VIVO BACK AS IPL SPONSORS

Chinese mobile manufacturing giants Vivo will be back as Indian Premier League’s title sponsors for the 2021 edition, confirmed the tournament’s chairman Brijesh Patel on Thursday.

“Vivo is back with us,” Brijesh said during his opening address at the IPL auction here.

The announcement has put an end to the speculation that Vivo was looking to exit the five-year deal worth `2,199 crore.

The IPL chairman also confirmed that the upcoming edition will most likely see fans return to the stadium. “We can’t wait to have fans back in attendance. We held one season behind closed doors in the UAE, now most likely fans will be in attendance,” Brijesh said.

Porto (Portugal), Feb. 18: Cristiano Ronaldo’s first game for Juventus in his native Portugal ended in 2-1 defeat as FC Porto out-played the Italians for much of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16, first leg tie.

Such was Juve’s lacklustre performance that coach Andrea Pirlo claimed his team handed victory to their hosts on “a silver platter”.

Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi put Porto ahead after just a minute at Estadio do Dragao following a Rodrigo Bentancur error.

And Mali striker Moussa Marega added a second straight after the break.

But Federico Chiesa pulled a goal back with eight minutes to go to keep Juventus afloat with the second leg in Turin on March 9.

It was a below-par performance by Juventus,chasing their third Champions League title and first in 25 years. —