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05/30 10:18 CDT The Latest: Ex-minister says French league canceled too soon The Latest: Ex-minister says French league canceled too soon By The Associated Press The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: ___ France's former sports minister says the government was too hasty in calling off soccer leagues this season. The French leagues were canceled after Prime Minister douard Philippe said in late April they could not resume because of the coronavirus pandemic. Patrick Kanner, sports minister from 2014-17, thinks the leagues were pressured into canceling. Speaking on France Inter radio on Saturday, Kanner said "they were not given any choice" and that "maybe we could have resumed playing in June." Kanner added that "there were healthy protocols in place" in case the leagues could resume "of course without fans" at the stadiums. France is the only one of Europe's five major soccer leagues to cancel its season. Games in Germany have already resumed and they are set to do so in England, Italy and Spain next month. ___ The South African government maintained a ban on all contact sports competitions on Saturday because of the coronavirus, meaning the country's professional rugby teams and its world champion Springboks will remain out of action. The announcement by sports minister Nathi Mthethwa came as South Africa prepares to further ease lockdown on Monday and open up most of its economy as part of a phased relaxation of restrictions. Professional non-contact sports competitions will be allowed in some regions and Mthethwa gave permission for teams, including those in rugby, to resume training. But only if protocols are in place to minimize the chances of transmission of COVID-19. All teams have 14 days to submit detailed plans on their protocols for approval before they can train, the minister said. Conditions include the mandatory screening of athletes. South Africa Rugby CEO Jurie Roux welcomed the move as "an opportunity for our players to enhance their lockdown training regimes by increasing their fitness work for an eventual return to play." He added he would seek clarification over whether full-contact training would be allowed. ___ Premier League clubs with only 15 fit players are still likely to have to play matches if the season resumes as planned next month during the coronavirus pandemic. West Ham vice chair Karren Brady has disclosed new details of Thursday's conference call of clubs when they agreed to restart the season on June 17, pending government approval. The season was suspended in March after positive COVID-19 cases at Arsenal and Chelsea forced the squads into self-isolation. Brady said the latest virtual meeting of club executives featured a long discussion about "what constitutes having a team fit enough to compete in the games left to play." Most teams, including West Ham, have nine games remaining. "There are obvious and genuine concerns about what happens to your match results if your club has a number of players testing positive for coronavirus, or is in self-isolation, and as a result you simply cannot field your usual or strongest starting XI," Brady wrote in a column in Saturday's editions of "The Sun" newspaper. "Well, as long as you have 15 fit players (including one goalkeeper) made up from either your 25-man squad list or from your under-21s you will be deemed to have a team fit enough to fulfill the fixture." ___ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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