. Aficionados were requested to place their bets at off-track betting stations.

However, with the President’s declaration, races will be suspended until April 14 or until the lifting of the quarantine, Buencamino said.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Major League Baseball will delay the start of the 2020 season by at least two weeks because of the “national emergency” created by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday.

The season had been scheduled to begin on March 26. MLB also suspended Spring Training games.

Manfred said the decision was taken after consultation among all 30 clubs and the MLB Players Association.

“This action is being taken in the interests of the safety and well-being of our players, clubs and our millions of loyal fans,” Manfred said.

“MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season. Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to Clubs in the coming days.

“As of 4:00 p.m. ET (Thursday), forthcoming Spring Training games have been canceled, and 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games in Tucson, Arizona, have been postponed indefinitely.”

MLB became the fourth major US sports league to suspend competition, following the NBA, MLS and NHL.

The NBA made the move first after learning Wednesday night that a Utah Jazz player had tested positive for COVID-19.

Another player on the team has also tested positive.

“MLB and the clubs have been preparing a variety of contingency plans regarding the 2020 regular season schedule,” Manfred said. “MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.

“Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our players, employees and fans,” he added. “MLB will continue to undertake the precautions and best practices recommended by public health experts.”

The novel coronavirus that emerged in China in December has so far infected more than 130,000 people globally and killed over 4,900, according to an AFP tally.

The pandemic has infected more than 1,300 people in the United States.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

The International Olympic Committee will follow the World Health Organisation’s recommendation on whether to cancel or postpone this year’s Tokyo Olympics over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, IOC chief Thomas Bach said Thursday.

In an interview with German television ARD, Bach said his organization has been in regular contact with WHO experts since mid-February over the issue.

“We will follow the advice of the WHO,” he said, adding that the IOC was now still working towards preparing for a “successful” Games.

With cancellations of Olympic qualifiers piling up as countries unroll drastic measures to halt the contagion, Bach acknowledged that there are “serious problems with qualification competitions”.

“Here we will have to react very flexibly,” he said, adding that this could be through postponing competitions or changing qualification criteria.

What is key, he said, is that athletes, particularly those from countries hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, must be offered “fair qualification under these very difficult conditions”.

Japanese organisers have so far insisted that the pandemic will not derail the Games scheduled to run from July 24 to August 8, even if major sporting events, travel and financial markets are already seeing massive disruption worldwide.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump became the first foreign leader to suggest delaying the Tokyo Olympics.

The US leader said that another alternative — holding competitions in empty stadiums — would be even worse than forcing a delay.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

The National Collegiate Athletic Association canceled the US national men’s basketball tournament on Thursday, shutting down “March Madness” for devoted basketball fans across the United States.

NCAA president Mark Emmert announced that the organization’s board of governors had canceled the men’s and women’s national tournaments as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA national championship events.

“This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities,” the NCAA said in a statement.

Wiping out the NCAA tournament will remove a major viewing event from the American sports landscape and take millions of dollars from cities where games were to be staged and visitors would flock to hotels, bars and restaurants.

Millions of tournament brackets are filled out by basketball fans across the nation, from office pools to internet gaming, but such amusements will not be coming this month.

The decision by the NCAA came hours after major US college basketball conference tournaments shut down nationwide, following the lead of the NBA, which halted its season indefinitely on Wednesday night after a player tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Big Ten, Big East, Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Southeastern and Pacific 12 conferences all stopped their events, ending championship dreams that would typically come once in a lifetime.

The 68-team NCAA men’s tournament was to have opened Tuesday at Dayton, Ohio with the “First Four” play-in games to establish a 64-team bracket.

The games would have been played without spectators after Ohio governor Mike DeWine banned mass gatherings in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus that could potentially overwhelm health care systems.

The conference event qualifiers with up to four games a day usually build excitement for the national showdown.

“This was a precautionary decision which should be made,” University of Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in Nashville, where the Southeastern Conference event was to be played.

“I’m just happy because I do know the right decision was made for those guys. They don’t have a voice in it. They had the right decision made for them.”

Barnes feared players could transmit the virus through contact common in basketball and not playing games was the correct move by the SEC.

“They are  going out there, the sweat, and you don’t know,” he said. “If we had gone out there and played today we would have hoped we would be lucky. Now we know. This at this point in time was the right decision.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert apologized Thursday for potentially exposing people to the coronavirus, a day after news of his infection with COVID-19 prompted the NBA to abruptly suspend the season.

In a post on Instagram, the 27-year-old Frenchman said he had “no excuse” for disregarding safety warnings about coronavirus earlier this week.

View this post on Instagram

I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of concern and support over the last 24 hours. I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis…mostly fear, anxiety, and embarrassment. The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously. I will do whatever I can to support using my experience as way to educate others and prevent the spread of this virus . I am under great care and will fully recover. Thank you again for all your support. I encourage everyone to take all of the steps to stay safe and healthy. Love.

A post shared by Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) on Mar 12, 2020 at 1:03pm PDT

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

Gobert had triggered scorn on social media on Monday after pointedly touching every microphone and voice recorder on a table in front of him at a media availability.

But Gobert’s cavalier stunt took a serious turn on Wednesday after it emerged he had contracted COVID-19, moments before Utah’s game with Oklahoma City.

ESPN later reported that Gobert had been similarly nonchalant about the coronavirus risks in the locker room, touching other players and their belongings.

A second Utah player, Donovan Mitchell, was confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 earlier on Thursday.

A shamed Gobert meanwhile spoke Thursday of his embarrassment at his conduct.

“I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis, mostly fear anxiety and embarrassment,” Gobert wrote on Instagram.

“The first and foremost thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered.

“At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously.”

Gobert said he would now hope to educate others about the risks of infection.

“I will do whatever I can to support using my experience as way to educate others and prevent the spread of this virus,” he said.

“I am under great care and will fully recover. I encourage everyone to take all of the steps to stay safe and healthy.”

Teammate Mitchell meanwhile endorsed Gobert’s message in a separate post on social media.

“Hopefully people can continue to educate themselves and realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and the well being of those around them,” Mitchell remarked.

Gobert’s conduct continued to draw condemnation in the media on Thursday.

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith said the Jazz player had behaved irresponsibly.

“I don’t want anybody to attach malice or intent on the part of Rudy Gobert, but he was playing around, touching the microphones, recorders, all that stuff,” Smith said.

“He needs to understand that it was incredibly irresponsible for him to play around like that.

“He didn’t take it seriously. I assure you, everyone’s taking it seriously now.”

More than 1,300 people have tested positive for coronavirus across the United States while at least 38 people have died from the disease, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

US President Donald Trump late Thursday praised Tokyo’s Olympic preparations and their “magnificent” venue just hours after he suggested delaying the Summer Games for up to a year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Trump’s apparent change of heart came after a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“Just had a great conversation with Prime Minister Abe of Japan. I told him that the just-completed Olympic venue is magnificent,” Trump tweeted late Thursday.

“He has done an incredible job, one that will make him very proud. Good things will happen for Japan and their great Prime Minister. Lots of options!”

Just hours earlier Trump was the first foreign leader to suggest delaying the Tokyo Olympics because of the coronavirus, dropping a bombshell on his “good friend” Abe.

“Maybe they postpone it for a year,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, 19 weeks before the opening ceremony in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.

Trump’s comments came the same day as actresses dressed as ancient Greek priestesses held the ceremonial flame lighting at a ruined temple in the original Olympia, Greece.

It was all the more surprising given Trump’s repeated declarations of close friendship with Abe and his reluctance previously to give advice on the situation.

Japanese organizers have reiterated that the coronavirus pandemic will not derail the Games scheduled to run from July 24 to August 8, even if major sporting events, travel and financial markets are already seeing massive disruption worldwide.

The International Olympic Committee also says there has not been any talk of cancellation or postponement.

“With the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia today, the International Olympic Committee confirms its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” the IOC said in a statement.

“We remain absolutely in line with our Japanese hosts in our commitment to delivering safe Olympic Games in July this year.”

Despite those assurances, fear of the easily transmitted virus forced the torch lighting ceremony to take place without spectators in Greece’s Peloponnese region.

Trump said he admired Japan’s preparations for hosting the Olympics for the first time since 1964, although characteristically he also praised his own record as a real estate developer.

“It’s a shame,” he said. “I used to be in the real estate business as you probably heard. They built some — and I built beautiful buildings — and they built some really beautiful buildings.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

The PBA Press Corps decided to suspend at the last minute the staging of its 2019 Awards Night in the aftermath of President Duterte imposing a ‘community quarantine’ in the entire Metro Manila area to prevent the continuous spread of the coronavirus disease.

The affair was scheduled to be held on March 16 at the Novotel Manila in Araneta City, or a day after the full implementation of the safety measures which the President announced Thursday night.

The decision to reschedule the event at a later date is to ensure the health and safety of the awardees, guests, friends, and members of the working press.

Highlight of the event, now on its 26th year and presented by CIGNAL TV, is the naming of the Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan Coach of the Year award, being disputed by champion mentors Leo Austria of San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra’s Tim Cone.

The PBAPC had earlier announced the first batch of awardees for this year that includes six-time MVP winner June Mar Fajardo (Order of Merit), CJ Perez (Scoring champion), D-League Finals MVPs (Thirdy Ravena and Hesed Gabo), All-Interview Team (Kiefer Ravena, Christian Standhardinger, Vic Manuel, Arwind Santos, Beau Belga, and coach Yeng Guiao), All-Rookie Team (Perez, Robert Bolick, Javee Mocon, Bobby Ray Parks, and Abu Tratter), and Game of the Season (NLEX vs. NorthPort).

At the same time, the PBAPC extends its gratitude to the management of Novotel Manila for giving the group utmost flexibility following its move to call off the awards night even late in the day.

Michee Crudo, sales director of Novotel, stressed that health and the safety of its clientele and the public in general is above anything else, reason why management has given the men and women regularly covering the PBA beat some leeway to hold the event at a later date.

The PBAPC assured Novotel it will hold the event at such time when the situation normalizes as per the parameters set by the government through the Department of Health

The PBAPC and Novotel’s partnership is now on its second year after the group staged at the same venue its 25th year anniversary celebration last year.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Sport across the United States and Canada ground to a virtual standstill on Thursday with baseball, golf, soccer and hockey leagues joining basketball by declaring an immediate halt to play as fears of the coronavirus (COVID-19) decimated the sporting landscape.

A day after the NBA stunned fans by announcing an indefinite suspension of the basketball season, Major League Baseball, PGA Tour, Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League all followed suit.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the start of the baseball season on March 26 would be postponed by at least two weeks while Spring Training games were suspended with immediate effect as the US grappled with what Manfred described as a “national emergency.”

The NHL meanwhile said it was stopping its season indefinitely, just as ice hockey heads into its crucial playoff season.

The PGA Tour has changed course after initially saying events would go ahead but without spectators. On Thursday night they announced they have canceled four events over the next three weeks including the final three rounds of this week’s Players Championship in Florida.

Major League Soccer had earlier announced a 30-day halt to its competition.

The US Soccer Federation also cancelled upcoming international friendlies and training camps at all levels, scrapping two US men’s games against the Netherlands and Wales later this month.

Two US women’s fixtures — against Australia in Utah on April 10 and another against Brazil in San Jose California on April 14 — were also axed.

In Florida, the ATP/WTA Miami Open was called off as Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez declared a state of emergency over the outbreak.

The hardcourt tennis tournament, one of the world’s top events outside of the Grand Slams, was scheduled to begin with qualifying on March 23 and run through April 5.

The decision followed the cancellation of the Indian Wells tournament due to start in California this week. ATP Tour chiefs in London later declared a six-week suspension of the men’s tennis calendar.

In another blow for basketball, the National Collegiate Athletic Association canceled the US national men’s basketball tournament, known popularly as “March Madness”.

The NCAA decision came shortly after major US college basketball conference tournaments shut down nationwide, mirroring the NBA.

Other sports, meanwhile, were preparing to stage events without spectators following warnings from US health officials that large gatherings of fans posed a risk of escalating the outbreak.

Race fans locked out

The opening leg of IndyCar’s 2020 season will get underway on Sunday against a backdrop of empty viewing stands after spectators were banned by city officials in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The PGA Tour cancellations run all the way up to the final tune-up event before next month’s Masters at Augusta, the opening major of the seasons.

The women’s LPGA Tour meanwhile announced a series of postponements with three tournaments, including the opening major of 2020, the ANA Inspiration in California, being pushed back.

“The plan is to reschedule these events for later dates in the 2020 season,” an LPGA statement said.

The swathe of cancellations, suspensions and spectator lockouts is unprecedented in the history of modern US sport, with only the shutdown following the September 11, 2001 attacks coming close to matching the present turmoil.

Sports team officials said Thursday that the shutdown became inevitable after the disclosure on Wednesday that Utah Jazz basketball player Rudy Gobert had tested positive for the virus.

The NBA immediately announced all play in the league had been suspended until further notice. A second Utah player, Donovan Mitchell, has also contracted the virus.

“I thought for the past week that as soon as a player tested positive, it could be a tipping point,” said Jorge Mas, one of the co-owners of David Beckham’s MLS team Inter Miami, who had been preparing for their first ever home game this weekend.

Meanwhile, Utah Jazz ace Gobert issued an apology for not taking threats of the coronavirus seriously.

The Frenchman said he had “no excuse” for disregarding safety warnings about the disease.

Gobert had triggered scorn on social media on Monday after pointedly touching every microphone and voice recorder on a table in front of him at a media availability.

“The first and foremost thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered,” Gobert said.

“At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Nick Giongco

Measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) are threatening to postpone two world title fights featuring world champions Jerwin Ancajas and John Riel Casimero.

Ancajas is set to make the ninth defense of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown on April 11 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.

Exactly two weeks later on April 25, Casimero battles Japanese Naoya Inoue in a bantamweight unification duel at Mandalay Bay also in Sin City.

Sean Gibbons, who represents the two fighters, tells the Manila Bulletin that there has been no official word yet from Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. if they’ll be moved to a later date.

“All set to go…for now,” said Gibbons, noting that the two fighters have been training furiously.

Ancajas, who spent training camp in Dipolog City, is scheduled to meet Jonathan Rodriguez of Mexico and is keenly awaiting the release of his US visa.

Casimero, whose World Boxing Organization crown will be put on the line versus Inoue’s World Boxing Association and IBF titles, has been in Miami, Florida, for over a month now and is penciled to fly to Las Vegas any day now.

“You just can’t imagine the sacrifice they’ve gone through,” said Gibbons, admitting though that the world is living in extraordinary times given the scare the coronavirus has brought to the entire world.

“Major developments are taking place not daily but in about 12 hours or so,” added Gibbons.

Still, Ancajas and Casimero remain focused in their training.

But from the looks of it, their fights could end up being moved since most of the major boxing promotional outfits have been affected.

Top Rank’s show at Madison Square Garden in New York would still proceed but there’ll be no spectators present save for personnel needed to run the event.

Oscar De La Hoya’s two cards this month have been postponed as the State of California has ordered a freeze in the holding of mass gatherings.

So far, the shows on April 11 starring Ancajas and April 25 with Inoue and Casimero as main attractions are green and go.

But given the current situation, Ancajas and Casimero have no choice but to keep their fingers crossed.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

The PBA has ordered teams to stop holding regular practices for two weeks due to the threat posed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial confirmed issuing the memo Friday after the Board of Governors sought to have their teams take part in preventive measures against the spread of the infectious disease.

Teams will be barred from holding “practices, scrimmages and other related activities” beginning Saturday until March 27.

“Ang Board of Governors ang nag-initiate na itigil nga yan ng two weeks kaya naglabas ako ng memo,” Marcial said.

Marcial had earlier announced the suspension of games in the PBA Philippine Cup but gave teams the go-signal to hold practices during the lull, albeit under strict protocols such as the barring of visitors, temperature checks and use of disinfectants.

Other teams have also encouraged players, coaches and staff members to take part in social distancing, a term used by health officials to stop or slow down the spread of COVID-19.

But San Miguel Beer and Blackwater have suspended all activities after Thursday’s practices, with Phoenix Super LPG following suit Friday.

“In light of the presidential announcement, the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters will suspend team practice and all activities until further notice,” the team said in a statement, referring to President Duterte’s decision to place Metro Manila under community quarantine.

“The safety and health of staff, players, coaches and their families are our utmost priority. We are committed to follow all guidelines and protocols to keep everyone safe.”

Meanwhile, the PBA has also implemented a skeletal workforce at the league office in Libis to assure the safety of its employees.

Marcial said league employees composed of office staff, technical officials and utility personnel were given a flexible work schedule as part of the arrangement.

Source: Manila Bulletin