Sri Lanka‘s government has scrapped its plans for a new $40m cricket stadium after warnings from former national team cricketers that it would end up a ‘white elephant’ – Channel News Asia/AFP
Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus and esports organisation Fnatic are teaming up with Indian national team cricketers for an online gaming initiative for Indian fans based on the PUBG Mobile game. OnePlus Domin8 will feature a series of PUBG Mobile exhibition games in which members of the public can play against cricketers including KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Smriti Mandhana and Yuzvendra Chahal, and professional gamers including Dynamo, Ahsaas Channa, Sc0ut and GodNixon – OnePlus
Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi said he was concerned about the “big divide between North and South” in the sport. The re-election of England’s Bill Beaumont as chairman of World Rugby, who beat Argentine Gus Pichot to the post, saw the sport’s European unions supporting Beaumont and most Southern Hemisphere unions voting for Pichot. Iwabuchi also said there is “a lot of discussion” taking place about a global national team competition – Kyodo News
Japan’s Super Rugby team the Sunwolves are unlikely to take part in Australia’s upcoming domestic competition for its Super Rugby teams due to logistical difficulties, Baden Stephenson, chief executive of the Melbourne Rebels, has said – Japan Today
Tokyo Olympic organising committee chief executive Toshiro Muto said “countermeasures” would be required at next year’s rescheduled Games to tackle Covid-19, although did not detail what these might be – Japan Today
Cricket South Africa said it is optimistic about hosting India for three Twenty20 international matches in late August. The tour would generate a large amount of revenue for CSA. The board is currently finalising an international media rights deal with Indian pay-television broadcaster Star, and a large proportion of the value of the deal will hinge on whether the tour goes ahead. CSA chief executive Jacques Faul has previously said the tour could be worth $10m-$11m for the board. Meanwhile, the board is assessing its options for rearranging its proposed tour of the West Indies in late July. Neutral venues and matches at home in South Africa are among the options being looked at. CSA also said it is creating a ‘support fund’ to support the domestic cricket sector – SportBusiness/Channel News Asia/Reuters/Times of India
Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan said the organisation’s finances had not been too badly affected so far by Covid-19 because it does not have a home international series until November. The board had to postpone the final leg of a tour by Bangladesh earlier this year. Khan also said the board, which is currently looking at its options for selling its media rights for 2020 onwards, was able to offer broadcasters “decent value”. Khan also said he was hopeful that Pakistan would complete a scheduled tour of England this summer – Channel News Asia/Reuters
New Zealand’s government said Covid-19 is likely to affect next year’s America’s Cup sailing race, which the country is hosting – Channel News Asia/Reuters
Irish players in the Australian Football League who had returned home due to the Covid-19 shutdown have been given visas allowing them to return to Australia ahead of the resumption of the league season – Channel News Asia/Reuters
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin told Spanish newspaper El Mundo he expects the postponed Euro 2020 to take place next year as planned. Last week, Ceferin had said there were problems with three of 12 host cities for the tournament – Channel News Asia/Reuters
The Korean Professional Golfers’ Association Korean Tour will start its 2020 season in July – Yonhap News Agency
A magazine cover in Japan that meshed the Tokyo Olympics logo with the outline of the spiky Covid-19 virus cell has been withdrawn after complaints from Olympics organisers that it was “insensitive” – Channel News Asia/AFP
Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, who broke streaming records with his 2017 hit Despacito, is racing in Formula One’s virtual Monaco Grand Prix this Sunday – Channel News Asia/Reuters
