TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays finally got the federal clearance they were looking for in order to hold summer camp north of the border Thursday afternoon, but where the club will play games this season is still very much up in the air.
With federal, provincial and municipal health authorities signing off on most aspects of the plan this week, the final hurdle was cleared when the federal government granted an exemption that will allow them to modify the mandatory 14-day quarantine period for travellers entering Canada.
“It basically involved adapting a strategy and plan that satisfies their public health concerns,” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said on a conference call Thursday evening. “Things like additional testing above and beyond MLB testing, satisfying their concerns on travel, ensuring that, basically, what we were doing is creating a modified quarantine or a bubble environment that protected the public.”
In order to satisfy all of the health authorities involved, the Jays will create a “closed environment” with Rogers Centre and the attached Marriott City Centre Hotel, which has a huge block of their 348 rooms reserved for baseball purposes.
Essentially, Blue Jays players and staff will be locked in an area of the hotel and will have movement restricted to and from the baseball facilities.
Now, the Blue Jays will do their best to convince the government that visiting teams coming to Toronto for the club’s 30 home games — they’ve scrapped the idea of playing their three exhibition games and will instead play intra-squad games to get ready for the season — will adhere to the same quarantine rules.
At the very least, this exemption has bought the Jays time to work through that plan with government authorities, leading up to the expected July 24 opener, but Shapiro is hoping for clarity within the next two weeks.
“We will look to end up with a similar result where we protect the public in every way possible, but we have to deal not just with our team coming in and out of the country but the visiting team as well,” Shapiro said.
“There are a host of travel-related and logistical issues that create complexities that we still need to work through to satisfy, particularly with Public Health (Agency of) Canada. We’ll look to do that in the next week. I think it’s probably pretty important that we get some clarity on where we’re going to be playing our games in the next 7-10 days now that we’ve cleared the hurdle for training.”
At worst, if it’s clear the government won’t sign off on AL East and NL East teams entering the city this summer, the Jays will be training in a much safer place than COVID-19 ravaged Florida over the next three weeks, and could return to Dunedin for games later this month if need be.
There’s still confidence the full plan will be approved and Toronto will be the home for a full 60 games through Sept. 27, but Shapiro said they’re looking at some alternatives that does not include TD Ballpark, their spring training home.
This week, Jays players and staff started the intake screening process outlined in the 101-page 2020 MLB operations manual Wednesday in Dunedin — two coronavirus tests, antibody testing, and a 24-48 hour quarantine period — and only players who test negative for COVID-19 twice will be permitted to charter to Toronto this weekend.
Once they land at Pearson International Airport, they’ll take private buses staffed by screened personnel to Rogers Centre where “players and club personnel will not leave the stadium footprint — including the hotel grounds — travelling between the hotel and ballpark within the stadium boundary,” the club outlined.
It’s a logical plan that could work if — and it’s a big if — every single player, club staff member, and support staff worker buys in 100 per cent.
But we all know this virus doesn’t discriminate and there are many ways you can envision this going sideways, not just for the Jays but for baseball as a whole.
The Blue Jays believe their players will buy in.
The government agreed when it granted the modified quarantine exemption.
None of this will be a surprise to the players, Shapiro says, as they’ve been part of the process leading up to this point.
“Part of the understanding with them is their responsibility to work with us to ensure this works,” Shapiro said. “Obviously, they’ll be the only team that’s staying in one hotel the entire spring training, and that was their choice. They’ll be the only team that will be separated from their families for all three weeks. There were conditions, 100 per cent. They were not negotiable. But they also were not imposed on them. They felt better about the facility here, they felt better about being here, they felt better about the transition into the season, and better about our competitive chance to remain healthy if we were able to train here.”
The big question is whether visiting teams would have the same buy-in, something the government isn’t convinced of yet and will need more time to work through with MLB and the Blue Jays.
Over the next couple of days, players who have tested negative twice this week during intake testing will be able to get on the field for workouts in Dunedin, before the team starts chartering virus-free players to Toronto this weekend.
Ideally, the Jays will be on the Rogers Centre turf Monday, preparing for a season that will be unlike any other.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
