The Latest: South Carolina not bowl-bound; virus ends season
By The Associated Press - Dec. 22, 2020 02:31 PM EST
FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2020 file photo, Brayden Coombs of the Detroit Lions directs a drill during an NFL football training camp practice at their team headquarters in Allen Park, Mich. Detroit dismissedCoombs on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 three plus weeks after parting ways with general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia. (Mike Mulholland/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, Pool)
FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2020 file photo, Brayden Coombs of the Detroit Lions directs a drill during an NFL football training camp practice at their team headquarters in Allen Park, Mich. Detroit dismissedCoombs on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 three plus weeks after parting ways with general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia. (Mike Mulholland/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, Pool)

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

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South Carolina’s 2-8 football team won’t be going to a bowl game after pausing team activities due to the novel coronavirus.

The Gamecocks were set to play UAB in the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, Florida on Saturday. Instead, the school announced Tuesday it was ending its season.

South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner had contacted the bowl and the Southeastern Conference office about the Gamecocks not being able to play. Tanner said the combination of positive COVID-19 tests plus necessary contact tracing made it impossible to compete.

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The NFL said Tuesday that there were 14 confirmed positives among players and 31 new confirmed positives among other personnel in the league's latest round of testing for the novel coronavirus.

In all, 16,222 COVID-19 tests were administered over a seven-day period ending last Saturday to 2,391 players, and 25,279 tests were administered to 4,536 personnel.

That brings the totals since testing began Aug. 1 to 201 players and 359 other personnel as confirmed positive cases out of more than 840,000 tests.

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 are immediately isolated and not permitted access to club facilities or direct contact with players or personnel. Club medical staff are in regular communication with those who test positive to monitor symptoms.

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The Detroit Lions have closed their training facility after two people within the franchise tested positive for COVID-19.

The Lions say players and coaches will have virtual meetings Tuesday.

Detroit is scheduled to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win, on Saturday at Ford Field.

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South Carolina's men’s basketball team has paused activities for a second time this month, canceling a game Wednesday night with South Carolina State after its latest round of COVID-19 testing.

The Gamecocks already have missed games against Wofford and rival Clemson due to the coronavirus. They returned to practice Saturday after more than a week away from the court and had hoped to resume their schedule against South Carolina State. Instead, the program said it will wait for further testing to determine when it can play.

South Carolina’s next scheduled game is at Kentucky on Dec. 29.

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The table tennis world team championships have been canceled because of the pandemic.

The championships were originally scheduled for March in the South Korean city of Busan but were then postponed three times.

The International Table Tennis Federation says in a statement that it hoped to hold the event in February 2021 but was forced to cancel “due to the worsening situation in Korea Republic and with the pandemic still problematic in many regions of the world.”

South Korean authorities are trying to limit social gatherings following a recent surge in virus cases. The ITTF says it was informed the measures would not make it possible to host international sports events in the near future.

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