EUROPE
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Soccer
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England: 18 Premier League matches have been postponed in total since December 9, including three of the nine scheduled for the traditional Boxing Day, December 26.
The virus also affects coaches, since the shock of the 21st day between Chelsea and Liverpool on Sunday will be played without Reds coach Jürgen Klopp.
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Italy: Juventus announced the positive test of its captain Giorgio Chiellini on Saturday evening, after announcing two other cases the day before.
On Thursday, Naples announced that its Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen had also contracted the virus.
A Serie A match has been postponed, Udinese-Salernitana which was scheduled for December 21.
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Spain: Xavi on Saturday asked for the postponement of Barça's match in Mallorca, due to a dozen cases of Covid in its workforce.
Several holders of Atlético Madrid, including Antoine Griezmann, are also affected.
Spain's Barcelona coach Xavi during training on January 1 in the Catalan city.
Pau BARRENA AFP
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France: Argentinian Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi is one of four players tested positive for coronavirus, PSG announced on Sunday.
The Ligue 1 match between Angers and Saint-Etienne, scheduled for January 9, has been postponed due to the large number of cases of Covid-19 within the Angevin workforce.
The sixteenth of the Coupe de France, from Sunday to Tuesday, are very disturbed by the virus with four infected players in Paris, seven in Monaco and ... 21 in Bordeaux, who will travel with seven professionals and 13 young people on Sunday in Brest.
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Europa League Conference: the Rennes-Tottenham confrontation scheduled for Thursday, December 9 has been canceled due to cases of Covid-19 within the English team (Rennes 3-0 victory on the green carpet).
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Basketball
Euroleague: five matches scheduled for this week have been postponed, due to cases of Covid-19 among players.
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Handball
Golden League: The match between Denmark and Egypt scheduled for January 9 has been canceled.
Denmark and Norway will not be making the trip to France for the friendly tournament which is due to be held January 7-9.
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Rugby
European Cups: the seven Franco-British matches scheduled for December 18 and 19 in the two European Rugby Cups have been postponed due to travel restrictions between France and Great Britain.
Montpellier and Racing 92 in the European Cup, and Pau in the European Challenge, won their respective matches on the green carpet due to cases of Covid-19 among their opponents.
The Bristol-Llanelli confrontation scheduled for December 11 was also canceled (victory on the Bristol green carpet).
Championships: one match in England and five in France have been postponed due to numerous cases of Covid-19.
The French League has changed its health protocol: all players, including the vaccinated, will now have to be tested at least twice a week.
REST OF THE WORLD
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Basketball
NBA: Eleven regular season games have been postponed, including the most recent between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets, which was scheduled for Thursday.
Golden Stadium Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry in Salt Lake City on Jan. 1 during an NBA game against Utah.
Alex Goodlett GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
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Soccer
The shadow of Covid-19 also hangs over the Africa Cup of Nations: after being postponed for a year because of the pandemic, the CAN must be held from January 9 to February 6, but contaminations are increasing in some selections.
The Gambia canceled its two preparation matches on Saturday, against Algeria and Syria, "due to the unavailability of 16 players" including some positive cases.
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Winter Olympics
The Beijing Olympics (February 4-20, 2022) will take place in front of an exclusively Chinese audience, with foreign spectators being excluded from the event.
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Ice Hockey
NHL: 70 North American Championship games have been postponed.
NHL players will not be making their way to the Beijing Games, with franchises keen to take advantage of this period (February 6-22) to catch up on late matches.
© 2022 AFP