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Tennis Star Returned to Ukraine to Help Fight War

This Ukrainian tennis star returned to his homeland in order to fight the war against Russia. This tennis player didn’t even inform his family that he was back in the country as he didn’t want them to worry.

“I was born here, my grandparents are buried here, and I would like to have a history to tell to my kids,” he said. “Nobody here wants Russia to free them, they have freedom and democracy … and Russia wants to bring despair and poverty,” said Sergiy Stakhovsky

“It’s impossible to make that call without hesitation. I have a wife and three kids,” he said. “If I would stay home, I’d feel guilt that I didn’t come back (to Ukraine), and now I’m here, I feel guilty that I left them at home.”

His wife also is struggling with his decision, he said.

“Of course, she was mad,” he said. “She understood the reason for me, but for her it was a betrayal. And I totally understand why she feels that way.”

He said they haven’t told their kids, all under age 7, who likely believe he’s at a tennis tournament.

“My wife didn’t tell them and I didn’t tell them … where I’m going,” he said. “I guess they’ll figure it out soon.”

The war has seen many Ukrainian athletes join the army to fight the war and stand against Russia. Athletes from MMA, Boxing and now Tennis have all joined in on the fight.

“Why Did Messi Leave Barcelona?” – Koeman

The former Barcelona manager, Ronald Koeman departed at the beginning of this season when his side of Barcelona were on a losing streak and on the 9th spot in the La Liga.

Now Koeman has finally come back to the world with his controversial interview with a German publication. 

“It was at the insistence of the club’s management that I agreed to the departure of some players to put the finances in order.

“But then when you see that they go and sign a player for €55million (Torres) shortly after letting Lionel Messi go…

“Then you wonder if there wasn’t something else going on. Why did Messi have to leave?”

The Dutch man seemed to be jealous of the free reign Xavi has been handed when it comes to choosing players to play and sign. However his question still remains a good one.
Why did Messi have to leave? 

Barcelona tried to clear those doubts by giving justifications about Ferran Torres and more. They said these new players were only added to the wage bill after multiple cuts in pay and players which made those additions possible in the first place.

However, whatever the case is now, fans of Barcelona have made peace with Messi’s departure and would love for Xavi to turn things around as he’s attempting to do and win something big. 

International Tennis Bodies Release Statement Banning Russia From All Team Events

The ATP and WTA in accordance with the International Tennis Federation and the four Grand Slam committees from the French Open, Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon have released a statement condemning the war between Ukraine and Russia. Moreover, to punish the Russian side for starting the war, ATP and WTA have removed Russian events and banned Russia from competing in any and all team events. Meanwhile Russian singles players like Rublev or world no. 1 Medvedev will be allowed to continue playing under a neutral flag. 

The statement said, 

“A deep sense of distress, shock and sadness has been felt across the entire tennis community following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the past week. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and we commend the many tennis players who have spoken out and taken action against this unacceptable act of aggression. We echo their calls for the violence to end and peace to return.

The safety of the tennis community is our most immediate collective priority. The focus of the WTA and ATP in particular in recent days has been on contacting current and former players, and other members of the tennis community from Ukraine and neighbouring countries, to check on their safety and offer any assistance.

The international governing bodies of tennis stand united in our condemnation of Russia’s actions and, as a result, are in agreement with the following decisions and actions:

  • The WTA and ATP Boards have made the decision to suspend the WTA / ATP combined event, scheduled this October in Moscow.
  • The ITF Board has made the decision to suspend the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation membership and to withdraw their entries from all ITF international team competition until further notice. This action follows the cancellation of all ITF tournaments in Russia and Belarus indefinitely.
  • At this time, players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events on Tour and at the Grand Slams. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice.”

Attention All Buyers! Chelsea Is Up For Sale

In a quick and shocking turn of events that have unfolded over the past few days, Chelsea football club is now up for sale. 

As the world bears witness to one of the most destructive and unnatural events taking place over in Ukraine and Russia, the football world was shaken up with multiple effects showing. First, FIFA and UEFA discussed eliminating Russia and their clubs from all of their events. Then, Abramovich was being looked at for corruption charges and also for being a major player from the Russian side in terms of financing. After these two events, FIFA and UEFA banned all Russian clubs and the national team from their events. Abramovich was then banned from staying in England, post which he eventually stepped down from the executive position in Chelsea. 

Now, Abramovic has confirmed he has put Chelsea up for sale and the proceeds from the sale will be transferred to the Ukrainian government directly or the victims through a specific organisation. 

A statement on the club’s website on Wednesday read: “I would like to address the speculation in media over the past few days in relation to my ownership of Chelsea FC.

“As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart.

“In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the Club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners.”The sale of the Club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid.”This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and Club.”Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated.

“The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.

“Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me to part with the Club in this manner.

“However, I do believe this is in the best interest of the Club. I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person.

“It has been a privilege of a lifetime to be part of Chelsea FC and I am proud of all our joint achievements. Chelsea Football Club and its supporters will always be in my heart.”

Djokovic Suffering After Sponsor Breaks Promise Amidst Coach Split

The former world no. 1 and current world no. 2 Novak Djokovic has had a bad year so far and looks like the suffering has not ended yet. The Serbian star announced last night that he and his coach who have been together for 20 years will now be splitting up and he will be hiring a new coach.

This will mean some adjustment time for the Serbian as he gets used to his new team. However in a bigger turn of events, Djokovic’s sponsor Peugeot, which has been with him since 2014 will now be calling it a day and cancelling any further partnership with the Serbian. 

Peugeot’s important source told the media that “We anticipate the Peugeot brand will be represented at the tournament in Dubai on Mr. Djokovic’s shirt.” However, post this incident, Peugeot CEO announced that they will be ending the sponsorship deal with Novak Djokovic amidst his anti-vax opinions and current situation. 

“No, we will not continue with the sponsorship of Djokovic,” Carlos Tavares, CEO of the Stellantis group that owns Peugeot confirmed.

With Djokovic staying unvaxxed, it remains to be seen if he’ll be allowed into the United States for the Indian Wells. Rafael Nadal on the other hand has already reached California and started practising at the Indian Wells. 

When asked if he would miss the tennis tournaments in order to stay unvaxxed, he said, “Yes, that is the price that I’m willing to pay because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else,” he recently told the BBC in his first in-depth interview since his saga in Australia.

‘We didn’t buy him to score 45 goals’ – Guardiola Happy with £100 Million Grealish

Manchester City have been on fire since the last couple of seasons and have been in the title race for longer. The rebranding and restructuring of the Manchester side late in the 2010s helped out the club to a great extent. 

After the Arabian owners brought in the money to back up the club, City brought in Pep Guardiola to back up the players. Guardiola, probably one of the best to ever manage a football club, struck hard as he customised his team and came up with probably the best side in Europe right now. 

Recently, City purchased a young British striker by the name of Jack Graelish after his incredible show for the national team and his premier league side. 

Jack Graelish since then hasn’t had the best of statistics with only 3 goals and 3 assists so far. 

“I think the main [statistics] are the goals and the assists,” he said in December. “They are the ones I am trying to work on the most.”

But Guardiola disagrees.

“Maybe he listened too much to what the people say,” Guardiola told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s FA Cup clash with Peterborough.

“It’s wrong but the statistics are better and he plays quite similar to Aston Villa in terms of ball contact.

“He had the chances against Crystal Palace in 20 minutes to score three goals. It didn’t happen but it’s going to happen. We didn’t buy him to score 45 goals.”

“It’s how you play today if you perform to your maximum, to your best, help your team-mates to make the process defensively and offensively better, it’s enough,” the City boss added. “Thanks to that we are going to win.

“Everyone has agents and managers and everything, and say what they have to do better and they listen to a lot of things about what they have to do. He’s playing well. If he wasn’t, I would tell him. That is not the case.”

ATP and WTA Consider Eliminating All Russian Tournaments From Tour

The ATP and WTA committees alongside the International Tennis Federation, have jointly been served a statement by any and all Ukrainian players on the tennis tour. The statement asks for the committees to ban any and all Russian tournaments without banning any specific Russian players or stars as most of them have come out and condemned the war. 

The tennis world, which was on a high after legendary players like Djokovic returned to the court and lost in a shocker or when the King of Clay, Nadal won his 91st title. The biggest problem in the tennis world was Zvereve’s disagreement with the Acapulco umpire which saw him being eliminated from the tournament. However now, amidst this terrible war Russia has imposed on Ukraine, the tennis world has been rocked as well.

“Our country, Ukraine is under brutal attack by superior nuclear power. The bombs and rockets are hitting our houses, killing our people, destroying our life,” it reads, concluding: “Stop the War. Stop Russian Aggression. Bring Peace to our homes. Be HUMAN.”

Elina Svitolina, the country’s top-ranked star, went a step further by vowing not to play any Russian or Belarusian athletes until appropriate action is taken

“I do not blame any of the Russian athletes,” says Svitolina. “Moreover, I wish to pay tribute to all the players, especially Russians and Belarusians, who bravely stated their position against the war. Their support is essential.”

https://twitter.com/NastiaPav/status/1498269581445632007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1498269581445632007%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Ftennis-world-awash-in-uncertainty-as-russian-attack-on-ukraine-continues

Meanwhile Russian players like Rublev and Medvedev made a point to give their views against the war. Rublev after a match in Dubai wrote on the camera lens, “No War Please”. While Medvedev made an instagram post saying, 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaaPTOCoxz9/

“I want to ask for peace in the world, for peace between countries,” he wrote. “Kids are born with inner trust in the world, they believe so much in everything: in people, in love, in safety and justice, in their chances in life. Let’s be together and show them that it’s true.”

FIFA and UEFA Ban All Russian International and National Teams

FIFA and UEFA have collectively banned the all Russian national and international teams from continuing to take part in any of their tournaments. With a heavy EU influence on the UEFA organisation it comes with very less surprise that the Russian clubs will now be eliminated from the ongoing tournaments and will not be allowed in for the foreseeable future. 

As the EU has an effect on UEFA, the UEFA federation has an effect on FIFA who also announced that they will not be allowing Russia to take part in any further matches in terms of qualifiers or the actual world cup in Qatar scheduled for 2022 November. 

“Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice,” a joint statement issued by FIFA and UEFA on Monday signalled.

“These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.

“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.”

Russia responded with a statement of their own, 

“The Russian Football Union categorically disagrees with the decision of FIFA and UEFA to suspend all Russian teams,” reads the statement. “We reserve the right to challenge the decision of FIFA and UEFA in accordance with international sports law.

“We believe that this decision is contrary to the norms and principles of international competition, as well as the spirit of sports. It has an obvious discriminatory character and harms a huge number of athletes, coaches, employees of clubs and national teams, and most importantly, millions of Russian and foreign fans, whose interests international sports organizations must protect in the first place.

“Such actions are dividing the world sports community, which has always adhered to the principles of equality, mutual respect and independence from politics.”

Rafael Nadal Breaking Records With Every Win

The King of Clay or the King of Tennis? Rafael Nadal has seemed to have turned back the clock as he’s found new and improved form at the peak age of 35 years old. 

The Spaniard has been on a winning streak and keeps setting up records with every win now. Reaching a whopping 91 ATP titles, Nadal has now become one of the winningest players in ATP history. He has also equalled Roger Federer as the only players to win each ATP title at least 2 times. The 91 titles also include his incredible feat of 21 grand slams, which he achieved at the end of January in Australia.

Not only is he the only male tennis player in history to win 21 grand slams, but he has also now set a new record. He has made his best start to a season ever. In his almost 20 year career, he has now made a start with 15 consecutive wins reaching 9th place in overall best starts to a season.

Meanwhile on the other side of the spectrum, Novak Djokovic lost to Vesely in a shocking 2 setter match in Dubai last week, dropping down from his coveted no.1 spot. The new No. 1 Daniil Medvedev barely got past him when he was defeated by Nadal in the semi finals in Acapulco.

Even though far below the two, if Nadal has a good year, he could easily give the two right handers some tough competition in terms of ATP rankings. “I went through some very difficult moments during the match that I was able to save, and then I took advantage when I had the chances,”

“Cameron is a very solid player, a tricky player,” Nadal said post-match. “He makes you feel that you cannot play comfortably against him at all.”

Barcelona Overtake Atletico Madrid In La Liga After 4-0 Win at Home

FCBarcelona have got off to a flyer of a 2022 after consecutive wins against some of the best football clubs in Europe. 

La blaugrana have now scored a whopping 20 goals in the past 7 matches including 2 Europa League matches against Napoli. 

Barcelona under Xavi, have seen a considerable change in the direction and style of overall play. Attacking aggressively when without the ball and making quick runs for the goal and catching the other team with a surprise. 

After a thrilling 4-0 win against Athletic Club last night, Barcelona have now solidified their 4th place spot in the La Liga table. With Atletico Madrid still at 45 points, same as Barcelona, but with one more match played, it’s a clear advantage for La Blaugrana. 

In casual interviews, Barcelona legend Puyol did mention how he still believes that if anyone can win the Liga from this point onwards and from a position like Barcelona are in right now, it’s Xavi. The Barcelona manager, humble as ever, replied by mentioning how they will keep fighting until the mathematics tells them that it’s really impossible. 

Mathematically, Barcelona might still have a chance to win the Liga if Real Madrid encounters some bad luck on the way, however realistically, Barcelona can still claim second place and come back stronger in the next season.

Claiming second place after being 9th in the beginning of the season would be a great feet to achieve not to mention the management change in between the season and a number of injuries, changes to squads, big departures and massive arrivals and most importantly, the elimination from the Champions League into the Europa League.