Update on the latest sports March 22, 2020 The United States governing bodies of swimming and track — two of the three top-tier Summer Games sports — have called on their national Olympic officials to push for a postponement.VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTSJays’ Shapiro expects 4-week spring training before seasonUNDATED (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro says he thinks Major League Baseball would need at least a month of workouts and exhibition games before regular season play can begin.Opening day has been postponed until at least mid-May because of the coronavirus pandemic. Shapiro cautioned that training camps aren’t likely to open for some time because of the coronavirus outbreak. All but three of Toronto’s major league players have left the team’s spring training site in Dunedin, Florida. Shapiro says no Blue Jays players or staff have displayed any symptoms of the new coronavirus, and that no one has been tested.Shapiro spoke to reporters on Sunday from his home in Toronto.In other virus-related developments:— The St. Louis Blues say a relative of a team employee has tested positive for COVID-19. The person is in self-isolation along with members of the person’s family, according to the team. All Blues staff who may have come into close contact with the employee have been notified. The team says it is asking for all members of the Blues to remain isolated, monitor their health and seek advice from team medical staff.— Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac announced he is teaming up with J.U.M.P. Ministries Global Church to provide hot breakfasts and lunches to school kids age 18 and under on weekdays for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. Isaac also says he’ll be helping families obtain boxes of non-perishable food items once a week, things like oatmeal and cereal and instant rice. He says the breakfasts and lunches will be grab-and-go style, and a nurse will be on site for the pickups. Issac says, “We cannot just sit on our hands while this is going on.” — Hours after the Australian government called for its citizens to cancel all non-essential travel, the Australian rules Australian Football League announced it was postponing its seasons until May 31. Australia’s various football leagues were among the few remaining professional sports playing on across the globe in its attempts to halt the spread of the virus.— The $12 million Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest purse in horse racing, will be postponed until next year. That’s according to an announcement from the Dubai Media Office, a governmental agency. Officials had planned to run the race March 28 without spectators over concerns about the new coronavirus and the COVID-19 illness it causes.,Tampa Bay Lightning advance to face Dallas Stars in Stanley Cup finals, beating New York Islanders 2-1 in OT in Game 6 Associated Press In a statement Sunday, the IOC says it will hold four weeks of discussions with global sports officials and Japanese authorities to examine the options. It says the “scenario planning” will include the possibility of changing the July 24 start date for the Games, but that “cancellation is not on the agenda.”The announcement came after IOC President Thomas Bach led a conference call with executive board members.Bach has consistently said organizers are fully committed to opening the games on July 24, even as athlete training, qualifying events and preparations for the Games are being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.Criticism of that stance has grown in recent days.National Olympic committees in Brazil and Slovenia later called for a postponement to 2021. Norway’s Olympic body said it did want athletes going to Tokyo until the global health crisis is under control. Share This StoryFacebookTwitteremailPrintLinkedinRedditVIRUS OUTBREAK-OLYMPICSIOC to consider postponing Tokyo OlympicsUNDATED (AP) — The International Olympic Committee IOC now says it will consider the possibility of postponing the Tokyo Olympics. read more