BARCELONA: Barcelona will sell the title rights to their storied stadium for one year in an effort to raise money for the fight against the coronavirus.
The Spanish club’s executive board said Tuesday it will donate the entire fee raised by selling the title rights to the Camp Nou to fighting the global pandemic.
The Camp Nou is the biggest stadium in Europe with more than 99,000 seats. It has never had a sponsor since it opened in 1957.
“We want to send a universal message: For the first time someone will have the opportunity to put their name on Camp Nou and the revenues will go to all of humanity, not just Barca,” club vice president Jordi Cardoner told The Associated Press.
“The initiative arose in an emergency situation. We think that we have to have a very quick response, putting our crown jewel at the service (of the fight).”
The club had planned to wait to sell the stadium’s title rights for the first time in the 2023-24 season. At that time, the club hopes to bring in €300 million ($326 million) paid up front for a 25-year contract to pay for renovations to the stadium and other facilities.
Cardoner, who has recovered after contracting the virus, said the board conceived of this new charity sale independent of the long-term deal of 25 years. But, he said that if there emerges a sponsor who wanted to include it in the long-term deal, then the club would consider it.
Cardoner said Barcelona want to listen to offers from companies and private foundations and will consider opening it up to a group of interested sponsors who could team up and hopefully provide even more funds to help battle the new virus.
He would not give any estimate on how much the foundation hopes to earn from this “one-shot” sale. But given the greatness of Lionel Messi and the millions of spectators who tune in each week to watch Barcelona’s games, Camp Nou is one of the most coveted venues in sports.
“Camp Nou is sending out an S.O.S.,” Cardoner said. “We are open to everything. We want to maximize the economic participation and to ensure that the partners share our same social values.”
The stadium will maintain the name “Camp Nou” in addition to including the sponsor, the club said.
Barcelona’s foundation for social charities, which is overseen by Cardoner, will manage the investment of the money in fighting the virus. The foundation runs programs in Spain and in 58 other countries, largely focused on at-risk youth and refugees.
The club said it hopes to close a deal “in the coming weeks.” The decision will then have to be approved by a general assembly of club members, which number 140,000, likely to be held in October, if conditions permit.
How the money is used will be determined by the club’s foundation and the sponsor, with each party proposing how to distribute half of the funds, Cardoner said. Barcelona said they want s to propose using part of the money in Spain, especially in Catalonia, and in countries where the club has current charities. Cardoner said specific projects have not been chosen, but he would like some money to go to helping the elderly, especially in the devastated nursing home sector.
Cardoner said that he took some inspiration from the club’s decision in 2006 to put UNICEF on its shirt, which had never carried a sponsor before. The club moved the UNICEF logo to the back of the shirt in 2011 and sold the front to a corporate sponsor. It has continued to donate €2 million ($2.14 million) to UNICEF annually.
The main impetus, however, hit Cardoner while he was confined to his bed waging his own fight against an infection from the virus. He never needed hospitalization and fully recovered after a couple of weeks, but he said that the experience prompted him to “think big.”
“I spent a long time in bed and had time to think,” he said. “We do a lot through our foundation, and it occurred to me that we had to think big, think big like we did with the shirt and UNICEF.”
Barcelona sell Camp Nou title to raise money to fight virus
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Barcelona sell Camp Nou title to raise money to fight virus
Rybakina leads Kazakhstan to a 2-1 win over Australia in BJK Cup
- Czech Republic beat Brazil 2-1 in Ostrava in Group B, while the Netherlands cruised past Germany 3-0 in The Hague in Group F
- Poland, without French Open champion Iga Swiatek after the world No. 2 opted out of the tournament to focus on her training ahead of the clay season, beat Switzerland 3-0 in Radom
BRISBANE: Elena Rybakina showcased her prowess to beat Kimberly Birrell 6-3 7-6(4) as Kazakhstan secured a 2-1 win over Australia in their Billie Jean King Cup Group D qualifier in Brisbane on Thursday.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, went down an early break but cranked up her powerful forehand and drew level after six games before claiming the opening set with an ace.
Birrell raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set but squandered a set point and Rybakina clawed her way back with some ferocious shot-making to clinch victory in the tiebreak.
“It was such a difficult match,” said Rybakina, who secured her eighth victory in 10 singles matches since her debut in the competition in 2021.
“I’m super happy to bring the win for the team ... it’s always nice to be back in Australia.”
Earlier at the Pat Rafter Arena, Yulia Putintseva gave Kazakhstan an early lead with a 6-2 6-1 win over debutant Maya Joint.
However, Australia’s Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez claimed the third match of the night with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva in the doubles.
Czech Republic beat Brazil 2-1 in Ostrava in Group B, while the Netherlands cruised past Germany 3-0 in The Hague in Group F.
Poland, without French Open champion Iga Swiatek after the world No. 2 opted to skip their Group E ties to focus on her training ahead of the clay season, beat Switzerland 3-0 in Radom.
Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins were among a trio of players to withdraw from the US team, which plays Denmark on Saturday in Group C, for the three-day qualifiers.
Teams have been divided into six round-robin groups of three in the qualifiers this year with the winners joining hosts China and 2024 champions Italy at the Finals in Shenzhen toward the end of the season.
Alcaraz eases into Monte Carlo quarterfinals, Draper out
- Alexei Popyrin saved match points as he beat 2024 runner-up Casper Ruud and eighth-seeded Alex de Minaur dismantled ninth seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets
- Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has won the tournament in three of the last four years, brushed aside Nuno Borges
MONTE CARLO, Principality of Monaco: Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals for the first time on Thursday with a straight-sets win over Daniel Altmaier.
British fifth seed Jack Draper was knocked out by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, while Lorenzo Musetti won an all-Italian duel against a limping Matteo Berrettini.
Elsewhere, Alexei Popyrin saved match points as he beat 2024 runner-up Casper Ruud and eighth-seeded Alex de Minaur dismantled ninth seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has won the tournament in three of the last four years, brushed aside Nuno Borges. Grigor Dimitrov ended the day by overcoming Alejandro Tabilo.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz brushed aside 84th-ranked German Altmaier 6-3, 6-1 to set up a last-eight clash with rising French star Arthur Fils on Friday.
“His (Fils’) level is really high right now,” said Alcaraz. “I saw a little bit from his match today, and he’s playing great.”
Alcaraz took some time to find his rhythm as Altmaier broke back to level at 3-3 in the first set, but it was one-way traffic from then on.
The second seed reeled off three straight games to take the first set before racing through the second in just over half an hour.
“At the beginning of the match, we played really long and tough rallies, really close games,” added Alcaraz.
The 21-year-old, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, is the favorite to lift the title this weekend after early exits for top seed Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz lost in his first match on his only previous appearance at the tournament in 2022.
Fils eased into his third successive Masters quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-3 thrashing of 2023 champion Andrey Rublev.
The 20-year-old Fils is aiming to reach the semis of a Masters event for the first time, after losing in the last eight at both Indian Wells and the Miami Open this year.
“If it’s him, it’s going to be the first time I’m going to play him,” Fils said of meeting Alcaraz.
“It’s going to be a good experience. He’s a big champion. He won four Grand Slams already. I didn’t win a single one.”
Draper lost in three sets to Spaniard Davidovich Fokina.
Draper, who won the Indian Wells title last month, slipped to a 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 loss as he failed to reach a first Masters quarterfinal on clay.
Davidovich Fokina edged a hard-fought opening set which featured three breaks of serve.
Draper let three break points slip away in the ninth game, with Davidovich Fokina taking his second set point.
In the second set Draper saved a match point and then leveled the contest in a tiebreak.
In a topsy-turvy third set, though, both broke twice inside the first six games.
Davidovich Fokina delivered the decisive blow in the 10th game to secure his first win over a top-10 opponent on clay since 2023.
Davidovich Fokina will take on Australian Popyrin in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Popyrin, the world No. 27, beat Ruud 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, after saving two match points at 3-5 in the third set.
Musetti, seeded 13, beat Davis Cup team-mate Berrettini 6-3, 6-3 and then talked of “the difficulty of playing a friend, a mate, a teammate.”
“This is a special court for me and also for Matteo. We share a lot of moments here in Monte Carlo where we live,” Musetti said. “Definitely one of the toughest challenges for me.”
Musetti will face sixth-seeded Tsitsipas who beat Borges 6-1, 6-1.
World No. 10 De Minaur crushed former US Open winner Medvedev 6-2, 6-2.
“I’m finding my feet on clay,” said De Minaur. “It’s taken me a while in my career. I can be dangerous on this surface.”
The Australian will play Dimitrov, after the 15th-seeded Bulgarian overcame Chilean Tabilo 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Rose grabs three-shot Masters clubhouse lead over Scheffler
AUGUSTA, Georgia: England’s Justin Rose used a red-hot putter to build a four-shot Masters clubhouse lead over defending champion Scottie Scheffler in the opening round on Thursday at Augusta National where Grand Slam-seeking Rory McIlroy ran into trouble late.
Rose, twice a runner-up at the year’s first major, needed just 22 putts en route to a seven-under-par 65 that equaled his best start to a Masters and left him in control.
Rose had the world’s best golfer breathing down his neck, though, as twice champion Scheffler bids to become the fourth golfer to retain his Masters crown.
The 44-year-old Rose, who went out with the late starters, wasted no time making a move as he kicked off his round with three consecutive birdies and added another three in succession around the turn before back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16.
The only blemish on the card for Rose, who with a win here would become the oldest first-time Masters champion since a 41-year-old Mark O’Meara won in 1998, came at the 18th where he made bogey after his tee shot missed the fairway.
World number one Scheffler’s round included a huge birdie putt from 62 feet at the par-three fourth and a pair of up-and-down par saves after chipping out of greenside bunkers at both the seventh and 17th holes.
“Anytime you can keep a card clean out here it’s a really good thing... I struggled for what felt like two pars today,” said Scheffler.
“I had to make two really good up-and-downs. But, other than that, the golf course was in front of me most of the day, kept the ball in play, did a lot of really good things out there.”
World number two McIlroy, who seems to be hampered by one poor round each week at the Masters, was three shots back of Rose before a double-bogey at the reachable par-five 15th.
The Northern Irishman was cruising along with a clean card until the 15th where his approach shot sailed over the green and he then watched helplessly as his chip rolled off the slick putting surface and into the pond.
McIlroy, who came into the Masters with two PGA Tour titles before April for the first time in his career and as a popular pick to win a first Green Jacket, still had three holes to play in his opening round.
Former champion and fan favorite Fred Couples, making his 40th Masters start, carded a one-under 71 that was highlighted by an eagle from 191 yards at the par-four 14th.
Among the other notables who went out late, LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau was two under through 14, Xander Schauffele was one over through 16 and 2023 champion Jon Rahm was three over after 14 holes.
“Today I’m happy as a clam,” said Couples.
Concacaf Gold Cup draw lands Saudi Arabia in group with hosts USA
- The Saudis have been invited as official guests
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will play the US in this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup, after organizers held the official draw on Thursday.
The Green Falcons landed in Group D with Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and hosts USA, in a draw held in Miami.
The cup will be the 18th edition of the biennial international men’s competition for national teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean region
The Saudis have been invited as official guests.
Tournament will be played between June 14 and July 6, and features group and knockout stages before the final at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The Gold Cup is being co-hosted by the US and Canada. Along with Mexico, they will also be staging next year’s FIFA World Cup.
Onana at fault twice as Man United draws 2-2 at Lyon, Tottenham held at home, Chelsea stays perfect
Andre Onana, described by Nemanja Matic as “one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United’s history”, was at fault for both goals as his side drew 2-2 at Lyon in a Europa League quarterfinal first leg on Thursday.
Former United midfielder Matic, now a player with Lyon, made the less than flattering comments about Onana in a pre-game press conference.
Then, in the match itself, United went 1-0 down after 25 minutes when Onana failed to stop a curling free-kick from out wide by Thiago Almada.
Leny Yoro equalized for the visiting team in first-half stoppage time, with a header after goalkeeper Lucas Perri had cleared a Bruno Fernandes free-kick.
Fernandes then sent a precise cross for substitute Joshua Zirkzee to head what seemed to be the winner in the 88th minute.
But Rayan Cherki hit back for Lyon when he pounced on the rebound after Cameroon international Onana had spilled an effort from Georges Mikautadze.
“I think this is the worst moment to concede a goal like that,” Yoro told TNT Sports. “We were winning 2-1. I think away this was a good score, but we go with a draw and we try to win the game at home.”
United remains the only side unbeaten in the competition this season.
Winning the Europa League, as United did in 2017, is rewarded with a spot in the Champions League, something the club is highly unlikely to achieve through its current 13th-place position in the Premier League.
Tottenham, also bidding to rescue a dismal Premier League campaign, hit back to salvage a 1-1 home draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Tottenham went 1-0 down when Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitiké scored following a fast counterattack in the sixth minute.
The hosts then drew level with a goal from Pedro Porro in the 26th after he met a cross from James Maddison.
“I can’t ask any more of the lads,” said Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou. “It was disappointing to concede the way we did.”
Ulrik Saltnes struck twice as Bodø/Glimt stunned Lazio 2-0 in tough conditions just inside the Arctic Circle.
Earlier, heavy snowfall in Bodø put the game in doubt between the Norwegian champion and the side that had finished top in the league phase.
In a game played on an artificial pitch, Saltnes scored early in the second half with a low shot after Ole Didrik Blomberg fed him inside the area.
The midfielder then added his second goal by lobbing the ball over Lazio goalkeeper Christos Mandas, with Alessio Romagnoli’s clearance coming after it crossed the line.
Ten-man Rangers and Athletic Bilbao shared a goalless draw in Glasgow, after the home side was reduced to 10 men in the 13th minute when defender Robin Pröpper brought down Iñaki Williams and was dismissed.
Alex Berenguer also missed a late penalty for Athletic.
All the second legs are next Thursday.
Chelsea stays perfect in Conference League
Chelsea is still cruising in the Europa Conference League after keeping its perfect record with a 3-0 win at Legia Warsaw.
Following a dull first half, Chelsea struck twice early in the second period and then added another goal.
Tyrique George netted the first in the 49th on a rebound, his first goal for the club, while second-half substitute Noni Madueke scored with a left-foot shot eight minutes later. It could have been three but Christopher Nkunku had his spot kick saved.
Madueke made it 3-0 from close range in the 74th.
In the other quarterfinal, first-leg games, Fiorentina won 2-1 at Celje, Real Betis beat Jagiellonia 2-0 and Rapid Vienna downed Djurgården 1-0.
All the second legs are next Thursday.
