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In the world of football, Gianni Infantino, the FIFA President, has criticised the Premier League clubs for spending money on agents rather than training and developing players signed from abroad. Erling Haaland is doubtful for the upcoming FA Cup semi-final clash for Manchester City against Chelsea after getting taken off in the mid-week UCL quarterfinal. Vinesh Phogat has secured a quota for India at the Paris 2024 in women’s 50kg wrestling category at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers.
Read below to learn details about these top stories and other happenings in the sporting world in the last 24 hours.
Football
FIFA President Gianni Infantino criticises spending on agents from Premier League clubs
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, has criticised the spending on agents from Premier League clubs, which was £409.5m in the 12 months to February 2024, as per the report from the Football Association last week. The 54-year-old remarked that this money is leaving football while pointing out that more money should be going to “the clubs that trained and developed the players signed from abroad.”
Erling Haaland becomes doubtful for Manchester City’s FA Cup semi-final
Erling Haaland, the Manchester City striker, is doubtful to play in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at the Wembley Stadium after being taken off during the mid-week UCL quarter-final defeat against Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, remarked, “It was a tough game, a lot of action, high intensity for both sides. Erling felt something, a muscular issue. That's why he told me he could not continue. The [doctor] said he had a little bit of niggles, a little problem, we will see how his evolution is in the next hours.”
Zinedine Zidane monitoring Erik ten Hag situation at Manchester United: Reports
Zinedine Zidane is reportedly monitoring the situation closely, in regard to the Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, and he would prefer to take charge of the English club rather than Bayern Munich, as per L’Equipe. It has been revealed that while the deal between Zinedine Zidane and Bayern Munich is close, he is thought to find the German language and life in the country to be a big issue, and that’s why he would prefer a move to Manchester United instead.
Bayern Munich interested in signing Frenkie de Jong: Reports
Bayern Munich are reportedly interested in signing the Barcelona midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, who could cost them around €60-70 million, as per Relevo. With the tough financial situation of Barcelona in focus, Frenkie de Jong could become one of the several players to get offloaded from the Spanish club in the summer amidst regular interest in him from various clubs in Europe.
Some major results in football are as under:
La Liga 2023-24
Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Granada
Bundesliga 2023-24
Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 FC Augsburg
Serie A 2023-24
Genoa 0-1 Lazio
Cagliari 2-2 Juventus
Ligue 1 2023-24
Nice 3-0 Lorient
Saudi Pro League 2023-24
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Fayha
Al-Riyadh 1-2 Al-Tai
Tennis
Iga Swiatek defeats Emma Raducanu in quarter-final of Stuttgart Open
The world number one player, Iga Swiatek, has defeated the Briton Emma Raducanu 7-6(7-2), 6-3 in the quarter-final of the Stuttgart Open, setting up a clash against Elena Rybakina in the semi-final. The clay court specialist from Poland is currently on a 10-match winning streak in the Stuttgart Open, winning the last two editions of the WTA tournament.
Stefanos Tsitsipas reaches semi-final of Barcelona Open
The Greek tennis player, Stefanos Tsitsipas, has reached the semi-final of the Barcelona Open after a hard-fought quarter-final win in three sets against Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8). With that, he will be taking on the Serbian Dusan Lajovic in the semi-final of the Barcelona Open at the Pista Rafa Nadal court.
F1
Max Verstappen secures pole position for Chinese Grand Prix
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix, staying 0.322 seconds clear of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in the qualifying session. The third place for Sunday’s race went to Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, who was 0.166 seconds behind Sergio Perez, while Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished in 18th place.
Wrestling
Vinesh Phogat secures Olympic quota for India in women’s wrestling
Vinesh Phogat, the Asian and Commonwealth Games champion, has secured a quota for Paris 2024 in the women’s 50kg wrestling category after defeating Laura Ganikyzy of Kazakhstan 10-0 at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers. The 29-year-old won the bout in just 4:18 minutes after establishing technical superiority over her Kazak opponent.