In order to complete the current football season, now into its sixth week of suspension because of coronavirus, the sport may have to adapt its rules, authorities across the sport have acknowledged. As the major stakeholders of the wealthiest leagues in Europe draw up possible schedules to rush through remaining fixtures by August, compromises to ‘normal’ conditions are regarded as inevitable.
Across Germany, England, Spain, Italy and France there is a wide consensus that if the remaining matches in the 2019/20 calendar - numbering between 90 and 120 fixtures in each of those leagues - are to be squeezed into a short period, there should be no crowds in stadiums. Only essential playing and coaching staff, referees, medical personnel and broadcast technicians will be allowed in.
Live television coverage, in turn, is likely to be available for all top division matches. One British law that prohibits broadcasting live football between 3pm and 5pm on Saturdays - designed to ensure supporters go to stadiums - has been suspended by parliament, anticipating the behind-close-doors scenario and a strong public interest case for live televising of all matches.
But beyond changes to the staging of games, matches themselves may have to be played with tweaks to the rules. As the range of dates when so many fixtures can plausibly take place becomes shorter and shorter with many countries still under lockdown, the frequency of those matches increases. If teams have to play every three days, that means specific contingencies around fitness and recovery.
The last quarter of the 2019/20 season could even become a 16-man sport. That’s one radical idea, supported by the experienced Italian coach Claudio Ranieri. “My suggestion would be that we have, for this period, five possible substitutions per game,” said Ranieri, who points out that, though the number of Covid-19 cases among elite players has been relatively small, some who have had the disease will have spent several weeks convalescing through March and April.
"Players will be pushed to high levels of physical pressure, and those who have had the virus may feel it especially," said Ranieri, whose current club, Sampdoria, includes five senior players who in mid-March tested positive for Covid-19.
Ranieri, who has managed clubs through tight title-races and end-of-season relegation battles in Italy, Spain, and England - he led Leicester City to their stunning 2016 Premier League triumph - is not alone for thinking extra substitutions are a necessary, emergency rule change. The idea has been mooted beyond Italy, as governing bodies seek ways to preserve the integrity of disrupted competitions against the pressures of a ticking clock. The majority of clubs are determined to to finish their seasons because lucrative broadcast contracts are conditional on the 2019/20 fixtures being completed. Most clubs have also planned financially around future broadcast payments for the 2020/21 season, earmarked to begin in September at the latest.
After this period of inactivity, it was always going to be a bit of a 'false' end of season
Might matches themselves be shortened from 90 minutes so more fixtures can be played in a short time? Governing bodies have so far dismissed that idea, but there is, according to several leading club executives, a need for out-of-the-box thinking. “After this period of inactivity, it was always going to be a bit of a ‘false’ end of season,” said Ranieri, backing his argument that normal rules should be adapted to unique circumstances.
Perhaps elite football is actually well placed, in 2020, to look flexibly at short-term rule changes. In the last two years, the game has had to embrace a fundamental change - the introduction of VAR. Substitution laws have also been altered since 2018, with a fourth substitute permitted in extra-time of most major Uefa and Fifa competitions.
With Bundesliga players already back at training grounds, albeit practicing under restrictions, there is hope that top-flight football in Germany, which has a far lower coronavirus contagion rate than most of western Europe, can restart in mid-May. Other leagues hope it does so successfully, so they can adopt the Bundesliga health protocols and lobby governments to follow the German example.
Testing for the virus across players and matchday participants will be frequent and rigorous and among the questions being asked in England and Italy is whether fixtures need to take place in allocated ‘home’ stadiums when a more secure health ‘shield’ around matches might be better maintained by staging games in a smaller number of regional venues so there is less travel between fixtures.
Exposure to infection is the dominant concern. If a resumption of the season is allowed, and then a player contracts the virus, every teammate or opponent they had been exposed to would likely have to be quarantined, delaying fixtures for at least two weeks. That scenario would undo even the most imaginative plans.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S24%20ULTRA
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Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 (Tosun 9', Doucoure 93')
Rotherham United 1 (Olosunde 56')
Man of the Match Olosunde (Rotherham)
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday
AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)
Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)
Benevento v Parma (5pm)
Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)
Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)
Lazio v Spezia (5pm)
Napoli v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)
Torino v Juventus (8pm)
Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
More coverage from the Future Forum
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight (Wednesday), BeIN Sports
WE%20NO%20LONGER%20PREFER%20MOUNTAINS
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Champion%20v%20Champion%20(PFL%20v%20Bellator)
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FA Cup fifth round draw
Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Reading/Cardiff City v Sheffield United
Chelsea v Shrewsbury Town/Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United/Oxford United
Leicester City v Coventry City/Birmingham City
Northampton Town/Derby County v Manchester United
Southampton/Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
Portsmouth v Arsenal
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Brief scores:
Toss: India, opted to field
Australia 158-4 (17 ov)
Maxwell 46, Lynn 37; Kuldeep 2-24
India 169-7 (17 ov)
Dhawan 76, Karthik 30; Zampa 2-22
Result: Australia won by 4 runs by D/L method
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
