AFP – DORTMUND

Bayern Munich took a huge step towards an eighth straight German Bundesliga yesterday as a sublime Joshua Kimmich chip gave them a 1-0 win at nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund, moving them seven points clear at the top with just six games left.

Kimmich's brilliant goal came just before half-time in this encounter played behind closed doors at the Signal Iduna Park, as Dortmund missed the chance to turn up the heat in the title race without the backing of their huge support.

Bayern had already won 4-0 when the teams met in Munich in November and they kept up their excellent recent record in the 'Klassiker', even if this was a much tighter contest.

Dortmund's star teenage striker, Erling Braut Haaland, who had scored ten goals in as many league games, failed to make an impact against Bayern's watertight defence before going off injured in the second half.

Jerome Boateng and David Alaba gave him no room, while Kimmich and Leon Goretzka in midfield made sure passes intended for him rarely met their mark.

The result means that 11 of

the 19 games played since the Bundesliga returned behind closed doors following the coro-navirus shutdown have been won by the away team.

Things might have been dif-ferent, with Haaland coming close inside the first minute with an audacious attempt through the legs of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer which was cleared off the line by Boateng.

At the other end, Lukasz Pis-zczek cleared a Serge Gnabry shot away from in front of the line, while moments later Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki denied Kingsley Coman.

Bayern were in control, and Kimmich grabbed what proved to be the winner two minutes before half-time when he spotted Buerki off his line and chipped in from 20 yards.

It was the Germany interna-tional's third league goal from outside the box this season.

In an attempt to turn the game around, Dortmund coach Lucien Favre brought on mid-field enforcer Emre Can at the start of the second half and added the pace of Jadon Sancho

on the wing. The home side had a shout for a penalty just before the hour mark when a Haaland shot was deflected wide by the arm of Boateng, but nothing was given.Shortly after, Haaland limped off to be replaced by 17-year-old Giovanni Reyna.

In a last throw of the dice,

Favre brought on 2014 World Cup winner Mario Goetze, who is out of contract next month and set to leave, in the dying stages in the vain hope of grabbing an equaliser.

With time running out, Bayern striker Robert Lewand-owski hit the post.

The league's top scorer then had a strong appeal for a late penalty waved away after a push in the area by Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji.

But the roars of celebration at the end came from the Bayern bench and echoed around the near-empty stadium.

SPORT | 06

Paceman Starc

wants to shine in

post-pandemic

cricket

SPORTPogba and Rashford

available when

action resumes:

Solskjaer

SPORT | 07

WEDNESDAY 27 MAY 2020

PGA, NFL stars attract 6 million viewers in TV matchAP – ATLANTA

Two of the biggest names from the PGA Tour and the NFL proved to be must-see TV.

Turner Sports said the Sunday tel-ecast of “The Match: Champions for Charity” attracted an average of 5.8 million viewers across four of its net-works. Turner says it was the most-watched golf telecast in cable TV history.

It said the previous record was 4.9 million viewers on ESPN at the 2010 Masters, the year Tiger Woods returned to golf for the first time since the scandal in his personal life.

Woods and Peyton Manning scored a 1-up victory over Phil Mick-elson and Tom Brady at Medalist Golf Club, a match that featured high enter-tainment with shots and with words, along with raising $20m for COVID-19 relief funds.

The peak was 6.3 million average viewers from 5:45 to 6 p.m. EDT. That was about the time Brady, who had been lampooned on social media for his golf skills, silenced analyst Charles Barkley by holing out from the fairway for birdie.

It was the second straight Sunday of live golf on television after the pandemic shut down the sport on March 13. The previous week, Rory McIlroy and Dustin

Johnson defeated Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff at Seminole in an exhibition that NBC Sports said attracted 2.35 million viewers across all formats.

The Champions for Charity match was shown on TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN.

The PGA Tour is set to return in two weeks at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Charles Schwab Challenge.

McIlroy and Felix among made-for-TV stationary bike ridersAFP – NEW YORK

World number one golfer Rory McIlroy, NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward and six-time Olympic track champion Allyson Felix are among the sports stars set for a made-for-television spinning class to air on Saturday.

The Pro Athlete All-Star Ride, the latest bid to attract sports viewers with events shutdown during the corona-virus pandemic, will feature a 20-minute men’s and equally long women’s stationary bicycle ride among athletes who are also Peloton members.

Each race will feature eight riders and the one with the highest output number -- a combination of cadence and resistance -- in each race will be declared the winner.

NBA players conducting a shooting contest from their backyards for TV and prime-time shows of mini-golf, obstacle course and tag competitions are among the other unique TV lures attempted for sport-hungry viewers.

The move comes two days after golf stars Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson combined with NFL Super Bowl champion quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to produce a Sunday ratings blockbuster for an 18-hole golf event, the 5.8 million viewers being US cable’s largest-ever golf audience.

Top-ranked golfer McIlroy drew 2.35 million US viewers for a charity Skins Game with three other tour players the weekend before.

McIlroy will be joined in the men’s bike race by fourth-ranked Justin Thomas and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, Boston Celtics forward Hayward, NFL Min-nesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph and US six-time Olympic swim medalist Matt Grevers.

Felix will pedal in the women’s race against two-time Australian Open tennis champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, reigning Olympic tennis champion Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, LPGA golfer Morgan Pressel and Olympic champion gymnast Kyla Ross.

Cilic and Coric to join Djokovic’s Balkan tourREUTERS – BELGRADE

Croatians Marin Cilic and Borna Coric will join world number one Novak Djokovic’s tennis tournament to be played across the Balkans June 13-July 5, the Serb said yesterday.

Their inclusion will com-plete a formidable field also featuring Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov, with the first of four legs set to take place in Bel-grade on June 13 and 14.

The series will then move to Croatia’s coastal resort Zadar, where 2014 US Open winner Cilic and 23-year old Coric will take centre stage in front of their home fans.

“I thank Marin and Borna for joining the tour without asking for any financial compensation,” said Djokovic, the winner of 17

Grand Slam titles who went on an 18-0 run at the start of the season before the stoppage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have known both of them for a long time, they are great guys and we are good friends, so I am really looking forward to meeting up with them in Zadar.

“Marin is one of the best players ever from this part of the world while Borna has the potential to break into the top five on the men’s ATP Tour.”

The final two legs of the tour are provi-sionally to be

held in Montenegro and Bosnia, but Djokovic revealed at Monday’s news conference in Serbia’s capital they might have to be moved if the infra-structure is not completed in time.

Djokovic returned to his hometown Belgrade on Sunday after being stranded in the Spanish resort of Mar-bella for two months, where he was visiting his younger brother Marko when the pan-demic broke out.

All four legs of the tour will feature eight players com-peting in two pools of four on a round-robin basis, with the winners of each pool

advancing to the final.

a round-robin basis, with thewinners of each pool

advancing to the final.

winner Cilic and 23-year old Coric will take centre stage in front of their home fans.

“I thank Marin and Borna for joining the tour without asking for any financial compensation,” said Djokovic, the winner of 17

win

Formula 1 governingbody sets up hotline for whistleblowersREUTERS – LONDON

Formula One’s governing body has set up an online 24-hour ‘ethics and compliance hotline’ for whistleblowers to report suspicious behaviour or concerns of possible misconduct in motorsport.

Formula One is set to introduce a $145m budget cap for the 10 teams next year, with whistle-blowing seen as a component of that.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said yesterday the new platform https://fia-ethicsline.com/index.php would help safeguard “the integrity and reputation of motorsport and automobile mobility worldwide”.

The main areas concern violations of the FIA’s ethical principles, issues related to sporting integrity and/or manip-ulation of competitions and anti-doping regulations.

Full confidentiality will be assured. The FIA also warned that anyone found to have intentionally made a false or misleading claim to create harm could face disciplinary measures, including criminal charges.

Formula One had a controversy last season when the legality of Ferrari’s engine was under scrutiny, with Italian media suggesting a whistleblower had made allegations.

The FIA and Ferrari eventually reached a confidential settlement, to the anger of rival teams.

The budget cap is due to be reduced further to $140m in 2022 and $135m from 2023.

Formula One has a history of whistleblowers providing important information.

A 2009 race-fixing scandal, when Renault were found to have ordered Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash delib-erately to help team mate Fernando Alonso win, featured a whistleblower “Witness X” who had been aware of the plan and opposed it.

“The teams have, in a very crude sense, this internal policing going on because they know that this engineer will move to another team next season and you won’t be able to retain that information,” Formula One’s managing director for motorsport Ross Brawn told SportsPro in March.

Kimmich shines as Bayern win in DortmundHolders in touching distance of eighth consecutive Bundesliga title

Marin Cilic (left) and Borna Coric

GERMAN BUNDESLIGASTANDINGS (TOP 10)

Rank Team Matches Pts1 Bayern Munich 28 642 B Dortmund 28 573 RB Leipzig 27 544 B Leverkusen 27 535 B Mgladbach 27 526 Wolfsburg 27 397 Freiburg 27 378 Schalke 27 379 Hoffenheim 27 3610 Köln 27 34

Dortmund’s Swiss goalkeeper Roman Buerki (right) fails to

stop a goal scored by Bayern Munich’s German midfielder

Joshua Kimmich (not in picture) during their Bundesliga match

played in Dortmund, yesterday.

06 WEDNESDAY 27 MAY 2020SPORT

Sri Lanka suspends fast bowler after drug arrestREUTERS – COLOMBO

Sri Lanka fast bowler Shehan Madushanka has been suspended from all forms of cricket with immediate effect after he was arrested for alleged possession of illegal drugs, the country’s cricket board said yesterday.

The 25-year-old took a hat-trick in his first one-day international against Bang-ladesh in January, 2018, in Dhaka and played two more Twenty20 internationals on that tour before being sidelined with injuries.

He was caught with 2.7 grams of heroin by police on Saturday and then

remanded in custody till June 2, Sri Lanka police said.

“The decision to suspend will remain intact until a full inquiry is conducted by the SLC into the matter,” Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.

Madushanka’s representatives could not be reached for comment.

McLaren chief open to Ricciardo wildcard for Bathurst 1000REUTERS – SYDNEY

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown is enthusiastic about the idea of Daniel Ricciardo racing in the Bathurst 1000 touring car race, even if the Formula One schedule makes it unlikely the Australian could be freed up.

In a move announced two weeks ago, Ricciardo will leave Renault at the end of this season to join British driver Lando Norris at McLaren, Formula One’s second most suc-cessful team.

American Brown, who owns part of the Walkinshaw Andretti United

team which ran a car in last year’s edition of Australia’s most prestigious Supercar race, said he would be delighted to see both drivers on the Mount Panorama track.

“I think they’d both love to do it,” he told Australian TV show Supercars Sidetracked.

“I think people now know I’m a little bit different than most of the team bosses in F1 as I like to see our drivers go out and give it a go at Daytona or Le Mans, things of that nature.

“I think it’ll just come down to schedule and whether they can fit it in the schedule.”

Postponing Ryder Cup to 2021 would be right call: McIlroyREUTERS – LONDON

World number one Rory McIlroy (pictured) believes the Ryder Cup is unlikely to take place this year and postponing the biennial match play event to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic would be the right call to make.

The golf calendar has been decimated by the coronavirus outbreak, with three of the sport’s four majors rescheduled and the British Open cancelled.

The Ryder Cup is due to take place from Sept. 25-27 at W h i s t l i n g Straits in Wis-consin but fans will almost cer-tainly be asked not to attend.

“My personal hunch is that I don’t see how it is going to happen, so I do not think that it wi l l happen,” McIlroy, 31, told BBC.

“I think the majority of players would like to see it pushed back until 2021 so that they can play in front of crowds and have the atmosphere that makes the Ryder Cup so special.

“The players are the ones that make the Ryder Cup. If they are not on board with it and don’t want to play then there is no Ryder Cup. I see it being pushed back until 2021 and, honestly, I think that will be the right call.”

McIlroy previously said the absence of spectators would ruin the spectacle of the Ryder Cup, while Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington admitted it would be for the greater good of the sport for the event to take place this year even with empty

galleries.

Starc wants to shine inpost-pandemic cricketAP – BRISBANE

Mitchell Starc hasn’t picked up a cricket bat or ball in two months, and isn’t exactly sali-vating at the prospect of his new work conditions.

The enforced lock down because of the COVID-19 pan-demic gave the Australian pace bowler and his wife Alyssa Healy, who is the wicketkeeper for the Australian women’s team, a reprieve from their con-stant and sometimes conflicting careers in international cricket.

Starc returns to preseason practice on Wednesday in Sydney, still unclear as to when the Australian team will tour again. One thing is for sure, he won’t be adding extra commit-ments to what likely will be a heavy schedule when cricket resumes.

Starc had already opted out of the Indian Premier League this season, and is unlikely to re-consider even if the lucrative competition is rescheduled to later in 2020.

“It’s hard enough juggling one cricket schedule with three formats let alone when my wife plays cricket on a completely different schedule as well. Something I take into consid-eration heavily is being able to spend time together,” he told a video news conference.

“For us to have that time together, which we have done the last eight weeks, I wouldn’t give that back for a contract at all.”

After a “lazy couple of weeks” Starc and Healy put together a home gym to use for training during the lockdown, and played a lot of golf together.

“Selfishly, it’s been really nice to have a period of time where you can have a home routine and feel pretty normal, in a way,” Starc said.

“There’s bigger and more important things happening around the world. But it’s been really nice to have eight or nice weeks at home doing the little things - a bit o f

house work, cooking together, having that normality in your life that doesn’t come with international cricket schedules.”

Healy, the niece of former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy, was part of the Aus-tralian team that beat India in the final of the Twenty20 Women’s World Cup in front of more than 86,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March. Starc was involved in a limited-overs series against New Zealand that had to be canceled the following week before both countries closed borders and imposed severe travel restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Football leagues are slowly preparing to get underway in Australia. The Australian men’s cricket team is hoping to play a limited-overs series in England in September, and then host India for a series starting in November.

It’s time for Starc to start thinking harder about how he’s going to take wickets under proposed new playing condi-tions that will prohibit the use of saliva to shine the ball. It has long been customary in cricket for players to use spit or sweat to keep one side of the leather ball shiny so that it swings through the air to give bowlers some extra assistance against the batters.

The International Cricket Council has indi-

cated it will be OK to use sweat, but not saliva, to polish the ball - at least in the short term.

Starc, who claims to be a “bit more on the sweat

side, just trying to not get my hands

in my mouth too much,” said any temporary r e g u l a t i o n s that negate any

advantage for bowlers should

be off-set by something else

temporarily to keep the balance between bat and ball.

He said lawmakers should consider either

instructing curators to leave extra grass on the

wickets or allowing the use of an artificial substance to shine

the ball in the specific COVID-19 “window of time.” Artificial substances are outlawed now, but cricket ball manufacturer Kookaburra is developing a wax that could be used to shine the ball instead of saliva. He’s also not opposed to playing at a day-night test with a pink ball against India - provided it’s not for an entire series.

“There needs to be some-thing in place to keep that ball swinging,” said Starc, who has one of the best in-swinging yorkers in cricket.

“There needs to be an even contest between bat and ball, otherwise people will stop watching.

“Kids aren’t going to want to be bowlers - there are some pretty flat wickets, and if that ball is going straight it’s a pretty boring contest.”

give that back for a contract at all.”

After a “lazy couple of weeks” Starc and Healy put together a home gym to use for training during the lockdown,and played a lot of golf together.

“Selfishly, it’s been really nice to have a period of time where you can have a home routine and feel pretty normal, in a way,” Starc said.

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Kyle Busch (right) leads the pack

during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco

300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North

Carolina, yesterday. Busch passed

Austin Cindric on the final lap in

overtime to win his 97th career

Xfinity Series race.

Busch wins 97th Xfinity Series race

Doctors say NRL's plan to allow spectators from July 1 ‘absurd’AP – SYDNEY

Two days from the restart of the National Rugby League, the Australian Medical Association urged organisers to slow down their “absurd and dangerous” plans to have spectators in stadiums by July 1.

There will be no spectators tomorrow when the Brisbane Broncos host the Parramatta Eels in the first NRL match in more than nine weeks, but Australian Rugby League chairman Peter V’Landys hopes to lift the ban as soon as social distancing restric-tions and border closures are eased in the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re on the moon,” V’landys told local media on Sunday of Project Apollo, the league’s push to get back on the field.

“We’re looking for Mars now. We want to see in the next three weeks if the infection rate is altered in any fashion. If it hasn’t, we’ll be pushing very hard for crowds … capped crowds. We’re looking at July 1.”

Australia’s leading national association of doctors, however, warned that July would be too soon to think about making a change.

“Put bluntly, this absurd and dangerous idea belongs in the sin-bin,” AMA president Tony Bartone said in a statement.

“The NRL should be satisfied that it has its competition back in action, but it is unfair and unwise to put the health of the game’s fans at risk."

World TeamTennis plans to have fans at West Virginia matchesAP – NEW YORK

If World TeamTennis gets its way, Grand Slam champions Sofia Kenin and Sloane Stephens could be among the first tennis players to compete in front of fans after the coro-navirus pandemic prompted lockdowns around the globe.

WTT said yesterday it is planning to allow up to 500 spectators at each of its outdoor matches during a three-week season from July 12 to August 2 at a resort in West Virginia.

The league also announced an increase in total prize money to $5m this year, $1.5m more than for its 2019 season.

All tennis events sanctioned by the ATP, WTA and Interna-tional Tennis Federation are on hold until at least late July because of the COVID-19 out-break. That includes the French Open, which was supposed to have started its 15-day main draw on Sunday but was post-poned until September, and Wimbledon, which was

cancelled outright for the first time in 75 years.

But WTT is not affiliated with those tours - no ATP or WTA ranking points are available for its matches - and does not need to abide by their decisions about when it is OK to compete.

Because of the pandemic, World TeamTennis is bringing all nine of its teams to one site - The Greenbriar in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia - instead of having matches played around the United States.

WTT intends to sell tickets for one-fifth of a 2,500-seat outdoor stadium.

Among the players the WTT said will participate in its matches are Kenin, who won the Australian Open in January, before sanctioned tennis was suspended because of the virus in March; Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up; and twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who have won 16 Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles as a team.

Australian bowler Mitchell Starc (left) celebrates the dismissal of India's Lokesh Rahul during a match in Perth in this December 17, 2018 file photo.

Mitchell Starc

Abt leaves Audi Formula E team after esports deceptionREUTERS – LONDON

Daniel Abt parted company with the Audi Formula E team yesterday after letting a professional gamer impersonate him in an official esports race.

The manufacturer had earlier suspended the German driver after the weekend cheating controversy.

“Today I was informed in a conversation with Audi that our ways will split from now on, we won’t be racing together in Formula E any more and the cooperation has ended,” he said in a 15-minute video on YouTube.

The 27-year-old denied seeking any sporting gain in Saturday’s fifth round of the all-electric series’ virtual ‘Race at Home Challenge’ and said he had simply wanted “to create a funny story for the fans”.

He said what happened had been openly dis-cussed beforehand on his Twitch live stream in front of 1,000 followers and no money had changed hands.

“Looking back, we did not think enough about the seriousness and the consequences of the situ-ation. We made a huge mistake there,” said Abt, who has paid €10,000 ($10,956) to charity.

Audi said in an earlier statement that “integrity, transparency and consistent compliance with appli-cable rules” were top priorities.

The esports series features all of the regular Formula E drivers competing from home and visible in their simulators online, but Abt’s face was hidden.

07WEDNESDAY 27 MAY 2020 SPORT

PL clubs to vote on next stage of Project RestartREUTERS — MANCHESTER

Premier League clubs will vote today over whether to move to the second phase of Project Restart as they intensify efforts to return to full action.

Clubs began training in small groups last week under strict limitations and no contact but today’s meeting opens the door to a gradual return towards contact training.

Phase Two, if approved, would allow up to 10 players to work together and would ease the time restrictions on training sessions and allow players to be closer.

It would then be hoped to move to a more typical form of training in the third phase, with tackling returning in the build-up to actual games.

The league was consulting with players and managers yesterday and then plans to hold a vote on the next step during a conference call today.

All plans remain con-tingent on the number of players testing positive for the coronavirus staying low.

The second round of testing returned two positives - with Bournemouth saying one of their players was now self-isolating. The first batch returned six cases.

No matches have been played in the Premier League since March, but the gov-ernment has given the green light for elite sport to resume from June 1, including the top-flight football.

The league had signalled June 12 as a potential start date but it now looks likely to be much later in the month.

Tomorrow, the share-holders will discuss the business aspects of Project Restart, including a possible broadcast rebate and what to do if the season has to be curtailed.

Once games do restart, they will be held behind closed-doors but the league has yet to decide whether they will be played in the normal home and away fashion or at neutral venues.

A file photo of a big screen displaying a message of support in fight against coronavirus during a Premier League match between Southampton and Burnley at St Mary’s Stadium on February 15, 2020.

Pogba and Rashford available when action resumes: SolskjaerREUTERS — MANCHESTER

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (pictured) has said Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford have recovered from their injuries and will be available for the restart of the Premier League season, suspended since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

P o g b a , w h o underwent foot surgery in January, and Rashford, who suffered a back injury during an FA Cup third-round clash against Wolver-hampton Wan-derers, were b o t h

expected to miss the remainder of the campaign. “They’re looking good, they’ve joined training now and they’ve done everything the other boys have been doing. No reaction so far, touch wood,” Solskjaer told United’s website.

“When we get started, it looks like we can have a full

squad to choose from.” Premier League players

have returned to non-contact training in small groups with their clubs and ‘Stage Two’ of the government’s guidance will allow close quarters coaching and tackling in team sports.

The Premier League’s ‘Project Restart ’

envisages a return to play in June.

“Hope-

fully now we’ve proved we can do this safely and we can move to the next step. It’s been really enjoyable being on the training ground again,” Solskjaer added.

“Everyone’s looking sharp... we’ve been splitting up in groups so fours and fives together and they’ve really done well.”

Manchester United were fifth in the Premier League,

three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea

when the season was halted.

They’re looking good, they’ve joined training now and they’ve done everything the other boys have been doing. No reaction so far, touch wood: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

gseason, suspended since March due to the COVID-19pandemic.

P o g b a , w h o underwent foot surgery in January, and Rashford, who suffered a back injuryduring an FA Cup third-round clash against Wolver-hampton Wan-derers, were b o t h

g ,looks like we can have a full

squad to choose from.” Premier League players

have returned to non-contact training in small groups with their clubs and ‘Stage Two’ of the government’s guidance will allow close quarters coaching and tackling in team sports.

The Premier League’s ‘Project Restart ’

envisages a return to play in June.

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Espanyol and Leganes offer free 2020-2021 season tickets to fans

MADRID — REUTERS

Espanyol and Leganes fans holding current season tickets will be handed free passes for the entire 2020-2021 campaign to compensate for missing matches due to the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the two La Liga clubs said yesterday.

The Spanish top-flight is set to resume in June after being provisionally suspended in March with 11 rounds of matches remaining but, as in Germany’s Bundesliga, fans cannot attend the games in order to prevent further spread of the virus.

It is unclear when fans will be able to return to stadiums, with medical experts saying mass gatherings should be avoided until there is a vaccine, which is unlikely to be available until 2021.

With the two teams

struggling at the bottom of the standings, it is possible that one or both sides could be playing in the second division next season. “Leganes will automat-ically renew all its season ticket holders for the next season,” said a statement from the club, based in the satellite city of the same name just outside Madrid.

“Taking into account the implications that COVID-19 has brought to the country and spe-cially the city of Leganes, the

club wants to compensate its fans and season ticket holders.”

Barcelona side Espanyol said that in addition to offering its 27,833 season ticket holders free 2020-2021 passes, they would also reimburse 20% of the value of their current season ticket to account for the matches they will miss. Earlier this month, Getafe became the first Spanish top-flight club to offer season ticket holders free passes for the following campaign.

Real Madrid striker Bale questions critics of his love for golfREUTERS — MADRID

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale (pictured) says he is still confused that his love for playing golf has caused such a stir in Spain and questioned why other elite sportsmen are not criticised for playing the game.

Despite winning four Champions League titles with Real and scoring crucial goals in three finals, Bale still divides opinion in Spain due to a perceived lack of com-mitment as well as a poor injury record, which the Spanish media have often blamed on his passion for playing golf in his spare time.

Last year he cele-brated Wales’ qual-ifying for Euro 2020 by posing in front of a banner reading ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that Order’, causing a vicious backlash a n d leading to Real f a n s

booing and whistling him in his first game back for the club.

“A lot of people have problems with me playing golf,” Bale told US golf podcast The Eric Anders Lang Show.

“I don’t know what their reason is because I’ve spoken to doctors and everybody’s fine with it. The media has this perception that it’s not good for me, you should be resting, it can cause you injuries.

“(US basketball player) Steph Curry plays maybe on the morning of a game. If I play two days before a game,

it’s like ‘what’s he doing?’”

Bale, who has built a golf course in his back garden in Wales, added that he plays on a handicap between three and four and plays golf at least twice a day when the

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AC Milan confirm injury to Ibrahimovic’s legREUTERS — MILAN

Veteran AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has injured his right leg in training and will undergo a scan in 10 days, the Serie A club said yesterday.

The 38-year-old Swede pulled up during Monday’s session, the club added.

“AC Milan announces that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has sustained an injury to his right soleus muscle during yesterday’s training session,” Milan said. “The Achilles tendon is perfectly intact. The

player will undergo a scan in 10 days.”

Ibrahimovic spent part of the COVID-19 stoppage training with Hammarby in Sweden and went into quar-antine upon returning to Italy earlier this month.

He joined AC Milan on a six-month spell in January for a second stint at the club, but Serie A has been suspended since March 9, with the gov-ernment due to decide tomorrow if and when it can restart. AC Milan, seventh in the table with 36 points, began training again last week.

Schalke lose top-scorer Serdar for rest of the season

AFP — BERLIN

Schalke 04, who are struggling for form in the Bundesliga, have lost their top-scorer Suat Serdar for the rest of the season with a torn leg ligament, head coach David Wagner confirmed yesterday.

The 23-year-old Serdar, who has scored seven league goals this season from defensive midfield, suffered the injury in the second half in Sun-day’s 3-0 home loss to Augsburg.

Serdar, who made his Germany debut last November, will undergo further tests to decide “whether an operation is necessary at the end of the week,” said Wagner.

Serdar is expected to be sidelined for from three to four

months, missing their last seven league games.

For today’s league match at Fortuna Duesseldorf, who are third from bottom, France Under-20 midfielder Jean-Clair Todibo, who is on loan from Barcelona, is fit after recovering from an ankle injury.

The loss of Serdar is the latest blow to Schalke, who are winless in their last nine league games, conceding 22 goals and scoring just twice.

Having been in the title race

before Christmas, Schalke have dropped from third in December to eighth in the table.

The pressure is mounting on ex-Huddersfield Town boss Wagner, who admits the situ-ation is “not pleasant”, having also been hammered 4-0 at Dortmund ten days ago.

“At the moment we are no longer the team we were in the first half of the season,” said Wagner. “You can’t compare the kind of football we played back then.”

Schalke’s German midfielder Suat Serdar

Espanyol and Leganes fans holding current season tickets will be handed free passes for the entire 2020-2021 campaign to compensate for missing matches due to the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the two La Liga clubs said yesterday.

The Spanish top-flight is set to resume in June after being provisionally suspended in March with 11 rounds of matches remaining but, as in Germany’s Bundesliga, fans cannot attend the games in order to prevent further spread of the virus.

Medical staff are the ‘special ones’: Man City boss GuardiolaAFP — LONDON

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (pictured) believes the protocols he and his players must follow for football to return are a small sacrifice compared to those risking their lives on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis.

Guardiola’s mother died at the age of 82 in April after con-tracting COVID-19.

“We follow the rules, the protocol. We have to. That’s the most important thing. We don’t

do anything special,” Guardiola told the City website. “The special ones are the doctors, nurses, scientists, cleaners -- they put their own lives at risk to save ours.

“When it’s a special situ-ation around the world, you have to adapt.”

Premier League players returned to training last week, whilst maintaining social dis-tancing guidelines.

The UK government has now given the green light for contact training to resume,

with clubs set to vote on the protocols today.

Should the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League all be completed, City could face 17 games in little over two months once the action gets underway.

But Guardiola is pleased with the fitness of his players given they have not played competitively since March 8.

“I think they were looking forward to coming back and to train again and do what they like,” he added. “They came

back perfectly.” Even when football does return in England, matches are set to be behind closed doors for the forseeable future.

Fears have been raised over the possibility that fans could congregate around stadiums, but there has been little evi-dence of such problems in Germany since the return of the Bundesliga.

And Guardiola encouraged fans to continue adhering to the health and safety guidelines.

“We want to come back but

now the priority is other things. It’s still stay safe, be careful and when everything is possible we will come back,” he said.

“The most important thing is to follow the instructions. If they say use a mask, stay at home, social distance, we have to do it. Because there are many, many people in the NHS (National Health Service) around the world who put their own lives at risk to save ours."

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