Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan will stage a new competition called the 'European Solidarity Cup' in 2021 to raise money for medical facilities in Italy and Spain.
The three clubs will play each other in a round-robin group, with Inter against Bayern held in Milan, Real facing Inter in Madrid and Bayern hosting Real in Munich.
Proceeds from the fixtures will be donated to medical facilities in Italy and Spain, two of the world's worst-hit countries by the coronavirus pandemic.
The aim is "to send out a message of solidarity and fraternity to the people of Europe", said a statement from Real Madrid.
Dates for the tournament have not been decided. The timing will "depend on the match calendar and when football can be played in front of fans again", the clubs said.
Bayern will invite 5,000 nurses, carers and doctors to the Allianz Arena for their match against Real Madrid.
"Nurses, carers and doctors in particular are doing an outstanding job for society at the moment," said ..

Real Madrid, Bayern and Inter Milan to launch European Solidarity Cup

PTI Automatic

Cricket Australia rushed into introducing cost-cutting measures and it should delay the slashing of grants of state associations till a clearer picture emerges about India's upcoming tour, feels New South Wales (NSW) bosses.
CA, led by chief executive Kevin Roberts, had claimed that it has suffered a AUD 20 million (10.6 million pounds) fall in revenue due to COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of its cost-cutting measures, the governing body had furloughed about 80 percent of its staff and is currently pushing member states to agree to a 25 per cent cuts to their grants, besides being in talks with players about adjusting pay.
Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon and chairman John Knox in an email to its staff and other stakeholders said it will wait to understand if cost reduction was required.
"Cricket Australia has proposed a 25 per cent reduction to its distributions to each state and territory for the upcoming 2020/21 season," the email was quoted as saying by 'the Age'.
"We are ...

CA's decision to reduce state grants should be delayed until better understanding emerges: NSW

Manchester United have warned fans to stay away from matches played behind closed doors at Old Trafford if the Premier League restarts amid the coronavirus crisis.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are set to resume small group training on Wednesday as Premier League clubs step up the "Project Restart" plan to finish the season.
But all 92 remaining matches will have to be played in front of empty stands due to the pandemic, leading United to activate a refund or rebate to ticket holders for their remaining home fixtures.
If the Premier League get their wish to play at clubs' normal stadiums rather than at neutral venues, then United will have four home league matches to play.
Aware of the danger of supporters gathering in large groups during the health crisis, United have pleaded with their fans to stay away from matches and watch on television.
"We share your disappointment that you will not be able to watch United in person from within the stadium, but we would encourage you to give your 

Man Utd urge fans to stay away if matches resume

Watford captain Troy Deeney will not return to training this week over fears he could pass coronavirus on to his five-month-old son.
Deeney has consistently voiced his concerns over the speed with which the Premier League hopes to return to playing matches despite the United Kingdom having the second-highest death toll in the world.
England's top-flight clubs are due to return to training in small, socially distanced groups on Tuesday.
Training will then be stepped up to full contact with the aim of resuming the season by the middle of next month.
"We're due back in this week. I've said I'm not going in. It's nothing to do with financial gain," Deeney said on the Talk The Talk podcast.
"My son is five months and he's had breathing difficulties. I don't want to come home and put him in more danger." All players and staff will be regularly tested, but Deeney highlighted the contradiction of contact sport returning at a time when the public are told to continue following social ...

Watford captain Deeney refuses return to training

Lack of experience, especially in Tests, will pose a "huge challenge" for Indian umpires when they get down to officiate in the post COVID-19 pandemic scenario, feel current and former officials.
The ICC Cricket Committee on Monday recommended the appointment of local match officials (umpires and match referees) in the short-term to avoid international travel in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With S Ravi dropped from the ICC elite panel of umpires last year, there is no Indian in the premier category from which match officials are usually picked for Tests.
The lower rung -- ICC international panel of umpires -- has four Indians but only one of them, Nitin Menon (3 Tests, 24 ODIs, 16 T20s), has experience of the longest format and that too has not come in high-pressure games.
The other three -- C Shamshuddin (43 ODIs, 21 T20s ), Anil Chaudhary (20 ODIs, 20 T20s) and Virender Sharma (2 ODIs and 1 T20) -- have no Test experience but they are in line to officiate a five-day game ...

ICC Cricket Committee's call on using only local umpires poses huge challenge for Indian officials

Manchester United says it will refund fans with season tickets for the games they won't be able to attend during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Premier League season was suspended in March with United fifth in the standings. United has four home games left.
The club wrote to season ticket holders to say we share your disappointment that you will not be able to watch United in person from within the stadium, but we would encourage you to give your continued loyal support from the comfort and safety of your home.
Clubs are pushing to be allowed to play at their usual stadiums rather than in neutral venues as the police wanted.
United is asking fans for their "co-operation not to travel to any stadiums at which we are playing on matchdays.

Man United to refund season ticket holders

Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan will play a series of friendlies next year to raise money for medical facilities in Italy and Spain.
The three round-robin games have been dubbed the European Solidarity Cup and thousands of medical staff and carers will get tickets for their work fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Dates for the games will be set when the calendar for 2021 is clear and fans are allowed back into stadiums.

Madrid, Bayern, Inter to play for charity

Disgraced former American cyclist Lance Armstrong has revealed he first started doping from the age of 21, during his first season as a professional.
"Wow, straight to the point, probably 21," Armstrong replied when asked how old he was when he first doped as part of an ESPN documentary.
The exchange with US journalist Marina Zenovich appeared in a 90-second trailer released on Monday for a two-part documentary called "Lance" which will be broadcast by ESPN on May 24 and 31.
During the clip, in which former US Postal Service team-mates Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie respond to the same question about performance-enhancing drugs, Armstrong, now 48, explains there are "a bunch of ways to define doping".
"The easiest way to define it is breaking the rules. Were we getting injections of vitamins and other things like that at an earlier age? Yes, but they weren't illegal. I always asked (what I was being given). I always knew, and I always made the decision on my own," he said.
"Nobody 

Lance Armstrong admits to first doping 'probably at 21'

Tyson Fury has set his sights on emulating Wladimir Klitschko's sustained dominance as the British fighter warned he can remain a world champion until he retires.
Klitschko was the undisputed world champion for over four years until Fury earned a shock win against the Ukrainian in 2015.
Fury was unable to defend those titles amid mental health problems, but he has bounced back impressively.
The 31-year-old wants to stay at the top after regaining his WBC heavyweight belt in February with an emphatic win over Deontay Wilder, who he is due to face again once the coronavirus is subdued.
"I've won every single belt in boxing. From the English title to becoming the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world. All done, all finished. Considered the best, done," Fury told Sky Sports on Tuesday.
"If I don't box again, I'm happy, but if I do box again, then I continue to box. If we get past this thing, which hopefully we will, then we're going to keep boxing and just keep taking on ...

Fury plans to emulate Klitschko's longevity

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to training with Juventus in Turin on Tuesday after an absence of over two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 35-year-old drove himself into the Juventus Training Centre in a Jeep with tinted windows.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner will undergo medical and physical tests before joining up with his teammates in training, according to media reports.
Juventus players returned to individual training on May 4, the day Ronaldo returned to Italy after spending lockdown in his native Portugal.
For the past two weeks, he has been in quarantine in his villa in Turin.
Ronaldo played in Juventus's last Serie A game before the season was suspended, a 2-0 win over Inter Milan behind closed doors at the Allianz Stadium on March 8.
Italy has been one of the countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 32,000 deaths.
Juventus are leading Lazio by one point as they target a ninth consecutive Scudetto.
Ronaldo is the first Juventus foreign ...

Ronaldo back training at Juventus after two months

Australian Rules footballers have reportedly been told to limit their sexual partners to minimise the chances of COVID-19 disrupting plans for a season restart next month.
AFL officials have told players that one-night stands will not be banned but they could be punished if they engage in risky behaviour such as a string of hook-ups, Melbourne's Herald-Sun reported.
"I think what it is saying is calm down a bit guys and just keep the visitors down to a minimum," Collingwood club president Eddie McGuire told radio station Triple M.
"There's no point going through this if randoms (sexual encounters) are coming from everywhere." The AFL intends to resume on June 11 and has implemented strict health protocols for players.
However, Melbourne player Jake Lever said some of his teammates were not happy with what one media outlet has described as the "bonk ban".
"It doesn't really affect me. I've got a little baby at home and a wife so lucky for me, I'm pretty happy," he told the ...

Aussie rules Romeos warned over one-night stands: report

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has underlined the importance of trust in creating a strong relationship between coaches and players, saying it plays a major role in helping them discuss their insecurities.
"I think trust is a major factor, it could be a mental conditioning coach, or it could be skill coach," Bangar said on Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.
"It's very important for a coach and player to form that sort of a relationship wherein the player can confide his insecurities with the coach and be rest assured that whatever has been conveyed to the coach or the inner most feelings of a player does not really go outside the two of them."
Talking about mental conditioning coaches, Bangar said: "The coaches tend to double up as mental conditioning coaches primarily for the reason that they spend a lot of time with the players and number two is the trust that a player enjoys with a particular coach."
The 47-year-old former all-rounder served as the batting coach of ...

Trust is major factor, helps players to discuss insecurities with coaches: Bangar

Indian distance runner Prajakta Godbole, who was struggling to make a living due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown, has finally got the much needed support from the state authorities.
PTI had highlighted the plight of Prajakta, who resides at Sirsapeth slum here, during the lockdown. Her father is a paralytic and mother was rendered jobless.
The help was rendered by Shiv Sena, which is currently one of the ruling parties in the Maharashtra government.
Shiv Sena Nagpur city chief Prakash Jadhav told PTI that after party president and Chief Minister Udhhav Thackrey came to know about Godbole, it was conveyed to him to do the needful through their office bearers (Sampark Pramukhs).
"A few days ago, we provided ration and a small amount of Rs 16,000 to the athlete (Godbole). We will keep in contact with her and provide all possible help," Jadhav said on Tuesday.
Prajakta represented Indian Universities in the 5000m race at the World University Games in Italy in 2019. She clocked 

Help pours in for distance runner Godbole

Cristiano Ronaldo has reported back to Juventus' training center after a 10-week absence.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner showed up for medical tests with the Serie A leaders.
Ronaldo observed a two-week isolation period at his home in Turin after spending the lockdown period in his native Portugal.
Ronaldo has not been alongside his teammates since helping Juventus to a 2-0 win over Inter Milan on March 8. He flew to his home island of Madeira, Portugal, after that.
Serie A was suspended a day later when the Italian government ordered a nationwide lockdown. The league is hoping to resume playing on June 13.

Ronaldo reports back for Juventus practice

He earned his India debut after waiting for far too long and Mayank Agarwal says batting great Rahul Dravid's motivating words helped him keep negative thoughts at bay and continue with his quest.
His big moment came when he made his Test debut against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during the 2018/19 series.
"I was getting runs you know. I got massive runs that Ranji Trophy season and for India A. I did have a word with Rahul bhai. I told him I was getting thoughts of sometimes not getting picked," Agarwal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast on ESPNcricinfo.
Agarwal got his international career off to a fine start with a fighting 76 against a high-quality Australian bowling attack.
In 17 innings so far, he has scored 974 runs at an average of 57.29 with three centuries at the top of the order.
But he had to endure a long wait to get there having performed consistently in the domestic circuit for Karnataka. That's when former India captain Dravid, doing duty as the A 

Rahul bhai's words kept me going before India selection: Mayank

West Indies captain Jason Holder has said he won't force his players into travelling to England for a three-Test series amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The West Indies were originally scheduled to play the Test series from June 4 but the fixture had to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
However, the the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) hope they can kickstart the season by rescheduling the series for July.
"Each player has to be comfortable in making the step. It's been made clear if we are to hop on a plane and go over to England to play, it must be safe" Holder told BBC Radio 5.
"Certainly from my perspective, I won't be forcing anyone to go anywhere,"  Holder added.
Last week, ECB director Ashley Giles said they have to create an environment where West Indies and Pakistan both feel safe while travelling to the United Kingdom. He assured that a complete risk assessment would be done before taking the plunge.
"We've been given assurances from Cricket West Indies that we'd 

Won't force players to tour England, says WI skipper Holder

The International Olympic Committee has asked all international federations to finalise the dates of the Tokyo Games qualifiers and help draft contingency plans in advance for all eventualities, including potential cancellations, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month, the IOC set June 29, 2021 as the new deadline for the qualification period of the Tokyo Olympics, which has been rescheduled to next year in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
"As some event dates and locations remain to be determined due to uncertainty over IF (international federations) calendars, we thank you in advance to keep us informed once events, dates and locations start to be confirmed so that these can be included in the qualification systems as soon as possible," the IOC said in a communication dated May 15.
"With the revised qualification systems in place, the IOC Sport Operations Managers will continue to collaborate closely with you to work on potential contingency plans should the nominated Olympic ..

IOC asks international federations to finalise Olympic qualifying events dates

Fifteen years ago in a packed Kuala Lumpur stadium, rising stars Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei met in a final for the first time, setting the stage for what would become badminton's greatest rivalry.
Malaysia's Lee, then 22, fell to the floor, punched the air and blew kisses to the crowd after his see-sawing, 88-minute 17-15, 9-15, 15-9 victory, when he fought back from behind in the first and last games.
"Everyone saw how (Lin) played," said Lee, who was the defending champion, after his win at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium.
"He is excellent in attack and his overhead smashes and forehand crosscourt shots are dangerous. So it is very satisfying to beat him."
It was a fittingly tense start for a match-up that would span two Olympic finals and two world championship deciders, and drew a new generation of fans.
But the match would remain one of the high points for Lee, who lost his four world and Olympic finals against the Chinese great and retired last year without winning either of ..

Lin Dan v Lee Chong Wei: how badminton's great rivalry was born

The Indian men and women's hockey teams have turned tech-savvy in order to maintain social distancing while continuing with their indoor workout regime during the coronavirus-forced lockdown.
The core probable group housed in the Sports Authority of India Centre here suspended high-intensity hockey training in the third week of March following a nationwide lockdown.
Though the coaching staff are also based out of the same facility, to ensure social distancing norms the teams turned to applications that would help disseminate everyday workout schedules to all team members and emphasised on every player using these applications to submit their work load.
"Earlier, these apps were mostly used by coaching staff to plan the week's activities and share it with us," said women's team vice-captain Savita.
"But during lockdown, with social distancing norms in place at SAI, using Google docs for wellness data submission and Google forms for training load submissions became mandatory to update ..

Indian hockey teams turn tech-savvy during lockdown

Throwdown specialist D Raghavendra's ability to rachet up speeds in excess of 150-155 kmph with the sidearm enormously contributed to Indian batsmen's improvement against fast bowling in recent years, acknowledges skipper Virat Kohli.
The sidearm is a cricketing equipment that is shaped like a long spoon, with its far end designed to hold and hurl the ball at great speeds.
"I believe the improvement this team has shown while playing fast bowling since 2013 has been because of Raghu," Kohli said during an Instagram Live session with Bangladesh star Tamim Iqbal.
"He has good concepts about footwork, bat movement of players. He has improved his skills so much that from sidearm he easily hurls the balls at 155 kmph.
"After playing Raghu in nets, when you go into the match, you feel there is a lot of time," Kohli added.
It is no surprise that Raghavendra has been a crucial member of the Indian cricket team's support staff for years now.
Kohli said he never had self doubts at any time, ...

We have improved against fast bowling due to Raghu, says Kohli on throwdown specialist

Australian Cricketers Association's (ACA) chairman Greg Dyer has slammed the national board's "slash and burn approach" to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it will "have disastrous long-term consequences on the health of the game".
Under immense financial stress, Cricket Australia has put 80 percent of its staff on 20 percent salary till end of June, while a handful of others, including the executives, remained on 80 percent pay to cope up with the challenges posed by the pandemic.
The decision saved the board AUD 3 million, which was slammed by critics due to the fact that CA had some AUD 90 million in reserves at the end of March (2020), including 36 million in stock investments.
Dyer also questioned the board's financial policy, saying the game has "yet to experience a significant negative revenue event".
"It saddens me, that for the game that I have loved my whole life, cricket's response to the Covid-19 pandemic is risking an opportunity lost," Dyer said in an ..

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