To mark world book day the editor of AW picks his most treasured athletics and running books

Choosing your favourite athletics or running books is a bit like trying to name your top movies of all time or No.1 sporting moments. There are so many to choose from and, of course, everyone’s taste is different.

Long before the advent of the internet, I began devouring athletics books aged 11-12 in the early 1980s. Then, during the last 20 years, I’ve been AW’s unofficial book reviews editor with the majority of new athletics and running-related books landing on my desk.

So, in no particular order, here are my 20 favourites.

Sebastian Coe, Born to Run with David Miller

As a budding teenage middle-distance runner in the 1980s I lapped up this book during my formative years. Coe later brought out several other autobiographies but this one remains the original and best as it charts his rise from teenage talent to world record-breaker.

The Complete Book of Running by Jim Fixx

This 1970s classic inspired the original running boom although the author famously died from heart failure during a run aged 52. It’s the original ‘how to’ book offering advice on every aspect of running.

Lore of Running by Tim Noakes

Far more comprehensive than Jim Fixx’s Complete Book of Running, it is hard to find a more definitive book on the sport than Tim Noakes’ tome. It covers everything from injuries and physiology to training and diet in authoritative fashion in brilliant detail. A bona fide bible of running.

The First Four Minutes by Roger Bannister

The story of the greatest athletics feat in history is told by the very man who did it. As it turns out, Sir Roger can write a bit too and his quest to run the first sub-four-minute mile is beautifully regaled.

Train Hard, Win Easy by Toby Tanser

If you like to read about how top athletes train, this is one of the best. Published in 1997 by a Kenyan-based writer it covers in detail the training programmes of Kenyan world-beaters such as John Ngugi and Paul Tergat.

Official Centenary History of the AAA of England by Peter Lovesey

I’m often surprised how often I refer to this book especially when writing about the early days of the sport in England. Mel Watman has since produced more recent and comprehensive books on the world’s oldest athletics governing body but Lovesey’s splendid hardback printed in 1979 has stood the test of time.

The Toughest Race in the World by Mark Butler

An amazingly detailed and useful guide to the world cross country championships. Despite being printed in 2002, I still refer to this book a lot, especially when the now biennial world cross itself comes around.

All-time Greats of British Athletics by Mel Watman

One of the retirement projects for the former editor of AW as he put together definitive career summaries on top British athletes from Walter George and Alf Shrubb to Denise Lewis and Paula Radcliffe.

The Coe & Ovett Files by AW

It’s arguably a little self-indulgent to include an ‘AW publication’ among this list but in my defence I fell in love with this book long before I joined the AW editorial team. It is basically a series of reproduced clippings from the magazine relating to Coe and Ovett during their heyday and altogether makes a terrific read.

Running Scared – How Athletics Lost Its Innocence by Duncan Mackay and Steven Downes

If you read this book you will realise that problems such as doping and corruption have always plagued athletics. The authors were among the most prominent athletics writers in the 1990s and turn of the millennium and their book takes a deep, dark look at the seedy underbelly of the No.1 Olympic sport.

The Mechanics of Athletics by Geoff Dyson

Many of the principles of athletics such as jumps, throws or hurdles techniques have remained unchanged for years and Geoff Dyson, the father of coaching in British athletics, covers them all in amazing detail accompanied by superb illustrations in this 1962 book.

Ultra-Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes

A world-wide best seller and it’s easy to see why as the story of this ultra-marathon runner dances from page to page in entertaining and inspirational fashion.

ATFS annual edited by Peter Matthews

This is the international equivalent of the British Athletics stats book produced by NUTS (National Union of Track Statisticians) although it is put together by the Association of Track and Field Statisticians. Meticulously compiled and full of several interesting features every year in addition to the pure stats.

British Athletics by the NUTS

Now into its 62nd year, the latest edition has Dina Asher-Smith on the cover. Unfortunately like all stats books it has struggled during the internet era but remains a brilliant source of facts and figures and has been invaluable to myself, especially during my early years writing for AW.

Athletics Statistics, London 2012

Edited by Mark Butler and produced by the IAAF, it is a great resource of stats. Similar facts and figures are produced in handbooks for other Olympic Games and world championships but the London 2012 edition is special for obvious reasons.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

A classic tale of running and the book that inspired the bare-foot running movement. The joy of running jumps out of every page.

50 Greatest Marathon Races of All-Time by Will Cockerell

Like many books in this list it is now a little outdated but it nevertheless is still a brilliant read and historical resource. A labour of love by an author who is also a decent marathoner himself, it is a high-quality publication that describes in detail some of the best 26.2-mile races in history.

World History of Track & Field Athletics by Roberto Quercetani

Published in 1964 by the doyen of athletics writers and statisticians, who died last year aged 97. Definitely one of my most treasured books.

Testament of a Runner by WR Loader

This little-known 1960s classic captures the spirit of the sport in beautiful style, describing in detail what it means to run. Or, the author would say: “I mean, really run.”

The Complete Book of the Olympics by David Wallechinsky

This book ran from 1984 to 2012 but was sadly not published for the 2016 Games. Unbeatable when it comes to short, reader-friendly summaries of Olympic finals. Not just athletics either as it covers all the sports. 

Peruvian pushes up to seventh in the list
By ELLIE MAWSON – Squash Mad Correspondent

Peru’s World No.6 Diego Elias has moved into the top eight of the PSA World Tour Finals Leaderboard following his victory at the Troilus Gold Canada Cup last month.

Elias defeated Egypt’s Mohamed ElSherbini in the final in Toronto to win his first title of the season at the PSA World Tour Silver event and has now strengthened his position to qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals as he moves up from 10th to seventh on the men’s standings.

Players can qualify for the World Tour Finals automatically by winning any of the PSA World Tour Platinum or World Championship events across the 2019-20 season, with seven players already confirmed in total.

Along with those that automatically qualify, the players that accumulate the most points from their results across the season, will take the other places, with eight men and eight women playing for the final title of the season at the World Tour Finals.

Already qualified on the men’s standings are J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions winner Mohamed ElShorbagy, World Champion Tarek Momen, FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships and Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family champion Ali Farag and CIB Egyptian Squash Open winner Karim Abdel Gawad.

In the women’s field, Egypt’s Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini are automatically in, having won the U.S. Open and the CIB PSA Women’s World Championship and Windy City Open titles, respectively. France’s Camille Serme also confirmed her place with victory at January’s Tournament of Champions.

New Zealand’s Paul Coll, who reached his first PSA World Tour Platinum final at the Windy City Open but narrowly missed out to Farag, moves up a place to fourth with 9,080 points. Wales’ Joel Makin (No.6), Peru’s Elias (No.7) and Egypt’s Marwan ElShorbagy (8) complete the current top eight on the men’s leaderboard.

Germany’s Simon Rösner, India’s Saurav Ghosal and Egyptian pair Mazen Hesham and Fares Dessouky are all in contention for those final places.

In the women’s standings, World No.1 Raneem El Welily stays top with 8,575 points, despite not having won a Platinum event this season, with compatriot Nour El Tayeb is fourth with 7,600 points following her win at the Cleveland Classic in February.

The rest of the current top eight on the women’s standings is completed by England’s Sarah-Jane Perry (No.6), New Zealand’s Joelle King (No.7) and Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy (No.8).

US duo Amanda Sobhy and Olivia Blatchford Clyne, along with Egypt’s Salma Hany and India’s Joshna Chinappa are close in order behind El Hammamy for the top eight placings.

The next chance for players to automatically qualify for the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals 2019-20 will be at the CIB Black Ball Squash Open for the women, which will be held in Cairo, Egypt and takes place between March 8-14.

Following that, there is the El Gouna International Squash Open and the Allam British Open, two more chances for places to be sealed. 

PSA WORLD TOUR FINALS: ROAD TO EGYPT STANDINGS.

Picture and graphic courtesy of PSA 

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – Exclusive Autosport has announced the return of 19-year-old Manuel Cabrera to expand its Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship team.

Cabrera competed with the team in limited programs during the 2018 and 2019 racing seasons, participating in 12 races with a best finish of eighth at Road America. The Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico resident will drive the No. 91 Gateway Telecomunicaciones/PMC Promotions Tatuus USF-17. Cabrera has been keeping his driving skills honed by recently racing in the Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy race in Mexico City and he’s also been working extremely hard on his fitness, all while maintaining stellar grades at Universidad Anáhuac México.

“I am very happy to welcome Manuel back to the Exclusive Autosport USF2000 program in 2020,” said Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal. “Manuel is strong behind the wheel and brings uncompromising determination and work ethic. He is such a pleasure to have on the team. His personality will without a doubt mesh really well with our engineering staff and the team we have put together. I am really looking forward to a positive USF2000 campaign with Manuel in 2020.”

Cabrera began his racing career in the assorted Mexican karting series in 2010 at the age of 10, running up front and winning numerous races and championships along the way. Cabrera made the move to car racing by attending the Skip Barber Racing School in 2016, and then participated in their Championship Series that season.

Cabrera graduated to the Formula PanAm series in 2017 and earned the championship title, winning a ticket to attend the Mazda Road to Indy $200,000 Scholarship Shootout in the process. In the Formula PanAm program, he scored four wins in the six-series races and was on the podium in the other two. He also raced in the Formula Masters Asia series, scoring six top-five finishes, and was awarded the Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2018, Cabrera raced seven races with Exclusive Autosport, racking his highest finish of eighth place at Road America and was named the Road to Indy Insider’s Star of the Race at the Royal Purple Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I feel really happy to be able to be back with the whole team,” offered Cabrera. “As I have always said, it is a pleasure to work with them. I feel very grateful to them and at the same time very excited to be able to return to the track. There have been difficult days in my career as a driver, but I think that this year I come with more desire than ever. I will do my best in each race and I am definitely looking for great achievements. I hope to have a season to remember and that the team achieves good results this year.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Anthony Joseph Foyt turned 85 in January and the internet was awash in the Texamericana that comes with every Foyt milestone.

There were photos of Foyt in Indy cars, midgets, sports cars and stock cars, winning races and losing his temper. And in the middle of this Foyt-fest, I thought about Cecil Taylor.

Cecil, who died on Dec. 28, stood at Foyt’s side as a crewman and friend for better than 50 years.

But their bond went back further, to the dusty, bloody crucible that was the IMCA fair circuit, which brought sprint cars to every Midwest town with a Tilt-A-Whirl and a dirt track.

Some IMCA drivers — Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Jim Hurtubise, Bobby Grim — became heroes. Others went to the fair, and never made it home.

The story of Taylor and Foyt meeting, and later meeting again, blows away any Hollywood racing movie.

It started in the summer of 1956. Foyt, all of 21, was new to IMCA, but despite lousy rides — an underpowered Chevy six-banger, then an overweight car nicknamed “the truck” — he’d won twice. Taylor was wrenching for a Kansas City neighbor, car owner Bill Mansell.

Mansell’s driver was Don Hutchinson, who’d seen AMA motorcycle action as a Har­­ley­-­Davidson factory rider.

“Don was a little guy, 5’3” or 5’4”, but all muscle,” Taylor recalled.

In the summer of 1956, Hutchinson and Taylor were racing, occasionally winning and making friends. At one event they pitted beside a Californian named Johnnie Pouelsen, who’d won that season in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Come feature time, a push truck got Hutchinson’s car fired, but Pouelsen’s wouldn’t light. Pouelsen coasted to the pits with a dead magneto.

“I told his guys to pull that one out, and I grabbed a mag out of my box,” Taylor said. “We threw in the new mag, set the timing, and got everything tightened down just in time. Well, he won the race. When he got back to the pits, he said to me, ‘Don’t run off. I want to buy you a steak.’

“That’s how I met John Pouelsen.”

In September, Hutchinson opened and closed Iowa’s Clay County Fair with a pair of victories. Days later, everybody reconvened at the Kansas State Fairgrounds.

It was sunny and hot, typical Kansas at summer’s end. And if the mercury was up, so was the testosterone. In the first heat, Hutchinson jumped into the lead, but here came Foyt, shoving the nose of his black car beneath Hutchinson’s red one.

“Little Don kept chopping him,” said Taylor. “Foyt kept putting the brake on, letting him in.”

It went that way for five laps. On the sixth, “Donnie came down again, but Foyt was already there.”

Hutchinson’s car jumped a wheel, rode across Foyt’s lap and began flipping toward the wall. The impact was cockpit-first.

Taylor ran to the scene, helped load Hutchinson into an ambulance and then hopped in beside his dying friend.

“We were just getting ready to drive off and here came Foyt. He had tire tracks on his uniform.”

Foyt said to Taylor, “How bad is he?”

“Bad.”

Banged up and bruised himself, Foyt climbed in.

“And that’s how I met Foyt,” sighed Cecil Taylor. “He rode with us to the hospital.”

The show went on, because it always does. As one doctor examined Foyt and another pronounced Hutchinson dead, Pouelsen earned one more IMCA trophy.

Flash ahead six years, to May 1962. Foyt’s career skyrocketed; he strutted into Indianapolis as the defending winner of the 500.

Pouelsen hung up his helmet to become chief mechanic for J.C. Agajanian’s Indy car team and driver Parnelli Jones. At Pouelsen’s elbow is his personal recruit, Taylor, burning vacation time from his job with Southwestern Bell to take part in his first 500.

The workload that month was heavy; the Agajanian squad rebuilt its lone Offy after every second day’s practice. Other outfits followed similar regimens, so Gasoline Alley was lively well into the evening.

“Back then,” said Taylor, “all the teams left their garage doors open. One night at maybe 8:30, Foyt walked by. He looked in and he said, ‘Cecil! Is that you?’ I hadn’t talked to him since 1956, and he called me by name.”

Grinning, Foyt nodded in the direction of Parnelli’s roadster and said, “You’re working for the wrong guy.”

Actually, Jones was the right guy, at least for a while. In ’62, he broke Indy’s 150-mph barrier during qualifying and the next year he won the 500. But when Parnelli cut back his racing after 1964, Taylor joined Foyt’s operation.

And for decades, wherever you saw Foyt — Indianapolis, Daytona, the Illinois State Fair — you saw Taylor, filling any role Foyt needed him to.

We were talking one day, Taylor and I, about his time with Foyt and how it all started that hot afternoon in Kansas, when A.J. was a shaken kid with tire tracks across his uniform.

“About once a year,” Taylor said softly, “he’ll ask me about Little Don.”

Now Foyt is 85, and somewhere, maybe, Don Hutchinson is still on the throttle. If he is, you can bet Taylor is there, too.

He was a good man with a ready smile. He left a wife, a son, a brother, hundreds of friends and thousands of memories.

To know Cecil Taylor was to love him, and I knew him.

PALMETTO, Fla. – Andersen Promotions has announced that all three levels of the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will receive coverage north of the border beginning this season following a new partnership with MAVTV Canada.

Coverage of Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship will now be accessible to fans throughout Canada on the MAVTV Canada network.

MAVTV Canada launched in January of 2017 following a collaboration between the MAVTV Motorsports Network and media executive Mike Garrow. Under Garrow’s role as President and Co-Owner, MAVTV Canada currently reaches over 5.2 million households across the country. MAVTV, which established its roots in the U.S. in 2004, is the destination for all things motorsports with unparalleled programming of motorsports events and exclusive automotive reality shows.

Indy Lights will enjoy live coverage of all 18 rounds on its 2020 calendar with four re-airs of each race while Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 will be featured in highlight shows produced by Road to Indy TV – the broadcast production arm of the Road to Indy. The highlight shows will receive a prime-time slot, airing on Thursdays at 8:00 pm EST with five re-airs.

“We are extremely grateful to Mike Garrow and MAVTV Canada for their outstanding and generous programming platform for our three series, and we look forward to a partnership that continues to develop for many years,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “Not only does this allow us to grow our footprint and fan base, it is truly an added benefit for our drivers, teams and partners who will enjoy greatly enhanced coverage in Canada.”

Live coverage of Indy Lights on MAVTV Canada begins on Saturday, March 14 at 1 pm EST and Sunday, March 15, also at 1 pm, covering all of the action from the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

“MAVTV Canada is very excited to be able to deliver to our dedicated motorsports fans here in Canada live coverage of Indy Lights and support programming for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship and the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires,” said Garrow. “As Andersen Promotions enters its 10-year anniversary as the world’s leading driver development program that has seen such talent as Paul Tracy and James Hinchcliffe pass though it, we look forward to showcasing the next generation of Canadian drivers such as Dalton Kellett and Parker Thompson along with their teams and fans who support them in their quest to victory lane.”

While several drivers on the Road to Indy rosters call Canada home, it is also the headquarters of Exclusive Autosport, based in Saskatoon, which operates on all three levels of the leading driver development ladder system as well as fielding equally successful programs in Canadian F1600.

“As a Canadian-based team, we are thrilled to hear that the Road to Indy will have increased coverage in Canada thanks to the partnership with MAVTV and Anderson Promotions,” said Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal of Exclusive Autosport. “The Road to Indy showcases, hands down, some of the most competitive racing and the best up and coming talent in motorsports. It is great to hear that Canadian fans, friends, family, partners and hopefully newcomers to open-wheel racing will have another platform to be able to enjoy the thrilling wheel-to-wheel action of the Road to Indy.”

With the full Road to Indy complement set to compete on the streets of Toronto July 10-12 in support of the NTT IndyCar Series headline race, Andersen Promotions and MAVTV Canada will be working together on race week promotions centered around the popular event – a staple on the racing calendar – which boasts long-time series partner Cooper Tires as the Official Tire.

MOORESVILLE, N.C.– Along with the familiar colors of All Things Automotive, Josh Berry will have some new paint on his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet late model this season.

iRacing will be on the hood of the No. 88 JR Motorsports machine as Berry once again competes for the CARS Late Model Stock Tour championship. Berry is the leader in many CARS Tour statistical categories, including victories, poles, races led, poles, laps led and money won.

The partnership with iRacing was years in the making and involves both Berry and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has been a huge proponent of iRacing from the beginning.

“iRacing is something I’ve done for a long time and it really was what connected me with Dale,” Berry said. “It led to me ultimately driving the Late Model for JR Motorsports. It’s important to me, and I greatly appreciate them coming on board to be part of the program. I’m equally appreciative of Mark (Thomas, owner of All Things Automotive) for allowing us to do this. It’s a great partnership among all of us and will help to make us better.”

Berry was among a group of racers who competed online with Earnhardt in the early days of iRacing competition, along with Brad Davies, who is one of JR Motorsports’ drivers in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, and several others who are part of the JR Motorsports family.

DUQUOIN, Ill. – The field for Saturday’s Shamrock Classic has risen to 45 entries as the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series prepares for battle at the Southern Illinois Center.

New Shamrock Classic entries include those of Trey Robb for Dave Mac Motorsports, Kyle May for his family-owned team, Logan Faucon and Chris Urish for car owner Tom Casson, and Trey Gropp for Mounce Motorsports.

Urish was victorious in dramatic fashion at the adjacent Magic Mile of the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in 2013, capturing his lone career USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series triumph during the Ted Horn 100 in 2013.

The fifth annual Shamrock Classic includes two past event winners in Justin Grant (2017) and reigning victor Cannon McIntosh.

Justin Grant, the 2017 Shamrock winner, will pilot a car for RAMS Racing. He captured victory one year ago with the Rick Young-owned operation during the Indiana Midget Week round at Gas City I-69 Speedway.

Meanwhile, McIntosh will compete as one of three expected entries from the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team, alongside standout rookie-of-the-year contenders Buddy Kofoid and Daison Pursley.

Five-time series winner Zeb Wise is on the provisional entry list, but is expected to compete in a 410 sprint car in Pennsylvania with Sam McGhee Motorsports.

Each of this year’s two NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series winners are entered for the Shamrock Classic.

Hayward Motorsports will field drivers Tanner Thorson and Gage Rucker. Thorson, the 2016 USAC National Midget champion, was victorious in the USAC season opener at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., in early February.

Chris Windom leads the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series standings entering the event following a victory on the second night of the Winter Dirt Games in Ocala.

The 2016 USAC Silver Crown and 2017 National Sprint Car champion was ninth in his first career Shamrock Classic start a year ago.

Reigning series champion Tyler Courtney, a seventh-place finisher in last year’s event after starting 21st, is entered.

Courtney is also a past victor in USAC midget competition at the sixth-mile indoor dirt oval, capturing the non-points special event Junior Knepper 55 in December of 2016.

Petry Motorsports has filed Shamrock Classic entries for Kevin Thomas Jr., who scored the team’s first two triumphs with the series last year at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and Arizona Speedway, and 2017 USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year Tanner Carrick.

Brady Bacon, the 2014 and 2016 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion, is undefeated thus far in USAC national features in 2020, sweeping both nights of an AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series doubleheader at Bubba Raceway Park in in mid-February.

Bacon is one of just two drivers to have started in the feature event of all four previous editions of the Shamrock Classic, with fourth place finishes in both 2016 and 2017 serving as his best. He also took 14th in 2018 and 18th in his most recent start in 2019.

Oklahoma’s Tyler Thomas, a winner in both AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car and NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition during his career, will drive his familiar No. 91T, entered by Brian Thomas.

Reigning NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year Andrew Layser comes into the event off his best series result of third in Ocala. He finished eighth in his Shamrock debut in 2019.

Tyler Nelson, a USAC regional midget winner at Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway in 2019 and a Shamrock Classic starter in 2018, is entered as well.

He will be joined by last year’s USAC Western States Midget titlist Robert Dalby, five-time USAC Western States Midget champion Ronnie Gardner and 2017 USAC Gulf Coast Midget champ Kyle Jones, all of whom are vying for their first Shamrock Classic starts.

A slightly different format will greet competitors at the Shamrock Classic. No qualifying will be held and officials will set heat race lineups with a “draft,” similar to those used at DuQuoin’s Junior Knepper 55 in 2018 and the 2019 BC39 at the IMS Dirt Track.

To view the complete entry list, advance to the next page.

ORLANDO, Fla. – It wasn’t difficult to assess Brooks Koepka’s mood following an even-par 72 on Day 1 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“Even par. Nothing to get excited about. Nothing to rave about," he said. "It's not far off, but it's still, it's annoying."

The former world No. 1 believes he’s on the right track following an injury-filled off-season, but that didn’t help his outlook after another pedestrian round.

"Just can’t play golf. Can’t score," he said. "When you can’t score it’s tough to really be aggressive, can’t really do anything."

Koepka’s best finish this season on the PGA Tour is a tie for 43^rd at the Genesis Invitational – although he did finish inside the top 20 earlier this year on the European Tour – and he missed the cut last week at the Honda Classic.

The expectations are always high for Koepka but he’s been through similar slow starts in his career and still feels like he’s closer than his scores might suggest. In fact, he suggested how close he was when the former Florida State golfer was asked about the Seminoles football team’s outlook for next season.

“They got a longer way to go than I do,” he said with a smile. “They have got a few years. Hopefully mine doesn't take that long.”

James Rodriguez is worried about his lack of game time at ahead of this summer's Copa America and sources have told ESPN that the Colombia star is upset about his treatment at the hands of Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane.

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James, 28, has not featured under Zidane as much as he would have expected since returning from a two-year loan at Bayern Munich, with communication between the two said to be non-existent.

Although Zidane regularly says that he has all the members of his squad available, it is clear that James's position at Real is not the one desired by the player and that could influence his future in June.

Sources added the player puts in extra training on his own in addition to regular Real Madrid sessions in order to keep his fitness levels high, something which was also confirmed by Colombia coach Carlos Queiroz.

James, whose contract is up in 2021, had the opportunity to leave Real and join Madrid rivals Atletico or switch to Serie A with Napoli last summer, but both moves were blocked by Los Blancos to avoid reinforcing direct rivals and because the club's hierarchy were confident that Zidane would change his mind about the attacking midfielder.

But that has not been the case, despite James' attitude and behaviour being described to ESPN by a source as being exemplary since returning from Bayern.

A series of injuries have disrupted his attempts to feature regularly with his last appearance coming against Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey more than a month ago.

Queiroz said that he was concerned by James's situation in an interview with EFE.

"James's case worries us, we know he is in a difficult situation at the moment," he said. "It is very rare, but the entire coaching staff and I are personally determined to help all players and in particular to help James.

"The quality of James is not doubted, like [Santiago] Arias or [Luis] Muriel, so the situation is not easy. That is why we have devised a discreet job with a strength and conditioning coach to support him."

Colombia face Mexico in a friendly at Denver's Empower Field at Mile High on May 30 as part of their Copa America preparation.

The Copa America begins on June 12 and will be held in Argentina and Colombia.

The Premier League has banned the traditional pre-match handshake between players and officials indefinitely in response to the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, the league announced on Thursday.

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In a statement, the league said it was acting on medical advice.

"Coronavirus is spread via droplets from the nose and mouth and can be transmitted on to the hands and passed on via a handshake," the statement read.

"Clubs and match officials will still perform the rest of the traditional walk-out protocol ahead of each fixture.

"On entering the field of play, the two teams will continue to line up, accompanied by the Premier League music, then players from the home team will walk past their opposition without shaking their hands."