SOCCER
Real Madrid boycott
Real Madrid lashed out at the Copa del Rey final referees on the eve of yesterday’s match, labeling complaints about pressure from the club’s television channel “unacceptable” and boycotting all planned prematch activities in protest. Real Madrid refused to take part in the usual press conference, the open training in front of media, the traditional presidents’ dinner and a pre-match photo-call. This week, the club’s television channel aired a video attacking the referee for the final at La Cartuja in Seville. Madrid took particular issue with the final’s VAR referee Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes suggesting referees were “united” and looking to take collective action against the pressure they had received from Real Madrid TV. Madrid said his words had “a threatening tone” and suggested action would be taken that was “far removed from the principles of fairness, objectivity and impartiality” necessary for the final. Los Blancos published an open letter in February claiming Spanish refereeing was “rigged” and “completely discredited.”
SOCCER
Chelsea’s high hopes
Chelsea have a mountain to climb as they seek to overturn a 4-1 deficit against Barcelona today to reach the Women’s Champions League final. The two clubs are meeting at the semi-final stage of the competition for the third straight year. Barcelona have come out on top both times, going on to lift the trophy on both occasions. Last week’s painful defeat was just the second under Bompastor, who took over from Emma Hayes at the end of last season. Chelsea bounced back on Wednesday, beating Crystal Palace 4-0 to move within touching distance of a sixth successive Women’s Super League title. However, they have never won the Women’s Champions League — they finished as runners-up to Barcelona in 2021 and have lost four times at the semi-final stage. Chelsea have won only two of their previous 11 semi-final matches, while Barcelona have never lost a Women’s Champions League tie after winning the first leg. The winners would meet Arsenal or Lyon in the final in Lisbon on May 24.
RALLY
Drivers agree on swearing
World Championship Rally drivers have resolved a dispute with the sport’s governing body over when they can swear during a competition. The World Rally Drivers Alliance (WoRDA) had protested after Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux was fined 10,000 euros (US$11,364), with a further 20,000 euros suspended, for swearing in a television interview during Rally Sweden in February. They stayed silent, or spoke only in their own languages, in stage-end interviews at last month’s Kenya Safari Rally. Retired eight-time world champion codriver Julien Ingrassia, representing WoRDA, told DirtFish that a compromise had been reached ahead of this weekend’s round in the Canary Islands. “The rally will now be divided into two zones: one is a controlled zone, one is an uncontrolled zone,” he said. “The latter is based around heat-of-the-moment areas such as stage ends, onboard cars during the stages or on road sections. Controlled sections are, for example, the media zones and the post-event FIA press conferences.” The drivers had argued that the fines were vastly disproportionate to average incomes and budgets in rallying compared with Formula One, with some drivers not full-time professionals.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS