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PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS TO RESUME TRAINING THIS TUESDAY

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Premier League clubs will return to training in small groups from Tuesday (May 19) after the latest stage of “Project Restart” was approved on Monday.

Clubs unanimously voted to allow players to start socially distanced training in a bid to meet the Premier League’s mid-June date to resume the season.

Contact training is not permitted at this stage and corner flags, balls, cones, goalposts, playing surfaces and other equipment will be disinfected after each session.

Testing for the coronavirus has taken place at Premier League clubs over the last few days and will continue throughout the training period.

“Strict medical protocols of the highest standard will ensure everyone returns to training in the safest environment possible,” a Premier League statement said.

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“The health and well-being of all participants is the Premier League’s priority, and the safe return to training is a step-by-step process.

“Full consultation will now continue with players, managers, clubs, the PFA and LMA as protocols for full-contact training are developed.” The training protocols were presented to players and managers last week before being rubber-stamped during Monday’s video conference call.

Other rules in phase one include players not travelling with anyone to or from training, while the use of public transport and team vehicles is banned.

Newcastle were one of the first top-flight teams to issue confirmation that players had been tested at their training ground.

The club said players would return on Tuesday, by which time all test results would be known.

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Players will be asked to use an app on a daily basis to record any symptoms.

“It’s been a really difficult time, but I hope with the news that phase one is about to start,” Newcastle manager Steve Bruce said.

“I must stress that phase one looks as if it’s as safe as it can be. I’m sure everyone will be delighted that we’re trying to make that effort.

“In phase one we’re allowed to train four to five people on one pitch, so basically a player has a quarter of a pitch to work within, so social distancing is not a problem. We’ll train with eight to 10 at a time on two separate pitches.

“Everything is in place in the safety aspect. I’ve got no issues and I can tell the supporters the players and the staff are as safe as we possibly can be.”

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‘MAKING GOOD PROGRESS’

The resumption of Germany’s Bundesliga over the weekend has raised expectations that the Premier League can follow suit.

But some Premier League players remain concerned over returning to work while the virus is still uncontained, with Britain one of the countries worst hit by the crisis.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Monday, Watford captain Troy Deeney said: “Phase one is social distancing individual training with a coach. That’s no problem, that’s like going to the park.

“Phase two will be next week six days of training, three to six people training together with contact and then six days after that you’re going into 11 versus 11 and you can’t social distance with 11 verus 11.

“I would say 98 per cent (of players) are very much aware that phase one is very good, I would say 65-70 per cent of people are concerned with phase two. I’d say even higher after that.”

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With the Premier League suspended since March 13 because of the pandemic, the green light for training came just hours after Britain’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he was hopeful the top-flight could resume in June.

“I had some very constructive discussions on Thursday with the FA, the EFL (English Football League) and the Premier League,” Dowden told Sky News.

“We are working hard with them to try and get it back, aiming for mid-June, but the number one test is public safety.

“If we can sort that out then we will look to resume by mid-June. We’re making good progress.”

-AFP

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Governing Bodies

IOC is in ‘best of hands’, says Bach as he hands over to Coventry

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International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry receives the ceremonial key from outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach during the handover ceremony. AFP

Kirsty Coventry became the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most powerful person in sport, on Monday in a handover ceremony with her predecessor Thomas Bach.

The Zimbabwean is the first woman and African to head the body, and at 41, the youngest since Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who is credited with founding the modern-day Olympics.

Coventry accepted the Olympic key from Bach, who, like her, is an Olympic champion — he won a team fencing gold in 1976 and she earned two swimming golds in 2004 and 2008.

Stepping down after a turbulent 12-year tenure, Bach expressed his confidence that the Olympic movement was “in the best of hands” and Coventry would bring “conviction, integrity and a dynamic perspective” to the role.

Coventry, who swept to a crushing first-round victory in the election in Greece in March, leans heavily on her family.

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Aside from her parents, who were present at the ceremony in Lausanne, there is her husband Tyrone Seward, who was effectively her campaign manager, and two daughters, six-year-old Ella, who Bach addresses as “princess”, and Lily, just seven months old.

“Ella saw this spider web in the garden and I pointed out how it is made, and how strong and resilient it is to bad weather and little critters,” said Coventry, who takes over officially at midnight Swiss time Monday (2200 GMT).

“But if one little bit breaks it becomes weaker. That spider web is our movement, it is complex, beautiful and strong but it only works if we remain together and united.”

‘Pure passion’

Coventry said she could not believe how her life had evolved since she first dreamt of Olympic glory in 1992.

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“How lucky are we creating a platform for generations to come to reach their dreams,” she said to a packed audience in a marquee in the Olympic House garden, which comprised IOC members, including those she defeated, and dignitaries.

“It is amazing and incredible, indeed I cannot believe that from my dream in 1992 of going to an Olympic Games and winning a medal I would be standing here with you to make dreams for more young children round the world.”

Coventry, who served in the Zimbabwean government as sports and arts Minister from 2019 to this year, said the Olympic movement was much more than a “multi-sport event platform.”

“We (IOC members) are guardians of this movement, which is also about inspiring and changing lives and bringing hope,” she said.

“These things are not to be taken lightly and I will be working with each and every one of you to continue to change lives and be a beacon of hope in a divided world.

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“I am really honoured to walk this journey with you.”

Bach, who during his tenure had to grapple with Russian doping and their invasions of the Crimea and Ukraine as well as the Covid pandemic, said he was standing down filled with “gratitude, joy and confidence” in his successor.

“With her election it sends out a powerful message, that the IOC continues to evolve,” said the 71-year-old German, who was named honorary lifetime president in Greece in March.

“It has its first female and African to hold this position, and the youngest president since Pierre de Coubertin. She represents the truly global and youthful spirit of our community.”

Bach, who choked back tears at one point during his valedictory speech, was praised to the rafters by Coventry, who was widely seen as his preferred candidate of the seven vying for his post.

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After a warm embrace, she credited him with teaching her to “listen to people and to respect them,” and praised him for leading the movement with “pure passion and purpose.”

“You have kept us united through the most turbulent times.

“You left us with many legacies and hope, thank you from the bottom of my heart for leading us with passion and never wavering from our values.”

-AFP

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Governing Bodies

New IOC head Coventry already counting down to LA 2028

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Kirsty Coventry takes over as the new International Olympic Committee President - IOC headquarters, Lausanne, Switzerland - June 23, 2025 New IOC president Kirsty Coventry during the ceremony REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

Former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry took over the leadership of the International Olympic Committee from Thomas Bach in a ceremony on Monday with the 2028 Los Angeles Games already threatening to fill her in-tray to overflowing.

Coventry, who starts her eight-year spell officially on Tuesday as the most powerful sports administrator in the world, became the first woman and first African to be elected head of the Olympic ruling body in March.

Much of the discussion during campaigning focused on the IOC’s need for change in its marketing strategies with several top Olympic sponsors having left in the past 12 months.

However, with Los Angeles hit by protests against immigration raids, and relations tense between state and city officials, and the U.S. government, the 2028 Games have become the major talking point in the movement that would ordinarily be focusing on next year’s Milano-Cortina Winter Games.

Coventry has long-standing ties with the United States, dating back to her time as a leading swimmer at Auburn University in Alabama. That will prove useful ahead of LA 2028, and she has said she will seek to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Games.

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Coventry will also need to find time to help secure the long-term finances of the movement. The IOC, which generates billions of dollars in revenues each year in sponsorship and broadcasting deals for the Olympics, has secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More contracts are expected for both periods.

COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Coventry is also expected to continue the IOC’s plans to expand commercial opportunities for sponsors at the Olympics with the organisation’s finances in a robust state and the privately-funded LA Olympics a good place to start.

Coventry needed only one round of voting to clinch the race to succeed Bach, beating six other candidates, making history for the African continent, with the IOC having been ruled for 131 years by European or North American men.

Her background and being the first female president will be assets in a diverse IOC membership and the international makeup of Olympic stakeholders.

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On Monday she was handed the golden key to the IOC by Bach, who was the organisation’s president for 12 years.

“I am really honoured I get to walk this journey with you. I cannot wait for anything that lies ahead,” Coventry said in her address to IOC members and other Olympic stakeholders.

“I know I have the best team to support me and our movement over the next eight years.”

Coventry will hold a two-day workshop this week to get feedback from members on key IOC issues.

“Working together and consistently finding ways to strengthen and keep united our movement that will ensure that we wake up daily… to continue to inspire,” she said.

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A seven-time Olympic medallist, Coventry won 200m backstroke gold at the 2004 Athens Games and in Beijing four years later.

“With her election, you have also sent a powerful message to the world: the IOC continues to evolve,” Bach said in his speech. “With Kirsty Coventry, the Olympic movement will be in the best of hands.”

-Reuters

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Governing Bodies

Accidental double-touch penalties must be retaken if scored, says IFAB

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Champions League - Round of 16 - Second Leg - Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 12, 2025 Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez scores a penalty during the penalty shootout wich is later disallowed after a VAR review for a double touch. REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo

Penalties scored when a player accidentally touches the ball twice must be retaken, world soccer’s lawmaking body IFAB has said after Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez had his spot kick disallowed in a Champions League last-16 match.

During a tense shootout with Real Madrid in March, Argentine forward Alvarez slipped and the VAR spotted that his left foot touched the ball slightly before he kicked it with his right.

Although Alvarez converted the penalty, the goal was chalked off and Atletico went on to lose the shootout and were eliminated from the Champions League.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA said the correct decision was made under the current laws but IFAB (International Football Association Board) has said that in such cases the penalty must be retaken.

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Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid – Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain – April 14, 2025 Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo

“(When) the penalty taker accidentally kicks the ball with both feet simultaneously or the ball touches their non-kicking foot or leg immediately after the kick: if the kick is successful, it is retaken,” IFAB said in a circular.

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“If the kick is unsuccessful, an indirect free kick is awarded (unless the referee plays advantage when it clearly benefits the defending team). In the case of penalties (penalty shootout), the kick is recorded as missed.”

The decision to disallow Alvarez’s penalty left Atletico boss Diego Simeone livid and the club’s fans outraged.

IFAB added that if the penalty taker deliberately kicks the ball with both feet or deliberately touches it a second time, an indirect free kick is awarded or, in the case of shootouts, it is recorded as missed.

The new procedures are effective for competitions starting on or after July 1, but IFAB said it may be used in competitions that start this month.

-Reuters

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