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Twelve European Clubs Announce Launch of Disputed Super League

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Twelve of Europe’s most powerful clubs announced the launch of a breakaway European Super League on Monday in a potentially seismic shift in the way football is run but faced accusations of greed and cynicism.

Six Premier League teams — Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham — are involved, alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan.

The ESL said the founding clubs had agreed to create a “new midweek competition” but would continue to “compete in their respective national leagues”.

It said it hoped the inaugural edition would start “as soon as practicable”.

Three more founding clubs would be announced, the ESL said in a statement, with a further five places up for grabs through a qualifying system each year.

Crucially, the 15 initial members would be guaranteed qualification every season.

Clubs would be split into two groups of ten, playing each other home and away. The top three in each group would qualify for the quarter-finals and the teams in fourth and fifth would play a two-legged play-off for the two remaining spots.

Then the competition would adopt the same two-leg knockout format used in the Champions League before a single-leg final in May.

In terms of the financial draw for clubs, organisers said they would receive “solidarity payments” that would be “substantially higher than those generated by the current European competition”.

For signing up to the new league, “Founding Clubs will receive an amount of 3.5 billion euros solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the COVID pandemic,” the statement added.

– ‘Cynical project’
The ESL clubs were accused of greed, criticised by the leaders of Britain and France, and threatened with international exile.

Despite their pledge to continue playing in their domestic leagues, European football’s governing body UEFA and the three countries’ football authorities warned the clubs would be barred from their national competitions and the Champions League.

“We… will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever,” read a joint statement.

UEFA also threatened that players from the participating clubs “could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams”.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the clubs “must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps”.

With no French team among the initial ESL clubs, President Emmanuel Macron said the plans risked “threatening the principle of solidarity and sporting merit”.

The ESL announcement was timed to pre-empt UEFA’s own scheduled unveiling of reforms to the Champions League on Monday, with an expansion to 36 teams from 32 and two ‘wildcard’ slots expected to be among the plans. There would be a minimum of 10 games for each team.

FIFA expressed its “disapproval” at the Super League plans and called on all parties “to engage in calm, constructive and balanced dialogue for the good of the game.”

The Premier League, the richest in Europe, issued a furious statement.

“Fans of any club in England and across Europe can currently dream that their team may climb to the top and play against the best,” it said.

“We believe that the concept of a European Super League would destroy this dream.”

Arsenal, who currently sit ninth in the Premier League, well off the qualification spots for Europe, hinted at the obstacles ahead, saying “there’s lots more to do to bring the competition to life”.

The European Club Association (ECA) said it “strongly opposes” the Super League.

Juventus, whose president Andrea Agnelli was also chief of the ECA, said the club and its boss had left the body.

The club warned that it “cannot assure that the project will be eventually successfully launched”.

Juventus are facing a battle to finish in the Serie A top four this season and seven-time European champions AC Milan have not played in the Champions League since 2014.

Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez, who was announced as the first ESL president, said the breakaway reflected the big clubs’ wishes.

“Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires,” he said.

Manchester United’s American co-chairman Joel Glazer, who will be a vice-chairman of the Super League, said it “will open a new chapter for European football”.

The clubs also said a women’s version of the competition will be created.

German, French clubs on sidelines
French and German clubs, including reigning European champions Bayern Munich and last season, ‘s beaten Champions League finalists Paris Saint-Germain, were not among the initial ESL clubs.

“We thank those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up to this,” UEFA said.

La Liga president Javier Tebas compared the ESL clubs to drunks leaving a bar at 5:00am “intoxicated with selfishness and a lack of solidarity”.

German Football League boss Christian Seifert said the breakaway could “irreparably damage the national leagues”.

The announcement was also condemned by some supporters’ groups, with Liverpool’s Spirit of Shankly tweeting it was “appalled”.

AFP

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UCL Quarter Final: Arsenal Draw Bayern, Madrid to Play Man City

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Arsenal have been drawn against FC Bayern Munich while Real Madrid will face defending champions Man City in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

The draws are as follows:

Q4: Paris Saint Germain vs FC Barcelona

Q3: Real Madrid vs Manchester City

Q2: Atletico Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund

Q1: Arsenal vs Bayern Munich

Here’s the

Winners of Q2 vs Winners of Q4

Winners of Q1 vs Winners of Q3

The eight teams that get past the round of 16 will compete in the draw, with all eight teams likely to face each other as there is no seeding for the draw.

Teams from the same country and teams that played against each other in the competition’s group stage will be allowed to meet in the draw going forward. The host team will draw the first ball, while the visiting team will draw the second.

The semifinal and final routes will also be determined here, as has been the tradition since the 2018–2019 campaign. Thus, the eight qualified teams will be aware of the path required to get to the final.

The quarter-finals will be played on April 9 and 10 for the first leg, while the conclusions will come one week later, on the 16th and 17th of the same month.

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Anthony Joshua Secures Second Round Knockout Against Ngannou

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Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua halted Francis Ngannou’s nascent climb to crossover stardom Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, defeating the mixed martial arts star via second-round knockout.

Joshua (28-3, 25 knockouts) made quick work of Ngannou, ending the fight with a massive right overhand that knocked the Cameroonian out cold. Ngannou (0-2, 17-3 in MMA) was fighting in his second professional boxing match after claiming the UFC heavyweight crown in 2021.

“It is what it is,” Joshua said on the DAZN broadcast after the match. “When I saw the fight between Francis and Tyson Fury, I realized he could fight. And I wanted a piece of that. He’s an inspiration. He’s a great champion and this result doesn’t take anything away from his capabilities.”

Ngannou’s October bout against Fury, the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, went decidedly different. The 37-year-old MMA star entered that match as a substantial underdog but dropped a stunned Fury with a left hook in the third round. After 10 frames, Fury escaped with a controversial split decision victory on the scorecards.

Ngannou had said boxing was his first love before he discovered MMA. But that showing in his professional boxing debut sparked excitement.

Ahead of Friday’s fight, Joshua said he would not underestimate Ngannou as some believed Fury had. His coach, Ben Davison, said Ngannou carried a “false sense of confidence” into the match.

He landed a powerful right jab to drop Ngannou late in the first round. Joshua connected with the right hand to drop him again in the second round. Seconds after Ngannou returned to his feet, Joshua delivered a crushing right overhand that flattened his opponent on the canvas. Ngannou was given oxygen by the ringside doctors and regained consciousness.

“I told him he shouldn’t leave boxing,” Joshua said of Ngannou. “He can do well. He’s fought two of the best.”

For Ngannou, a decisive defeat potentially bruises his chances of a rematch against Fury, who is scheduled to face Oleksandr Usyk on May 18 for the undisputed heavyweight title. After leaving the UFC for the rival Professional Fighters League last year, Ngannou is scheduled to return to the cage to face Renan Ferreira in what will be his PFL debut and his first MMA bout since January 2022.
Usyk defeated Joshua in 2021 to capture his title belts, then repeated the feat in 2022 to retain them. Promoter Eddie Hearn has said the winner of Friday’s match will face the winner of the May 18 fight, opening the door for a potential blockbuster fight between Joshua and Fury, which Hearn has failed to secure in the past.

“My team will shape my future,” Joshua said. “I’m just here to fight. I will go back to my cage and lock myself away and I will come back when it’s time to fight.”

Source: WashingtonPost

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Eguavoen Takes Over Super Eagles As Paseiro Resigns

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Follwing the resignation of Jose Paseiro as Coach of the Super Eagles, former Nigerian coach and captain, Augustine Eguavoen, is reportedly set to be appointed as interim coach.

Nigeria’s national team job became vacant after February 29, 2024, when Peseiro’s contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officially expired.

The Portuguese tactician took over 18 months ago and led the Super Eagles to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2024) in the Ivory Coast.

He was, however, unable to end the country’s 10-year trophy drought as Nigeria lost 2-1 to hosts Ivory Coast in the final.

Afrik Foot reports that Eguavoen is in line to be appointed as the interim coach of the Super Eagles.

The 58-year-old has prior experience in managing the national team, having acted as its technical director from 2020 to 2021.

He has also served as caretaker coach of the Super Eagles in two different spells – first in 2010 and again from 2021 to 2022.

During his second spell as caretaker boss, Eguavoen guided Nigeria to a round of 16 finish at AFCON 2021 but could not lead them to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup after the Super Eagles were beaten by rivals Ghana in the playoffs.

Though the Portuguese born tactician had an option to renew the contract, he chose to resign from the job.

afrik.foot.com

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