Suggesting a year's delay, he said the IOC was experienced in dealing with obstacles, citing the cancellations in 1916, 1940 and 1944 because of World Wars and the political boycotts of the Games in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984.

Several football leagues in Europe, including Germany's Bundesliga, have drawn up plans to be ready to play games without spectators if it means finishing the season and remaining contractually in order with broadcasters and sponsors.

'He was just the perfect captain': Joe Cole names 'leader'... Arsenal target Manuel Akanji has a 'prove them wrong tattoo'... Wolves midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White returns to training two... 'I'd back myself to have a crack at it': Steve Bruce says...

where they are not being rushed." The best approach we are seeing is when the leagues... set up joint groups where players have an equal say,... "The players can only agree to that (return) if they know that their interests will be protected.

Sports competitions around the world have come to a screeching halt this year as the virus spreads across the globe, starving clubs, leagues and federations of revenues and putting tens of thousands of professional athletes on hold.

'He was just the perfect captain': Joe Cole names 'leader'... Arsenal target Manuel Akanji has a 'prove them wrong tattoo'... 'I'd back myself to have a crack at it': Steve Bruce says... Wolves midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White returns to training two...

WPA executive director Brendan Schwab pointed to a study conducted by Australian sports scientist Joel Mason last month which suggested an increased injury rate in the Bundesliga since Germany's professional soccer league restarted on May 16.

struggling to control the spread of the flu-like virus. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 organisers still insist the July 24-Aug.
9 showpiece will go ahead as planned despite Europe and the U.S.

"While the experience of professional team sports can be a valuable precedent for the IOC, it can only be if the keys of its success are fully embraced by the IOC and scaled to the level of the Games," he said.

"Many players will not have had access to the necessary training methods to ensure that they have the necessary fitness and conditioning to compete," said the World Players' Association (WPA), whose members play in the NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, European soccer and Australian Rules football, among others.



"The IOC needs to elevate its dialogue with the full range of those most affected beyond sponsors and governments to an open multi-stakeholder process that brings to the table as equals player associations as the representatives of athletes and others most at risk," WPA executive director Brendan Schwab said in a statement.

Shaar, who escorted Sarandon around the camp, said she also had plans now to establish a small restaurant which could serve as "a safe place for women to come and relax mentally and physically, to come to eat, drink and express themselves more".

Several nations' laboratories are working to find protective vaccines and drugs for the disease, but it could be many months before they become widely available due to the need for exhaustive clinical trials of their effectiveness and safety.

Shaar's project "Soufra" - which means a table laden with food - drew the attention of Hollywood actress and social activist Susan Sarandon, whose documentary - also called "Soufra" - was screened for the first time this week in Beirut.



"It just goes to show you that when people pull together, you know, things get bigger and bigger and bigger - and especially the school, how fabulous to have that happen," said Sarandon as she sang English nursery rhymes with the kids.

ATHENS, April 28 (Reuters) - Professional athletes across the world should not be rushed back to action once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, and they must have a strong say in determining the conditions for their return, the World Players Association said on Tuesday.

Echoing that view, the documentary's director Thomas Morgan said the project had helped to change how Shaar and the other women viewed themselves, "like they were contributors for the first time, (that) they were able to do something".

Every major sports event this year has been postponed and seasons across all sports have been suspended, while the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were moved to 2021, triggering another major calendar reshuffle for next year.

The film tells the story of Shaar's efforts to set up a food truck and harness the culinary talents of the women living in the refugee camp of Burj al Barajneh, which was established in a southern suburb of Beirut in 1948 and is still home to thousands of Palestinians.

Since emerging in China late last year, the pandemic has infected almost 3 million people worldwide and killed more than 200,000, raising expectations of a prolonged battle to contain the novel coronavirus.



They are descendants of families who fled or were forced to flee during fighting which created the state of Israel in 1948.
(Writing by Gareth Jones) Nearly half a million Palestinian refugees live in mostly overcrowded, impoverished conditions, in 12 camps in Lebanon.