Sports World: Premier League records 90 new cases

LONDON • A record 90 new cases of Covid-19 were detected among Premier League players and staff in the past week, the league said on Monday, as clubs decided to press ahead with the busy festive fixture list despite the escalating crisis.

The top flight added a record 12,345 tests were administered, a result of enhanced measures, including daily antigen rapid tests and twice-weekly polymerase chain reaction tests.

REUTERS

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NHL presses pause due to virus outbreak

NEW YORK • The National Hockey League (NHL) and its players on Monday agreed to pause play until next week because of Covid-19 issues, becoming the first North American professional sports league to suspend games en masse amid the rise of the Omicron variant.

The league said on Monday night that it would delay five games that were not already affected by earlier postponements - nearly four dozen contests have been affected by the virus this season - and begin its holiday break early.

NYTIMES

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More withdrawals hit Australian Open

MOSCOW • Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva on Monday revealed that she was not able to travel to Australia to play in the Jan 17-30 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, because her Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine is not recognised by local health authorities.

Czech world No. 32 Karolina Muchova, semi-finalist at this year's Australian Open, also confirmed her withdrawal yesterday because of injury.

REUTERS

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No fans for Welsh sporting events

CARDIFF • All sporting events in Wales will be held behind closed doors from Boxing Day to help control the spread of the Omicron variant, the Welsh government announced yesterday.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething unveiled the new measures for indoor and outdoor events and said a £3 million (S$5.4 million) fund will be available to support clubs and venues affected by the loss of revenue.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE