Cut players' pay else clubs ruined: Wenger
PARIS • Arsene Wenger said on Friday football needs to tackle inflated player wages if it is to bounce back from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, adding that "thousands" of clubs across Europe risk extinction.
The former Arsenal manager warned a reduction in salaries was needed in the wake of the billions set to be lost due to the Covid-19 crisis, which forced the game into a months-long hiatus.
The Frenchman, who is now Fifa's chief of global football development, explained that the wage structure in most clubs is "between 60 and 80 per cent of the turnover" and this was unsustainable in the long run.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Win keeps Leipzig in Champs League hunt
BERLIN • Third-placed RB Leipzig scored two quickfire goals through Dani Olmo immediately after Hoffenheim had a penalty award overturned by the VAR (video assistant referee) in a remarkable opening 12 minutes of a 2-0 win in the Bundesliga on Friday.
The away victory gave Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann a happy first return to the football club where he began his coaching career as a 28-year-old. His side now have 62 points from 31 games and are on course for a top-four finish with three matches remaining.
REUTERS
Highlanders win in Super Rugby restart
WELLINGTON • Replacement Bryn Gatland slotted a 79th-minute drop goal to give the Otago Highlanders a 28-27 victory over his father Warren's Waikato Chiefs side as professional rugby union resumed after a three-month Covid-19 shutdown yesterday.
The drop goal provided an electric finish to the first match of New Zealand's Super Rugby Aotearoa that attracted a crowd of about 20,000 and was broadcast to a global television audience.
REUTERS
Finalised Vuelta route will feature 18 stages
MADRID • The Vuelta a Espana, to be held between Oct 20 and Nov 8, will begin in Irun and end in Madrid, according to the final route announced on Friday.
Two Portuguese cities have been withdrawn from the race due to the coronavirus crisis, with Porto and Viseu replaced by Zamora and Salamanca respectively. The 75th edition of the event, which is one of cycling's three grand tours, will include 18 stages after the cancellation of the first three stages in the Netherlands.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
