Digest

SOCCER

Pele rates Ronaldo over Messi as world's best

Brazilian great Pele has described Cristiano Ronaldo as the world's best active player, rating the Portugal and Juventus forward ahead of Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi.

But the 79-year-old believes neither Ronaldo nor Messi are as good as he was during a celebrated career with Santos, the New York Cosmos and Brazil.

"Right now, Cristiano Ronaldo is the best, because he is the most consistent over the past 10 years, although Messi should not be forgotten," Pele said in an interview on the Pilhado YouTube channel.

The 79-year-old also cited the Brazilian Ronaldo, Zico, Ronaldinho, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff in his list of all-time favorite players. He did not mention former Argentina forward Diego Maradona, widely regarded as Pele's only rival for the title of the greatest player in history.

"There is only one king. Pele was better than all of them," he said."If I have to be honest, well, I'm telling you the truth: my father and mother closed the factory. There will only ever be one Pele."

Pele is the only player to win three World Cups, and scored over 1,000 goals in a professional career that spanned 22 years.

Chinese squad tests negative for COVID-19

All members of China's men's squad have tested negative for COVID-19 after returning home from a Dubai training camp, it was announced on Thursday.

"After the team arrived at Sanya on Monday, the whole team had COVID-19 tests, and were told they were all negative by local health authorities on Wednesday," said a statement posted on Team China's social media accounts.

The squad is currently observing a quarantine period at a hotel in Sanya, Hainan province.

"Since no one is infected with the virus, our team will begin closed-door training under the guidance of the local epidemic control department on Thursday. To ensure the safety of all team members, we will conduct another coronavirus test before the end of the 14-day quarantine," added the statement.

Team China called up a 26-man roster for the Dubai training camp, which began on March 3, in preparation for World Cup qualifiers. Wu Lei was exempt from the camp. The Espanyol striker is now recovering after contracting COVID-19 in Spain.

TENNIS

Wimbledon's fate to be decided next week

The All England Club said that it will decide whether to postpone or cancel this year's Wimbledon championships next week after an emergency meeting.

The club released a statement on Wednesday confirming that "it is continuing a detailed evaluation of all scenarios for The Championships 2020, including postponement and cancellation, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak".

An emergency meeting is scheduled for next week and in preparation the club is "communicating closely with the LTA, and with the ATP, WTA, ITF and the other Grand Slams".

The All England Club believes it has a very short window to stage the championships because of its grass courts."The nature of our surface suggests that postponement is not without significant risk and difficulty," the club added. Playing behind closed doors has been formally ruled out. This year's Wimbledon competition is scheduled between June 29-July 12. Earlier this month, the French Open was moved from May to September.

Brazilian Wild urges care after positive test

Brazil's Thiago Wild has tested positive for the coronavirus, less than a month after winning his first ATP title.

The 20-year-old said he is making a good recovery, having fallen ill with fever and flu-like symptoms early last week.

"Hey, guys, I just want to let you know that I've contracted the COVID-19. I've been in self-isolation for the past week and now I'm following the doctor's orders by taking care of myself," Wild said in a video posted on social media on Wednesday.

Wild became the youngest Brazilian to win an ATP title when he clinched the Chile Open earlier this month, aged 19 years and 257 days.

The world No 114 urged people to take the disease seriously by avoiding social contact.

"It's important to stay at home and take care. This is a serious illness but it can be controlled with everybody's help," he added.

OLYMPICS

IOC working toward July-August Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working with sports bodies to arrange a July-August window for the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and hopes to confirm the schedule within a month, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday.

John Coates, the IOC's coordination commission chief for Tokyo, told the paper, the Games would have to be held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, slated to end in mid-July, and the US Open, which starts in late August.

"We want to more or less finalize the dates in four weeks' time," Coates said.

Coates, who is also president of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), said the summer scheduling would be dependent on avoiding clashes with the world championships for swimming (July 16-Aug 1) and athletics (Aug 6-15).

BASKETBALL

Mavs owner touting May return for NBA

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he's hopeful the NBA can resume playing games on TV, without crowds, by May.

"America needs sports right now. We need something to cheer for. We need something to get excited about. We need a team to root for, and I think the NBA can fill that need," he told Neil Cavuto of FOX Business on Wednesday.

The NBA has indefinitely suspended its regular season amid the current pandemic, and at least 10 active players have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Cuban told the Dallas Morning News he thinks the NBA will be the first professional league in the US to bounce back.

"Hopefully by the middle of May we're starting to get back to normal and the NBA is playing games, maybe not with fans, but we're playing games."