Sports World: NBA may allow solo workouts at training

LOS ANGELES • The National Basketball Association (NBA) plans to reopen some team training facilities from Friday in US states and municipalities that are unwinding lockdown restrictions, ESPN reported.

Players will be able to return to facilities in states such as Georgia for voluntary solo workouts, the report said, citing unidentified officials. Teams will still not be allowed to hold group workouts or organised activities, ESPN said.

The NBA's decision is based on the easing of local governmental restrictions and is not an indication of when play may resume this season, the officials told ESPN.

BLOOMBERG

SYDNEY • Wallabies fly-half Matt Toomua has joined calls for a rethink of the Super Rugby competition once the sport restarts after the coronavirus shutdown.

The Melbourne Rebels back believes the competition, which features 15 teams across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Japan, needs to be replaced by a more local product.

The Super Rugby season was suspended after round seven because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the competition is set to shrink to 14 teams next year with the loss of the Tokyo-based Sunwolves, who were supposed to play a home game at Singapore's National Stadium on May 2.

REUTERS

ROME • Italian MotoGP great Valentino Rossi says he wants to continue racing next year, when he will be 42, but will likely have to commit before he can see how competitive he is this season.

The season-opening Qatar race was cancelled and many others have been postponed until the end of June at the earliest owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, with more likely to follow due to bans on large gatherings and sporting events.

Rossi will leave the main Yamaha team at the end of 2020 but has a seat at the satellite Petronas Yamaha outfit if he wants it, in a straight swop with 21-year-old French rider Fabio Quartararo.

REUTERS