La Liga to get private equity cash injection
MADRID: Spain’s top football clubs including Real Madrid and Barcelona would get lucrative cash infusions under a proposed 2.7 billion euros ($3.2 billion) deal between the country’s top league and a private equity firm known for buying into sports bodies.
The deal sparked a bout of transfer speculation in local media, including that it could help finance eyecatching moves such as top France striker Kylian Mbappe joining Real Madrid, though La Liga said the funds would mostly be for investment purposes to which it would have to agree.
La Liga said on Wednesday it had agreed in principle a “multipronged” deal with CVC Capital Partners, which used to own Formula One and has bought a stake in rugby’s Six Nations tournament recently, including the 2.7 billion euros cash infusion in return for 10% of its revenue, as well as the creation of a newly formed company housing a range of commercial activities in which CVC would also take a 10% stake.
The deal values La Liga at around 24.2 billion euros in total and, if approved, will fund what it called “structural improvements” while offsetting some of the immediate impact from Covid-19, the league said in a statement.
The league maintains it is not a rescue package to help clubs struggling due to the pandemic but it will provide funding that has been denied to them due to stadiums being empty for games.
The investment is part of the league’s attempt to usurp the global dominance of the English Premier League, which is the world’s richest football competition.
Van Gaal returns for third stint with Netherlands
AMSTERDAM: Louis van Gaal was appointed on Wednesday to his third stint as coach of the Netherlands following the national team’s disappointing showing at the European Championship, signing a deal through to next year’s World Cup in Qatar, the Dutch football federation (KNVB) said Wednesday.
The appointment of the 69-year-old, dubbed the “Iron Tulip”, comes after the resignation of Frank de Boer in June after the Netherlands’ dismal last-16 exit from Euro 2020 by the Czech Republic.
Van Gaal, whose last major job was at Manchester United, first coached Oranje from 2000-2002, when the team failed to qualify for the World Cup. But he had more success the second time, leading the squad to a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
He coached Ajax to the Champions League title in 1995 and also coached Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
In the last seven years since, the Dutch have had seven coaches — Guus Hiddink, Danny Blind, Fred Grim (acting), Dick Advocaat, Ronald Koeman, Dwight Lodeweges (acting) and De Boer — and failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Van Gaal needs to get the team up to speed quickly. The Netherlands plays three World Cup qualifiers in early September, against Norway, Montenegro and Turkey. They currently stand second in Group ‘G’, one point behind leader Turkey.—Agencies
Umar Akmal allowed to resume club cricket
LAHORE: Controversial Pakistan batter Umar Akmal has been allowed to resume club cricket activities as part of his rehabilitation process, which commenced last month.
Umar has been allowed after completing a one-year ban, slapped on him for breaching some clauses of the PCB anti-corruption department’s laws in a spot-fixing scam which surfaced during the Pakistan Super League in February 2020.
A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) media release said on Wednesday that the 31-year-old, who last played international cricket in October 2019, has also been granted permission to participate the in 2021-22 domestic season.
“Umar has shown remorse, attended an anti-corruption lecture and participated in a Q&A session conducted by the Security and Anti-Corruption Department. His rehabilitation programme is expected to conclude next month, following which he will become eligible to participate in the Pakistan domestic cricket season,” the PCB said.—Sports Reporter
BCB confirms New Zealand T20 series
DHAKA: New Zealand will play five Twenty20 Internationals in Bangladesh in September, the national board announced on Wednesday.
The Black Caps will arrive in Dhaka on Aug 24 for the series, scheduled for Sept 1-10, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said. All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The series was confirmed one day after a planned visit by England in September-October was pushed back to March 2023.
The postponement makes it possible for players from both Bangladesh and England to take part in the Indian Premier League.—AFP
MCC to honour Heyhoe Flint with Lord’s gate
LONDON: England women’s cricket great Rachael Heyhoe Flint is to have a gate at Lord’s, the home of cricket, named after her it was announced on Wednesday.
A statement from ground owners Marylebone Cricket Club coincided with the 45th anniversary of the first women’s ODI to be held at Lord’s, in which Heyhoe Flint, who died aged 77 in 2017, led out England Women on to the main ground at the northwest London venue for the first time, to face Australia Women on Aug 4, 1976.
By renaming the North Gate, the Heyhoe Flint Gate, MCC have ensured she becomes the first woman to have part of Lord’s named after her.
Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2021
