BRIEF NEWS Former Olympic champion swimmer Schoeman faces longer ban
Atlético and Sevilla to face 4th-division opponents in Copa
Atlético Madrid and Sevilla will face fourth-division opponents in the first round of the Copa del Rey. Atlético will visit Cardassar and Sevilla will play at Ciudad de Lucena. The four clubs who played in the Spanish Super Cup last season — Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad — will not play in the initial rounds. This year's Copa del Rey will start before last season's champion is crowned. The final between Basque Country rivals Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The clubs and the Spanish soccer federation agreed to play the match when fans are allowed back into stadiums. It has not been scheduled yet. Valencia, the champion in the previous season, will visit fourth-division club Terrassa. All firstround matchups will be played in onegame series in December, and with the lower division team hosting the match as long as its stadium meets the minimum requirements established by the Spanish soccer federation.
Uruguay's Suárez and Muñoz test positive for virus
Luis Suárez and goalkeeper Rodrigo Muñoz have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Uruguayan Football Association said on Monday. They and national team staffer Matías Faral, also infected, will miss Uruguay's home match against Brazil on Tuesday in South American World Cup qualifying. "All three mentioned are in good healthy state and have already implemented the measures needed for the case," the Uruguayan FA said on social media. Besides missing Suárez and Muñoz, Uruguay is already without goalkeeper Martín Silva, defenders Sebastián Coates and Matias Viña, midfielder Federico Valverde, and striker Maxi Gómez for the match against Brazil. Viña was also infected with COVID-19. Suarez will miss not only the Brazil game, but also Saturday's Spanish league match between Atlético Madrid and his former club Barcelona.
16 test positive for the coronavirus in latest EPL checks
Sixteen people tested positive for the coronavirus in the latest round of checks on players and club staff in the Premier League, England's top division said on Monday. It is the highest number of positive tests recorded in a single week since testing began ahead of the return of football in June after the sport's suspension amid the pandemic. The league said 1,207 players and club staff were tested from Nov. 9-15. That number would not have included players away from their clubs on international duty. The people who have tested positive, whose names have not been disclosed by the league, must self-isolate for 10 days.
Former Olympic champion Roland Schoeman appeared by video link Monday at a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing that could ban him beyond next year's Tokyo Games. The World Anti-Doping Agency challenged a ruling by swimming governing body FINA to ban the 40-year-old South African for only one year after he tested positive for a black-market doping product.