Celtic Crowned Champions Nine in a Row
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Established 1961 Sport WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020 NHL boss Bettman eyes eight or nine Premier League clubs agree LeBron eager to get 18sites for 12-team return groups 19 small groups training return 19 back to basketball Celtic crowned champions nine in a row GLASGOW: (File photo shows Celtic’s Scottish midfielder Ryan Christie (L) celebrates scoring the equalising goal with Celtic’s French forward Odsonne Edouard during the UEFA Europa League group E football match between Celtic and Lazio at Celtic Park stadium in Glasgow, on October 24, 2019. Celtic’s grip on Scottish football remains unbreakable after a ninth consecutive league title was confirmed on May 18, even though they have not kicked a ball for two months. — AFP LONDON: Celtic’s grip on Scottish football remains Many clubs were unhappy at the Scottish Profes- their rivals reaching the holy grail of 10 in a row next Rangers admitted in November to needing £10 unbreakable after a ninth consecutive league title was sional Football League’s insistence that the final in- season. million in funding to see them through to the end of confirmed on Monday even though they have not stalment of prize money worth £7 million ($8.5 Celtic’s European Cup-winning side were unstop- the season before the consequences of the pandemic kicked a ball for two months. million) could only be distributed once the leagues pable from 1965 to 1974, while Rangers’ investment were known. Nine in a row is a landmark staging post in Scot- were declared over. in a stellar cast of stars was rewarded from 1988 to Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has warned his tish football. Only twice has it been achieved before, But as the shutdown stretched into its third month, 1997. For all those sides achieved, neither managed a club are burning through £1 million a month and the once on either side of the Glasgow divide — by Celtic there has also been a growing full decade of dominance. Dons’ turnover from the 2018/19 season was just and Rangers. acceptance that the season However, doubt remains under £16 million, compared with Celtic’s £83 million. But Celtic’s feat in matching those historic achieve- could not be completed on the over when the 2020/2021 sea- Premiership clubs’ desire not to jeopardise a new ments feels like an anti-climax after the coronavirus pitch. Anticlimactic son can even start and what the television contract with Sky that starts next season lockdown deprived them of the chance to win it on Celtic were 13 points clear at Scottish football landscape will played a part in ending the season early. However, the pitch. the top of the table when end to look like. According to UEFA’s even an improved deal is reportedly worth just £26 “They are the ones who have lost out the most in matches were halted, after latest Club Licensing Bench- million a season. terms of the opportunity to play in front of the sup- storming ahead as Rangers fal- season mark report, gate receipts pro- “Our middle-ranking Scottish Premiership club porters, going for nine in a row,” said Celtic manager tered following the winter vide 43 percent of revenue for might get four times the money through the gate as it Neil Lennon of his players. “I feel so sorry for them.” break. the 12 clubs in the Scottish does through its TV contract, so the economics (of Scottish league chiefs on Monday declared the “We have scored 89 goals, Premiership, by far the highest closed-doors games) don’t work in Scotland,” Scot- season over, drawing a line under a bitter squabble conceded just 19, and established a commanding 13- proportion in Europe’s top 20 leagues. tish Football Association chairman Rod Petrie told the over how to finish the campaign. Rangers failed to point lead at the top of the table. We are champions If a large portion of the season were played behind BBC. Finance experts Begbies Traynor have pre- gain sufficient support among the other 41 league for a reason,” Celtic said in a statement. closed doors, that would hit Scottish clubs particu- dicted insolvencies among the hardest-hit clubs as clubs for an independent inquiry into the controver- Rangers fans will claim this title will always come larly hard. Celtic are best set up to be able to ride out “inevitable”. Celtic may be champions again, but sial vote that allowed the season to be called on a with an asterisk attached. But for the blue half of the the economic storm, with their latest accounts show- there is little else that is business as usual for the points-per-game basis. Glasgow divide, their focus must now be on stopping ing cash reserves of £33 million. Scottish game. — AFP own decisions, whether it’s to reopen schools or re- Bolt and partner French football sume sport.” While “the stakes are not the same in Germany and France”, the minister questioned “the notion of fair- welcome baby girl put health first: ness” in the event of the resumption of European competitions, particularly the Champions League, KINGSTON: Jamaica’s Olympic sprint legend Usain Sports minister where PSG have reached the last eight and Lyon hold Bolt has become a father for the first time after wel- a 1-0 lead over Juventus in a last 16 tie. coming the birth of a baby girl with partner Kasi Ben- “There are some who have chosen to resume their nett, reports said Monday. PARIS: France was right to end its football season, championships, because, without doubt, and I know Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness ap- said the country’s sports minister on Monday, casting this from having discussed it with my counterparts peared to confirm the birth of Bolt’s daughter in a so- doubt on the wisdom of restarting the Bundesliga, de- from the major European footballing countries, it was cial media post. “Congratulations to our sprint legend spite the coronavirus pandemic, at the weekend. economic issues that were at stake,” she insisted. Usain Bolt and Kasi Bennett on the arrival of their “It was important for me to give primacy to the “I think that in the period we are living through, a baby girl!” Holness wrote on Twitter. health and the psychological well-being of athletes decision that was guided by a concern for health and Local media reports said the couple’s daughter over economic considerations, which, indeed, in other the health aspect cannot be called into question,” she was born on Sunday. No further details were imme- countries, have taken precedence,” said Roxana added. The Ligue 1 decision has caused an outcry diately available. Bolt, 33, had revealed he was ex- Maracineanu on a visit to the French high perform- among some in football. Lyon’s president Jean-Michel pecting a daughter with Bennett on social media in ance institute (INSEP) on the outskirts of Paris. Aulas, whose club was out of the European places While the French league season has been declared March, jokingly warning any future suitors to steer Bolt with his partner Kasi Bennett when play was halted, has launched two legal ac- clear of his daughter. over with Paris Saint-Germain champions, the Bun- tions. Maracineanu said the pause could have been “Any man! Any boy! Don’t play with me!” the desliga resumed on Saturday, behind closed doors. an opportunity for sport to reflect. “We could have eight-time Olympic gold medallist quipped. Bolt, the sprinting. At the 2016 Olympics, Bolt became the only “Each country was affected differently” by Covid- taken advantage of this moment to ask ourselves world record holder at 100m and 200m, retired from man to win the 100m and 200m titles at three con- 19, said Maracineanu, who also pointed to the Ger- questions other than simply ‘am I first, second or athletics in 2017 after a decade of dominance in men’s secutive Olympics. — AFP man federal system in which “the regions make their third?’” — AFP.