MAN IN A MILLION
Djokovic donates to fight in Serbia
BY TED TRACEY NOVAK DJOKOVIC and his wife Jelena have announced they will donate one million euros to buy ventilators and medical equipment to fight the coronavirus in Serbia.
The world tennis No.1 sought advice from people around the world on how best to direct help where it’s needed before making the donation of approximately £890,000.
He said: “Jelena, I, my foundation, have decided to gather as much information as possible to determine how best to donate our resources – knowledge, time, money – how it’ll will affect the most people across Serbia.”
Meanwhile, athletics took another hit after the Diamond League announced that it has postponement meetings in May due to the escalating crisis.
The meets in Stockholm, Naples, Rome and Rabat have joined the opening events in Qatar and China which were already cancelled.
But in stark contrast – and despite new statistics showing the USA is the world’s worst affected nation from the virus – the NFL indicated their draft will go ahead as scheduled next month.
In a memo league commissioner Roger Goodell instructs teams to ensure their draft operations are conducted in a way that ensures the safety of staff during the pandemic. He wrote: “Everyone recognises that public health conditions are highly uncertain and there is no assurance that we can select a different date and be confident conditions will be significantly more favourable than they are today.
“I also believe that the draft can serve a very positive purpose for our clubs, our fans and the country at large and many of you have agreed.”
Elsewhere, golf ’s Evian Championship, one of five Majors in the women’s game, will move into the week vacated by the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.
Originally scheduled for July 23-26, the Evian Championship will move to August 6-9, the LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and tournament officials announced.