Sports news summary for Friday 29 April 2022
All the latest news on soccer, tennis, rugby and other sports from around the world, with bidding for Chelsea in the final phase.
Soccer: Boehly in exclusive talks over Chelsea purchase, Ratcliffe makes late bid
The consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly is in exclusive negotiations to buy Premier League club Chelsea for $3 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Earlier on Friday, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe announced that he had made a last minute ‘formal bid’ to buy the club for 4.25 billion pounds ($5.33 billion).
NBA roundup: Sixers, Suns, Mavs wrap up series
Chris Paul scored 33 points in a perfect shooting performance as the visiting Phoenix Suns defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 115-109 to clinch their first-round Western Conference playoff series in Game 6 on Thursday night. Paul made all 14 of his field-goal attempts and all four of his free throws, and Devin Booker returned from a hamstring injury and scored five of his 13 points in the final two minutes.
Soccer: Chelsea boss Tuchel relishing first meeting with Lampard
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said he was looking forward to his first meeting with Everton counterpart Frank Lampard, adding that the former midfielder will always be a Stamford Bridge great despite his difficult managerial stint at the London club. Tuchel succeeded Lampard in the Chelsea job in January last year, leading them to the FA Cup final and Champions League title within months of taking charge.
Soccer: Liverpool’s Salah named FWA Men’s Footballer of the Year
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was named England’s Men’s Footballer of the Year on Friday in the annual vote of the Football Writers’ Association (FWA), with the Egypt international picking up the award for the second time. Salah, who also won in 2018, got 48% of the vote, ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and West Ham United’s Declan Rice who came second and third respectively.
Tennis: Belarusian Azarenka finds no sense in Wimbledon ban
Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka said the Wimbledon ban on players from Russia and her country makes no sense and the former world number one called on the tennis governing bodies to take action against the decision. The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which hosts the grass court Grand Slam, took the decision in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the stand was swiftly condemned by the men’s and women’s tours.
Russia will not host World University Games in 2023 - FISU
The International University Sports Federation (FISU) said on Friday it has decided to postpone the Russian city of Yekaterinburg’s hosting rights for the 2023 World University Games. FISU has already barred Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from taking part in its events until at least the end of the year over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine.
Swimming: Armstrong sets 50m backstroke world record at U.S. trials
Hunter Armstrong set a world record in the men’s 50 metres backstroke at the U.S. swimming trials to earn a berth at the world championships in Hungary in June. Armstrong clocked a time of 23.71 to shave 0.09 seconds off Russian Kliment Kolesnikov’s previous mark of 23.80 on Thursday.
Tennis: Former champion Becker jailed in UK bankruptcy case
German tennis great Boris Becker was jailed for two years and six months by a London court on Friday for hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds of assets after he was declared bankrupt. Becker was convicted earlier this month of four charges under Britain’s Insolvency Act, including failing to disclose, concealing and removing significant assets following a bankruptcy trial.
Rugby: Player passport forgery led to Spain’s World Cup disqualification - federation
Spain were disqualified from the World Cup because three members of Alcobendas Rugby Club falsified a copy of an ineligible player’s passport, the Spanish Rugby Federation’s (FER) board of directors told a news conference on Friday. Spain secured a World Cup berth for the first time since 1999 after finishing second in the Rugby Europe Championship (REP) but were disqualified from next year’s tournament in France for fielding Gavin van den Berg, who is of South African origin, in two matches in the qualifiers.
