EFL to act after FA bans replays
FOOTBALL: The EFL will seek compensation for its clubs over the “frustrating and disappointing” decision to scrap all FA Cup replays from next season.
League sources say it was sidelined from the decision, which was announced by the Football Association yesterday.
EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “Whilst the league had previously been involved in discussions over the future of the calendar, these were predicated on the agreement of a new financial deal with the Premier League for EFL clubs which has not progressed.
“This is frustrating and disappointing given the calendar is a shared asset across football, and as we have consistently said a whole game approach is required to find solutions to complex fixture scheduling challenges.
“Our domestic calendar has been put under extreme pressure by the expansion of UEFA competitions and ultimately this represents another lost traditional revenue stream for EFL clubs at a time when the financial gap between the biggest clubs and those further down the pyramid is growing bigger than ever.
“We will now be discussing the implications for EFL clubs and seeking appropriate compensation arrangements.”
MOTORSPORT: Lewis Hamilton says “people continue to talk s***” about him amid his worst start to a
Formula One season. The 39-yearold has scored just 10 points from the opening four rounds following his Mercedes team’s misfiring campaign. Hamilton has failed to finish in the top six so far, and crossed the line a distant ninth at the last round in Japan a fortnight ago. Hamilton, who is moving to Ferrari next year, was asked if Mercedes’ early-season troubles vindicated his decision to quit the team, which carried him to six of his record-equalling seven world championships.
“I don’t feel like I need my decision vindicating,” he said. “I know what is right for me, and that hasn’t changed from the moment I made the decision.
“There’s not been a moment that I’ve questioned it, and I’m not swayed by other people’s comments. Even today, there are people continuing to talk s***, and that will continue on for the rest of the year.’’
Hamilton, who was speaking ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix – the first staged there since 2019 – was asked what he meant by “people taking s***”.
“Just read what’s out there,” he replied.
TENNIS: British number one Cameron Norrie booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open with a straight-sets win over home favourite Roberto Bautista Agut.
Norrie secured the 200th tourlevel victory of his career with a 6-4 6-3 success in one hour and 24 minutes and will face Tomas Etcheverry in the last eight.
“On the score it was easy but it was a lot of tough points in there,” Norrie said.
Emma Raducanu claimed an emphatic 6-2 6-1 win over former two-time champion Angelique Kerber in the last 32 of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Fresh from helping Great Britain reach the finals of the Billie Jean Cup at the weekend, Raducanu continued her promising form on clay by breezing past the home favourite.
SNOOKER: History-chasing Ronnie O’sullivan will start the World Snooker Championship against Jackson Page as reigning champion Luca Brecel faces David Gilbert.
The sport’s best take to the green baize at the Crucible from tomorrow, with the winner crowned in Sheffield on Sunday, May 6.
Seven-time world champion O’sullivan begins his quest for an unprecedented eighth title of the modern era against 22-year-old Welshman Page this weekend.
This is frustrating and disappointing given the calendar is a shared asset across football. Trevor Birch