OLYMPICS

A 21-day quarantine for non-fully vaccinated athletes, officials and workers at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Daily testing for vaccinated people. No tickets sold to anyone living outside China as Olympic venues open their doors again.

Restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic at the next Winter Games in February were announced Wednesday by the International Olympic Committee.

While not imposing a vaccine mandate, organizers in Beijing plan stricter rules than applied at the Tokyo Olympics where vaccination was advised though not demanded within a strict regime of testing.

“Games participants who are not fully vaccinated will have to serve a 21-day quarantine upon arrival in Beijing,” the IOC said in a statement.

Olympic athletes can ask to avoid quarantine, the IOC said, for a “justified medical exemption” – a phrase that appeared to exclude ideological objections to vaccines.

It will be the second straight Olympics during the pandemic where families of athletes cannot visit the host country to watch the events.

Residents of the host country, however, should be able to attend the 109 medal events after spectators were barred from nearly all of the 339 events in Tokyo.

“Tickets will be sold exclusively to spectators residing in China’s mainland, who meet the requirements of the COVID-19 countermeasures,” the Olympic body said, though details were not given.

Guests of stakeholders such as sports bodies, sponsors and broadcasters will also be excluded again.

Olympic organizers plan to operate a health security bubble – called a “closed-loop management system” – even for vaccinated people from Jan. 23, almost two weeks before the Winter Games open Feb. 4.

It will stay in place for almost two months until after the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games close on March 13.

The Beijing plan should allow vaccinated people freer movement within the Olympic bubble than the 14-day restrictions that applied on arrival in Tokyo.

The Beijing Winter Olympics are being held from Feb. 4-20. The Paralympic Winter Games will be held from 4 until 13 March.

SOCCER

U.S. MEN: Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna were left off the U.S. roster for the next three World Cup qualifiers because of injuries, and Weston McKennie returned after being dropped for two games for violating team COVID-19 protocols.

Pulisic, the team’s star attacker, has been sidelined since spraining an ankle at Honduras on Sept. 8 and Reyna, a starting midfielder, since injuring a hamstring at El Salvador on Sept. 2. U.S. Coach Gregg Berhalter said neither is back in full training.

“I wouldn’t rule them completely out,” Berhalter said. “I think that it is unlikely.”

The 13th-ranked U.S. plays No. 59 Jamaica at Austin, Texas, on Oct. 7, is at 68th-ranked Panama three days later and hosts No. 44 Costa Rica on Oct. 13 at Columbus, Ohio.

McKennie, a top American midfielder, started in the 0-0 draw at El Salvador, then was sent home for violating coronavirus protocols and missed the 1-1 tie at home against Canada and the 4-1 come-from-behind win at Honduras. Pulisic, McKennie and Tyler Adams, the team’s central young core, have started together just once, against Ecuador in March 2019.

D.C. United winger Paul Arriola, Columbus forward Gyasi Zardes, Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah and Lille forward Tim Weah are on the 27-man roster after missing the initial qualifiers because of injuries.

MLS: DeJuan Jones, Adam Buksa, Gustavo Bou scored in the MLS-leading New England Revolution’s 4-1 victory at Montreal.

New England (20-4-5) also scored on Rudy Camacho’s own goal.

Joaquin Torres scored for Montreal (10-10-7).

PELE: Brazilian soccer great Pelé is expected to leave the hospital after getting treatment for almost one month, his daughter Kely Nascimento said. The 80-year-old Pelé removed a tumor from his colon on Sept. 4 and spent days in intensive care after the surgery.

“Now that he’s stronger and leaving the hospital to continue recovering and treating himself at home,” Kely Nascimento said on Instagram, adding she will return to the United States, where she lives. “(Thank you) for all the affection and love we received from you this month!”

Hospital Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo did not confirm the soccer great is expected to leave soon. Pelé published several pictures and videos on social media showing him recovering in the hospital. The tumor was found when he went for routine exams at the end of August.

Pelé won the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups, and remains Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 92 matches.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Cristiano Ronaldo started for Manchester United against Villarreal on Wednesday for his record 178th appearance in the competition. Ronaldo had been sharing the appearance record with Iker Casillas, his former teammate at Real Madrid.

Ronaldo played his first game in the Champions League in 2003 during his first spell at United.

He has scored 135 goals in the competition, another record. The most recent goal was in United’s 2-1 loss at Young Boys two weeks ago.

Ronaldo has won the Champions League title five times.

TENNIS

CHICAGO FALL CLASSIC: Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic overcame 10 double-faults and some first-set frustration to grab 12 of the last 13 games against qualifier Maddison Inglis to reach the third round at Chicago. The third-seeded Bencic got past 130th-ranked Inglis 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 at a hard-court tournament that was added to the WTA schedule after the tour swing in Asia was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In other results, Tereza Martincova eliminated No. 13 seed and French Open semifinalist Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 6-5, No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 6-4, and Elena-Gabriela Ruse beat qualifier Kateryna Kozlova 7-5, 6-2. Martincova faces Bencic next.

Anett Kontaveit, who was seeded 11th in Chicago and coming off her third career title, a victory Sunday in the Czech Republic, pulled out before her second-round match against qualifier Mai Hontama because of an injured left thigh.

ASTANA OPEN: Yulia Putintseva reached the quarterfinals as she bids to win the first women’s tour tennis event in her home country of Kazakhstan, and third-seeded Kristina Mladenovic lost in the second round.

Putintseva beat Vera Lapko 6-4, 6-4 in their second-round match, winning six of the last seven games after Lapko had led the second set 3-0. Alison van Uytvanck, seeded second, recovered after being broken in the deciding set to beat Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. It was only the third time in 15 tournaments this season that the Belgian has got past the second round in a tour event.

Her reward is a quarterfinal match with seventh-seeded Russian Varvara Gracheva, who saw off Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-4.

BNP PARIBAS OPEN: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is the latest big name to drop out of next month’s tournament.

Djokovic came up one victory short of claiming all four Grand Slam titles this year, losing in the U.S. Open final earlier this month. He won the Australian, French and Wimbledon titles.

Djokovic joins women’s No. 1 Ash Barty in skipping the tournament featuring the combined men’s and women’s tours. It will be played Oct. 4-17, a switch from its usual March date on the calendar because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Emma Raducanu, the surprise U.S. Open women’s winner, received a wild card into the event. Also in the women’s field are teenagers Leylah Fernandez, the U.S. Open runner-up, and Coco Gauff.

Also out of the event are former winners Naomi Osaka and Roger Federer, who is recovering from knee surgery in August.

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