European soccer split as twelve clubs launch breakaway league
LONDON » A group of 12 elite English, Spanish and Italian clubs dramatically split European soccer on Sunday by announcing the formation of a largely-closed Super League. They are leaving the existing UEFA-run Champions League structure despite warnings they could be kicked out of their domestic competitions and face legal action.
The seismic move to shake up the world’s biggest sport is partly engineered by the American owners of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United who also run U.S. franchises in closed leagues — a model they are trying to replicate in Europe.
The power-play came after the rebel clubs reneged on a promise on Friday to back the plan by UEFA — European football’s governing body — to expand the Champions League beginning in 2024. The deal was designed to appease their wishes for more games, seemingly because they couldn’t control the sale of rights to the existing competition.
The Super League plan was first leaked in January but re-emerged this weekend.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez would be the founding chairman of the SL, which said it “intended to commence as soon as practicable” as a 20-team competition playing in midweek like the current Champions League and Europa League.
ARSENAL 1, FULHAM 1 » Arsenal substitute Eddie Nketiah’s equalizer in the final moments crushed Fulham’s hopes of a big win and denied the team a huge boost as it tries to avoid relegation in a draw.
MANCHESTER UNITED 3, BURNLEY » Mason Greenwood’s second-half double and a stoppage-time goal from Edinson Cavani helped Manchester United close the gap on Premier League leader Manchester City to eight points with a win over Burnley.
Motor sports
PALOU SCORES 1ST CAREER INDYCAR WIN IN GANASSI DEBUT » Alex Palou celebrated his move to Chip Ganassi Racing with his first career IndyCar victory by beating a pair of series champions to win Sunday’s season-opening race at Barber Motorsports Park.
The Spaniard used a twostop strategy on the picturesque permanent road course to take control of the race but still had to hold off hard-charging Will Power and Scott Dixon over the closing laps. The 24-year-old beat Power by .4016 seconds to claim his first win in his first race driving for the storied
Ganassi organization.
Dixon, the six-time and reigning IndyCar champion, finished third and was followed by pole-sitter Pato O’Ward, who was on a three-stop strategy.
MIAMI GP TO JOIN F1 CALENDAR FROM 2022 IN 10-YEAR DEAL » There will be two Formula One races in the United States next year with the new Miami Grand Prix added to the calendar from 2022.
Next year’s race will be the first in a 10-year deal and is in addition to the existing grand prix at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
The exact date of the race has yet to be confirmed but Domenicali said it would be in the “second quarter of next year.”
It will be the first-ever F1 race in Miami and the first in Florida since 1959. It will take place at a new circuit in the Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
VERSTAPPEN BEATS HAMILTON IN DRAMATIC EMILIAROMAGNA GP » Max Verstappen eased to victory in an incident-packed EmiliaRomagna Grand Prix as he comfortably beat Lewis Hamilton, who almost crashed out after a rare error from the world champion.
Hamilton hit a wall in a race that was also temporarily suspended following a separate incident involving his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The 23-year-old Verstappen led for the majority of the race on the wet Imola track and the Red Bull driver beat Hamilton by 22 seconds for the 11th win of his career.
Tennis
TSITSIPAS WINS MONTE CARLO MASTERS WITHOUT DROPPING A SET »
Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Monte Carlo Masters without dropping a set, beating Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday for his first title this year
and sixth overall.
Fourth-seeded Tsitsipas was in dominant form as he edged 4-3 ahead of the sixth-seeded Russian in their career meetings, having also beaten him on clay last year in the French Open quarterfinals.
“I had an unbelievable week. It is incredible that I am able to be in the position that I am ... I would consider it as the best week of my life so far,” Tsitsipas said. “There were a lot of nerves coming into that match. Playing Andrey was a very difficult thing to do today, also considering that it was a final. I am definitely proud of the way I managed to behave on the court.”
Tsitsipas also clinched his first Masters title.
NBA
SPURS FINED FOR VIOLATING RESTING RULES IN GAME THEY WON »
The NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs $25,000 for violating the league’s player resting policy — in a game the Spurs won by 26 points.
The Spurs sat DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Jakob Poeltl to give them rest on Saturday night in Phoenix. It didn’t matter, as six Spurs players scored in double figures in a 111-85 rout of the Suns.
According to the league’s resting policy, teams should not rest multiple healthy players for the same game. When they do rest healthy players, it is supposed to be in home games.
MLB
YANKEES’ JAY BRUCE, 34, RETIRES JUST WEEKS INTO 14TH SEASON »
Jay Bruce had seen enough. Having made the New York Yankees’ opening-day roster, he couldn’t stomach his poor start to the season.
So the three-time All-Star outfielder decided to retire Sunday, just 15 days past his 34th birthday.
He hit .118 with one homer and three RBIs in 39 plate appearances this year.
Bruce had a .244 average with 319 homers and 951 RBIs in 14 major league seasons with Cincinnati (200816), the New York Mets (2016-18), Cleveland (2017), Seattle (2019), Philadelphia (2019-20) and the Yankees.
Golf
PGA TOUR » Stewart Cink shot a steady, stress-free 70 to cap off a dominant, record-breaking week and win his third RBC Heritage title.
The 47-year-old Cink finished at 19-under 265 at Harbour Town, four better than Emiliano Grillo and Harold Varner III. Grillo shot a 68 while Varner, who had the highest finish of his career, fired a 66.
He joined Bryson DeChambeau as the only twotime winners this season and continued his resurgence on the PGA Tour at a time when many pros his age are looking ahead to the PGA Tour Champions.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS » Steve Stricker figured someone could come out of the pack with a low score and win the Chubb Classic on Sunday, and it turned out to be him.
Stricker closed with a 5-under 67, taking control with a wedge into 3 feet for birdie on the 16th hole. That carried him to a one-shot victory in Naples, where the 54-year-old from Wisconsin makes his winter home. LPGA TOUR » Lydia Ko ended nearly three years without a victory by closing with a 65 to win the Lotte Championship by seven shots in an LPGA Tour event that ended Saturday.
Ko torched Kapolei Golf Club and finished at 28-under 260.
It brought back vivid memories of the teenager from New Zealand who became the youngest player to reach No. 1 in the women’s world golf ranking in 2015. She also is the LPGA’s youngest-ever winner, major champion and player of the year.