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One city to host Champions League & Europa League games

European football’s governing body, UEFA, is aiming to complete this season’s Champions League and Europa League competitions by playing all rounds from the quarter-finals onwards in one host city.

Initially Istanbul was to host the Champions League Final with Gdansk in Poland the host city chosen for the Europa League Final but this looks set to change.

Speaking to Spanish radio today, Getafe president Angel Torres, said:

“UEFA’s idea is to play the Champions League and Europa League, starting from the quarter-finals, across one match in one venue although nothing has been confirmed yet. They will come to a decision on 17th June”.

From the group stages of both competitions onwards, each round, except the final, is held across two matches, one played at home and the other away.

According to Torres:

“A variety of options are being looked at and no decisions have been made at this stage.”

Six of the first leg last-16 games in the Europa League took place before UEFA stopped its competitions in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Inter Milan v Getafe and Sevilla v AS Roma were both postponed.

Though Atletico Madrid, Paris St Germain, Atalanta and RB Leipzig have booked their places in the last eight of the Champions League, the second legs of four last-16 ties in that competition have to be completed.

Covid-19 tests at 4 SSE Airtricity League clubs return negative results

All the Covid-19 tests carried out on players and staff at four SSE Airtricity League clubs have returned negative results according to the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

The first batch of tests was carried out last Monday at Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City and Bohemians.

FAI Interim Deputy CEO Niall Quinn welcomed the negative test results, stating:

“This is most welcome news and a very positive step as we work with Government, their agencies and all stakeholders in the game towards a safer return for all of Irish football.”

The players and staff from the same four clubs will be tested again next Monday ahead of a planned return to training on 8th June, as part of the pilot programme to ensure a safe return for football.

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is “very much part of our plans” says European Tour boss

The European Tour has confirmed a number of dates for a revised schedule, with action beginning on 22nd July.

With the European Tour not yet confirming a new date for the 2020 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, its chief executive Keith Pelley has assured Irish golf fans that the Irish Open is part of the Tour’s plans.

“The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is still absolutely critical and is very much part of our plans”, the chief executive confirmed. “I don’t want you to think that the Irish Open, because it is not part of this announcement, is less important, because that would give you the wrong message.”

Mr. Pelley stressed the importance of the Irish event to the European Tour, stating:

“It is hugely important to us. So much so that we have three or four date options for it. We could have announced it today but it wouldn’t have been 100% and I didn’t feel comfortable with that.”

European golf to resume on 22nd July

European Tour golf will resume on 22 July with a run of six tournaments over six weeks in Britain.

Golfing action ceased on 8th March due to the coronavirus pandemic but now it has been confirmed that the British Masters at Close House near Newcastle will be the opening tournament of the revised schedule in July.

The season will now run until December, with all tournaments played behind closed doors and subject to strict safety and testing protocols.

The other British-based tournaments confirmed are the English Open at Forest of Arden, the English Championship at Hanbury Manor, the Celtic Classic at Celtic Manor, the Wales Open, also at Celtic Manor, and the UK Championship at The Belfry.

Four Rolex Series events have also been announced. The Scottish Open and PGA Championship will be played in October, while the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the World Tour Championship will take place in December.

Racehorse purchaser Ross Doyle fears Covid-19 could do more damage to racing than 2008 recession

Ross Doyle, renowned purchaser of top-class thoroughbred racehorses, has spoken of his concern for the horse racing industry due to Covid-19, believing the crisis will do more damage to the industry than the 2008 recession.

“We don’t want to get too negative with so many people’s livelihoods at stake,” admits Doyle, “but unfortunately it is now reality. We’re going to be looking at a very similar situation to this (the 2008 financial crisis), in fact it might be slightly worse. It’s going to be very tough but, in our game, there’s an unbelievable amount of resilient people, a great community that gets together and pulls for each other. And, that’s going to stand the bloodstock and racing industry in great stead.”

Doyle, who purchased 2019 National Hunt winners Lostintranslation and Reserve Tank, believes everyone will not be able to bounce back from this international crisis:

“Not everyone is going to be able to bounce back, if we’re being realists about it. As long as we can hang in there for now and get a bit of clarity from higher up. Listen, there’s health workers out there, people losing loved ones and that is obviously a lot more important at the moment.”

Doyle, whose horses won 267 races in 2019, says he feel people are scared of making the wrong decision about racing and that’s why it’s important to have as much knowledge as possible before making any call:

“I know we’re all chomping at the bit and there are livelihoods at stake, but it’s important that we make right decision. Once the season is back, whether that be racing or sales, it can drive on quietly and nicely under the radar, but also giving people a sense that they are back to normal slightly; and hopefully long term we might get out of this quicker than we thought.”

Ross Doyle hopes that by pushing the schedule back six to eight weeks might give some people the chance to rejuvenate:

“I don’t want to be too negative, but it’s likely we’ll be pushing the schedule back about 6-8 weeks. We could also see the yearlings pushed back six to eight weeks, with the way things are going it’s likely a lot of stuff will just be getting pushed back further than this.

“It might not be a bad idea to give racing people the chance to rejuvenate themselves slightly. The most important people in racing are the owners, if they get a bit of excitement back something to look at with horses running, it’ll probably be a lot different.”

Thanks to Betfair for their assistance with this article.

Cork Club Together 4 Pieta on Saturday, 30th May

The Cork Senior football panel and management team will be invloved in an initiative tomorrow, Saturday, 30th May, to raise funds for Pieta House, the suicide and self-harm crisis centre.

The Cork panel and management will run the required distance it takes to run through each of the 24 clubs involved in the senior football set-up in the county, with each individual set to run about 10 kilometres.

The Cork captain Ian Maguire from St Finbarr’s will begin the run, with players set to run the total of 432km between them over the course of the day, finishing back with the team manager Ronan McCarthy in Douglas.

Cork football captain Ian Maguire said of the fundraiser:

“It was inspiring and heart warming to see the nation wide support for Pieta in absence of their main fundraiser Darkness Into Light, but we the Cork footballers recognise that we can not rely on one event to fund such an essential service.”

The fundraising campaign has a Go Fund Me page called “Cork Club Together 4 Pieta” on social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Pat Duffy of Pieta House said the cancellation of the “Darkness into Light” event this year due to covid-19 has been a major financial loss for the organisation, as “last year (it) accounted for €6 million which represents 45% to 50% of our annual fundraising.”

All services in Pieta House are completely free and we depend on the community for our funding. Overall, our annual funding from the community accounts for in excess of 80%.

Donations can be made at gofundme.com/f/corkclubtogether4pieta

Pieta House offers a confidential, free of charge counselling service in 15 centres around the country, and can be contacted on 1800 247 257 or text Help to 51444. 

Stevo raises 45,000 euro for Irish Wheelchair Association

Another remarkable story we have to just give credit to Steven Goggins also known as Stevo is currently raising funds for the Irish Wheelchair Associations and is now approaching his 45,000 euro target. The link to the fundraising page can be found below.

Please support

Steven, suffered a spinal injury in 2005 which left him using a wheelchair and crutches for life. Steven though has come out to do an amazing gesture. He has decided to cycle 5k on a real bicycle to raise the funds. As we all know the Irish Wheelchair Association and all of it’s frontline workers are doing incredible work at the moment and always have done in fact. Their assisted living workers are currently going to people’s homes, the most vulnerable in society to assist them with their daily activities, chores, and personal hygiene care. The community outreach team of the Irish Wheelchair Association is also providing support for those alone due to the current restrictions in place.

They are also delivering care packages to those who need them most, setting up Skype accounts to keep those in touch with family and friends, while also setting up virtual tea parties and online dancing lessons. Steven has decided to raise money to help the Irish Wheelchair Association which needs 2 million euros every year to keep such services running. Without this funding, frontline workers wouldn’t be able to help the elderly during this time. The COVID 19 pandemic has put a halt on various fundraising events for the Association. In addition, all of the charity shops the organization runs are shut.

Steven deserves massive recognition for doing this and we just hope you can all donate as much as you can to such a worthy cause.

Cricket season delayed till August in UK

The England and Wales cricket season will be delayed till August in the UK until at least August 1st. The season was due to start on 12th of April but in fact was postponed until May 28th. However, this was then extended till July 1st.

The delay will now mean that 10 rounds of the county championship will have to be played at a later date. The T-20 blast will also not occur and the One-Day Cup will also be halted. The English Cricket Board have stated that it will try it’s utmost to create windows for red and white ball competition. However, the options for this will be planned by the Professional Game Group. Options as such may include splitting counties into regional groups, playing matches behind closed doors and social distancing measure put in place.

Additionally, the Guardian.com report that the season could potentially run into October. The T20 Blast and first class cricket will be played in three regional groups. In terms of first class cricket, teams will play each other once in their six team pool .The two teams with the most points at the top of the table across the three pools will then meet in the final. The T20 Blast could see teams play 10 games, 5 at home and 5 away. The three table toppers and next best side meeting for a finals day.

The English Cricket Board Chief Executive, Tom Harrison said the ECB is “hopeful of domestic and recreational cricket this season”. Harrison also addressed childrens cricket, he said, “As children start returning to school in the coming weeks, we look forward to exploring how those guidelines and learnings can be deployed for cricket,”.

 

Boxing and MMA events to resume in Las Vegas

Boxing and MMA events will resume in Las Vegas from this weekend after the Nevada state lifted a combat sports ban.

The BBC report that all events will be behind closed doors in order to stop the spread of Covid 19. MMA will return on Saturday to the Apex which will be headlined by fighters Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns in a welterweight bout. It is also expected boxing events will return on June 9th.

Combat sports have been suspended since the 12th of March when we were in the midst of the pandemic. Deadline.com report that the states athletic commission have sanctioned two UFC events as well as two Top ranking boxing shows. In addition, some casinos on the Strip have also been told they can reopen by the Nevada state governor.

On Tuesday the governor said that sporting events and casinos could reopen if they follow strict social distancing and other protocols. These protocols as such include hand sanitising, temperature checks, frequent handwashing and social distancing. In terms of casinos they will also have to change decks of cards regularly, limits on slot seating and table games spacing. Steve Sisolak, Nevada governor said, “I don’t think you’re going to find a safer place to come than Las Vegas by June 4, with the protocols that we’ve put in place, than the testing that we’ve put in place, with the contact tracing that will be in place by that time.”Not all amenities will re-open however. Most restaurants will continue to remain closed, as will bowling alleys, cafes, pools and clubs.

New rugby rules for Covid 19 approved

World Rugby have approved new rugby rules owing to Covid 19. BBC report that the rules will drastically reduce the number of scrums in a game, limiting numbers in the maul, removing the choke tackle and speeding up rucks are just 10 of the optional laws trials which were approved.

RTE Sport say that unions can apply to use one or more of the temporary law amendments in line with the World Rugby protocol on play to guidance. The World Health Organisation have supported the new laws and were considered by a law group which consisted of coaches, players, medics, match officials and law specialists on the back of analysis of 60 games. World Rugby said in a statement the trials will “provide limits to scrum options with no scrum resets, limits for players joining rucks and mauls, time to play the ball at the base of scrums and rucks reduced from five to three seconds and only one movement permitted for a maul.”

Bill Beaumont said that the health and well-being of the rugby family is paramount. He said, “We have extensively evaluated the perceived risk areas within the game in partnership with our unions”. World Rugby have also that contact exposure could be resumed between the tight 5 by more than 30%. They also said ruck exposure will decrease by 25% and maul exposure by around 50%.

In addition to the 10 laws outlined above, hygiene measures will also be in place. Hand and face sanitisation will be required, before and after games. Furthermore, the rugby ball will also be washed, before, during and after a game. Teams will be required to change their kits at half time. Teams will be asked not to huddle and celebrate in terms of close contact. Spitting and nose clearance is also not recommended. World Rugby have said that scrum practice should be done by machine rather than team mates. High transmission training such as scrummaging and mauling should be avoided for 48 hours after a game. The full list of these hygiene measures can be found here

 

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