Good, Bad & Ugly ft. CK Vineeth, Michael Clarke and Liverpool’s reversal

Good, Bad & Ugly ft. CK Vineeth, Michael Clarke and Liverpool’s reversal

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SportsCafe

Welcome back to another week in quarantine, where we all have been entertained to the various highlights and some ridiculous statements made by sportspersons. This week has been nothing different, thanks to Michael Clarke, Liverpool and UFC’s ‘Fight Island,’ which is about to get ready.

The Good

Finally, Gianni Infantino gets it right! 

While the Spanish and the Italian league have to come to terms with not having football for the rest of the season due to the widespread COVID-19, the English FA is finding all potential options to host football. And, that is despite the increasing number of cases in the country. But, now, thanks to FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino, the first priority would be people’s lives. 

He then went on to say, "I cannot stress this enough. No match, no competition, no league is worth risking a single human life. Everyone in the world should have this very clear in their mind." That is just a bold statement, which is the need of the hour. Despite the football fanatics not being able to wrap their heads around the fact that football is the second important thing when it comes to Life and football concerned. The statement coming from FIFA is a huge one, and we all should put our minds to think in such a manner. 

CK Vineeth’s ‘forward’ run against COVID-19

We have seen many players from both cricket and football contribute to tackling the pandemic COVID-19. CK Vineeth was no different, contributing to the cause but the method he took was innovative and refreshing. The forward joined Coronavirus Helpline Centre in Kerala in his hometown, Kannur. He also added that he will work at the centre till the end of the pandemic while also being safe by all the guidelines issued by the government in regards to COVID-19. 

"The plan is that we would continue this help-line until the dangers of the Coronavirus are averted, and the lockdown comes to an end. The situation in Kerala is much-improved now, of course," the winger said, reported News18. However, he added that the number of calls has decreased since he first started at 150 people. He also hoped that everyone followed the government’s regulations and stayed at home - following all the guidelines issued by them. 

The Bad

And, Liverpool's brand image seeks help from NHS

Don’t worry, its not a Premier League and definitely not a VAR decision, that went in Liverpool’s favour. Last week, it was reported that Liverpool were furloughing its staff after the current pandemic COVID-19. A new week and they have reversed the decision, after the heavy criticism on social media. They reversed the decision of furloughing 200 of their staff and also issued an apology for their earlier stance. The fact that they decided to reverse the decision after their brand image took a hit is what bothers people, given that they paid around 50 million as agent fees last year. On top of that, knowing that the NHS' Coronavirus Job Retention scheme will pay 80% of those funds. For a club that has so much money in the bank, surely, furloughing is not an option and using NHS' funds too is not one!

“We believe we came to the wrong conclusion last week to announce that we intended to apply to the coronavirus retention scheme and furlough staff due to the suspension of the Premier League football calendar, and are truly sorry for that,” read Liverpool’s statement. Earlier, Liverpool stood to save up to 1.5 million pounds by putting the staff on furlough. On top of that, their manager, Jurgen Klopp, senior stars - Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Virgil Van Dijk were ready for a pay-cut. 

Michael Clarke causes Paine to Australian players

So, it all kicked-off on April 7, when Michael Clarke’s statement caused a huge uproar. More than a statement, some people want it to be addressed as claims, due to the audacity of it. Now, the statement was that Australian cricketers were scared to sledge Virat Kohli because of IPL contracts. On the other hand, there was the Australian skipper, Tim Paine who refuted it by saying that it was a strategic move to avoid starting a verbal-fight with Kohli.

Paine’s stance was more or less was revealed in the Amazon documentary, ‘The Test,’ where he was heard saying that he does not want to trigger Kohli as it would only make him more hungry. He also was seen discussing with Justin Langer in an episode where Paine was seen clashing with Kohli, with Langer asked him why he did that. Well, when it has all been documented, Clarke’s statements just came as a surprise, some even calling it ‘idiotic.’ 

The Ugly 

#BartomeuDimision

It just echoes everything that is there to define the world ‘Ugly,’ in all terms - both on Twitter and for FC Barcelona. Okay, what exactly happened that led to this hashtag? Before the much-awaited elections, there were leaks, scandals and mistakes that have left the club braced for a civil war. Reports said that as many as six top-level officials walked off or were removed from the post following the massive fall-out in trust at the top-level in the club. 

"Bartomeu told me he wanted to revamp the board and he was annoyed with certain directors, myself included,” said Barcelona’s vice president, who has now has resigned. Well, it does not look like it is going to be over this week or next week, for a matter of fact. It only opens up the pandora-box of lies in the club. And, in all sense, an early election has the opportunity to clear all the confusion and chaos that is there in the club. 

UFC Fight Island!!

Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fight Championship (UFC) has revealed that the preparations are already underway for the Fight Island. The undisputed leader of UFC suggested that UFC 249, would be staged from a casino located on tribal land in California’s Central Valley. Moreso, he also wants to set up an ‘Octagon’ on Fight Island in an Island that could be used to stage some fights. He said that they were up and running but really, what is the point of that? It is on top of him insisting that UFC would be back before all sports. 

And, on top, UFC is a contact-sport, which makes it all worse during the COVID-19 struck period. US Senator Dianne Feinstein of California weighed in on his plans and opposed it. His reason is exactly why fight island during such time is a failure - it would involve dozens of individuals flying to California and driving to a casino for something that is not essential.

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