The Latest: UConn eliminates 4 sports in virus- related cuts

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The University of Connecticut is eliminating four athletic teams as it deals with an expected budget deficit driven by issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

UConn President Thomas Katsouleas told the school’s Board of Trustees Wednesday that the school will reduce the number of sports it supports from 24 to 20, eliminating its men’s cross-country, men’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and women’s rowing teams.

He said eliminating those programs, along with mandating a 15% cut in the operating budget of all sports and cutting some scholarships, should result in a requested savings of $10 million annually, or 25% of the school’s subsidy to the Division of Athletics over the next three years. That subsidy was $42 million in 2019.

The school will continue to support the eliminated sports through the 2020-21 academic year, allowing the 124 affected athletes time to transfer or make other decisions, officials said.

“While this is a painful decision, it is in the best interests of the long-term viability of UConn and of UConn athletics,” Katsouleas said.

The decision came as the Board of Trustees approved a $1.5 billion spending plan for its main campus in Storrs and regional campuses.

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Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila says one player and one staff member have tested positive for COVID-19.

Avila said on a video conference that the player was living in Florida, but was not working out at the team’s spring training facilities in Lakeland. He did not identify the two people who tested positive.

“They’re going through the process, obviously, of recovering as we speak,” Avila said. “It was just recently, a few days ago, so they’re still in the...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/The-Latest-Berlin-Marathon-canceled-because-of-15363109.php