Fans return for League Cup final
London: Wembley is ready to welcome crowds back later this month after being empty for more than a year. Only local workers and residents will be among the 4,000 spectators allowed into the national football stadium for the FA Cup semifinal between Leicester and Southampton. But the League Cup final between Manchester City and Tottenham has been lined up to also have a limited number of fans of the clubs in a crowd of up to 8,000 in the 90,000-capacity venue.
Torreira wants to leave Europe
Madrid: Arsenal's Uruguay international midfielder Lucas Torreira, who is on loan at Atletico Madrid, says he wants to leave Europe and play for Boca Juniors. The 25-year-old said he came to the decision after his mother died of Covid-19 earlier this week. “The night my mother died, I told my representative that I don't want to play in Europe anymore and I want to come to Boca,” Torreira told ESPN. “It's not a crazy decision because of my mother. I've always said I want to play for Boca. I'm dying to play for Boca.”
Tendulkar hospitalised
Mumbai: Former India captain and batting icon Sachin Tendulkar has been hospitalised as a precautionary measure, six days after he tested positive for Covid-19. The 47-year-old took to Twitter to announce the development on Friday. “Thank you for your wishes and prayers. As a matter of abundant precaution under medical advice, I have been hospitalised. I hope to be back home in a few days. Take care and stay safe everyone,” Tendulkar wrote.
Blind out for season with injury
Amsterdam: Netherlands defender Daley Blind expects to miss the remainder of the club season because of an ankle injury but he hopes to be fit for the European Championship. Blind was hurt during the second half of his country's 7-0 win over Gibraltar in a World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday. “I assume that my season at Ajax is over,” Blind said in a statement by his Dutch club. “I will have an operation next week. If everything goes well during rehabilitation, I hope that I can still make it to the Euros this summer.”
Mbappe, PSG train ahead of lille clash
Paris: PSG trained in the French capital on Friday, on the eve of a potentially title-deciding encounter with Lille at the Parc des Princes. Both sides have 63 points from 30 games, with only PSG's superior goal difference separating them. The champions will go into the game as favourites though, on the back of their remarkable record against Lille winning 16 of the last 21 meetings between the two sides.
Tashkent to host 2023 boxing world's
New Delhi: The 2023 men's boxing World Championships will be held in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent, the AIBA announced on Friday. AIBA President Umar Kremlev confirmed Tashkent as the host city during a visit to Uzbekistan.
Athletic, Sociedad ready for Copa final
Seville: The Basque Country football rivalry is peaking, with Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad meeting twice in less than a week. The fierce rivals will play in last season's delayed Copa del Rey final on Saturday before meeting again four days later in La Liga. Both are still in contention for European spots, but Athletic has a chance to make history as it will also play in the 2021 Copa final in a couple of weeks.
Ronaldo’s armband auctioned for $75K
Budapest: The captain's armband that Cristiano Ronaldo angrily threw to the ground during Portugal's World Cup qualifier in Belgrade last week has been sold to an unidentified bidder for 64,000 euros ($75,000) at a charity auction, Serbian state TV reported on Friday. A Serbian humanitarian group put the blue armband up for online bidding to raise money for medical treatment for a 6-month-old boy suffering with spinal muscular atrophy.