Norwich was facing "a couple of COVID-related issues" ahead of its Premier League game against Manchester United, manager Dean Smith said Friday.

The relegation-threatened team played Tottenham on Sunday before the north London club announced a coronavirus outbreak among players and staff that has forced the postponement of two games.

Brazilian soccer great Pelé has said he will remain in a hospital in Sao Paulo "for a few days" to undergo new exams on his colon tumor.

The 81-year-old Edson Arantes do Nascimento was brought to the Albert Einstein hospital this week for chemotherapy sessions to treat the tumor found during routine exams at the end of August. Pelé was hospitalized for almost one month due to the surgery to remove it.

Lewis Hamilton entered Yas Marina Circuit chasing history Thursday dressed head-to-toe in purple with a graffiti-styled expletive scrawled across the back of his sweater.

Asked if he was sending a message, the seven-time champion claimed he was unaware what it said until he was getting dressed. Pure coincidence, Hamilton said, but it sure looked as if he was ready for the finale of his title fight with Max Verstappen.

Atlético Madrid has a chance rekindle its bid to win a second straight Spanish league title.

Real Madrid is already 10 points ahead at the top of the standings before the midway point of the season, while fourth-place Atlético has struggled to keep in touch behind both Sevilla and a surprising Real Betis.

Lionel Messi is looking like his old self again.

After adapting slowly to his new club and league, the Argentina great finally delivered a complete performance in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt this week.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez on Tuesday called on his side to "make history" this week by handing Bayern Munich their first home defeat in the Champions League's group stages since 2013.

Real Madrid will go through as group winners to the Champions League last 16 after Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio each scored in a 2-0 win over Inter Milan on Tuesday.

Atletico Madrid won a bad-tempered game in Porto on Tuesday to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as Liverpool and Ajax both completed the group stage with 100 percent records.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says no U.K. government minister will attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, calling it "effectively" a diplomatic boycott.

Johnson was asked in the House of Commons whether the U.K. will join the United States, Australia and Lithuania in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games.

The players race across the pitch on crutches, jostling for the soccer ball and passing it back and forth, their prosthetic legs lined up along the sidelines at a stadium in the Gaza Strip.

They are the first Palestinian national soccer team made up entirely of amputees — players drawn from a population of hundreds that has grown in recent years through several rounds of fighting between Israel and the territory's militant Hamas rulers.