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“I don’t sleep easy with the loss of Rahul Dravid and Sanju Samson, who’ve been personal friends for 15 years,” Manoj Badale says, but explains that all decisions were taken transparently and for the best of the team

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Nov-2025Bringing back Ravindra Jadeja and releasing Sanju Samson – is this what you expected once IPL 2025 got over?Definitely. What was on my mind when the 2025 season finished was that we needed to very quickly do what we do at the end of every year, which is [to conduct] a thorough, independent review of why we performed so badly. To be clear, we do these reviews when we perform well [too]. So there was nothing unusual about the process at the end of 2025 other than the reality that we were reviewing a very poor season. In fact, our poorest season in 18 years. What I had on my list was: understanding why and what were the recommendations and changes that we could make to put us in a better position for 2026.Related

• Sangakkara confirmed as RR head coach and director of cricket

• IPL 2026: How the squads stack up ahead of the auction

In the media release announcing the exit of Rahul Dravid as head coach, you pointed out that a structural review had been conducted. Who conducted it and who were spoken to?We always try where we can to have some independence in the review. So, for example, we had a tough year in Dubai [IPL 2020, where RR finished last with six wins] and Andrew Strauss led the review and then subsequently joined the RR Board; Strauss sat across the reviews for many years subsequently and he would bring that impartiality, if you like. This year we didn’t have Strauss because by mutual agreement he stepped away to focus on his other business interests.So the review this time was led by Stuart Lancaster [former England men’s rugby coach], which to some of the readers may seem a strange choice given that he’s a rugby coach, but he’s actually passionate and highly interested in cricket as well. And someone that I’d got to know through my work on the FA technical advisory board and someone who has been through his own ups and downs as a head coach. So we had him lead the review, supported by my business partner Charles Mindenhall, who again brings 18 years of Board context, but again, a real independence in terms of his own opinions.All the key members of the support staff and most of the key players [were spoken to in the review].That included the head coach [Dravid], the captain [Samson], the assistant coaches and Kumar Sangakkara [director of cricket]?Of course. In fact, there were multiple meetings with Dravid and Sangakkara.What were the major recommendations after the review?There were basically three themes. One was that the structure was too complex. Two, that we needed a simpler, more aligned structure. And thirdly, that in the IPL, player connectivity is critical. The core issue was we had allowed it to get too complex. And, actually, the person who has to own [up to] that is me.Can you break that down for us?We needed a simpler, more aligned structure. The review suggested there were areas we could improve in our decision-making.Among the big decisions you took post IPL 2024 was to bring in Dravid as head coach. From the outside, it was a surprise considering RR had made two playoffs, including a final, and finished fifth between 2021 and 2024 under Sangakkara at the helm as both team director and head coach. What made the reshuffle necessary?Actually, that wasn’t when the decision was taken [to appoint Dravid]. The conversations had been ongoing for multiple years. He is, and will always be, one of the greatest Indian coaches that’s ever lived. And if you remember, his coaching career started at RR. He’s a good personal friend. He’s been an informal kind of mentor and advisor even when he is not been with RR. So I’d always had an aspiration for him to return, but he was also clear that he wasn’t going to be available until he delivered a trophy for India, which he did [T20 World Cup 2024].How difficult then was it to speak to Dravid on the plans to reshuffle the main coaching positions?The conversations were actually about him taking on a broader role in the franchise, not about him leaving. Actually, my ambition was for him to take a much bigger role in the franchise, but his ambition was to continue being a head coach. It was that divergence that led him to decide to move on.Associated PressHow much of what has happened in the last six months is down to the retentions before the 2025 mega auction?Look, there is no question that with the benefit of hindsight some auction calls did not work as we had hoped, but that’s almost always going to be the conclusion when you’ve had a bad season. That’s not the reason we parted company. It would be a sign of naive management if you connected dots like that so explicitly. And the reality of any sports franchise is you have multiple people contribute to big decisions like that. But ultimately, I have to own the decisions. I can’t pass them on to other people just because they prove to be right or wrong.What you are perhaps suggesting is that because we got that [retention picks] wrong, this event seven months later happened. But I don’t think it’s as simple as that kind of cause and effect. We shouldn’t also forget we had a bad season [IPL 2025] but we lost four games where we had about 95% win prediction going into the last over. The ESPNcricinfo predictor had us at 98% in three of those four games going into that last over – you win those four games, everyone’s looking at the season differently. I like to think, though, that we would have done exactly the same review and we would have made exactly the same conclusions. The bit I am unequivocal about is: we absolutely would have done the review.How difficult was it to know that Samson, a player who has grown with the franchise and become the captain, wanted to be released? When did he tell you about his decision?Look, he sort of made indications towards the end of the [IPL 2025] season that he was emotionally [drained]. A friend of mine always says to me, you’ve got three types of capital in your life: you have physical capital, you have intellectual capital, and you have emotional capital. And the way I describe what Sanju said to me – he didn’t necessarily use these words – is he was drained of the emotional capital that he had put into RR.Now, when you run an IPL franchise, players ask to leave, stay, get retained, put in the auction all the time because ultimately their primary lookout, as it should be, is themselves. And whether it’s their earnings or whether it’s their prospects of making the Indian team, that’s true.
In the case of Sanju, that was never been the case.So when he says, ‘Sir, I want to move on, I’m emotionally drained; I almost care too much and I feel like I need a fresh chapter’, when asks that, you have to listen. I was really clear with him that we would cooperate and try to seek an alternative chapter for him, but we would only do it if it was a player trade and we would only do it if view was that the trade made the franchise stronger. And to be fair to him, he respected that. He agreed with that and he abided by that.

“Sanju Samson is so authentic, we just respected his desire. But we were clear with him that we would only satisfy that desire if it made the franchise as strong or stronger”Manoj Badale

But I’m sure you tried hard to convince him to stay on.Actually, I didn’t. Of course, your heart tells you to get on a plane and fly to India and try and convince him, but I didn’t. No, nor did Sanga. Nor did Rahul. The man Sanju Samson is so authentic, we just respected his desire. But we were clear with him that we would only satisfy that desire if it made the franchise as strong or stronger.If the trade had not gone through, would you have released him or retained him? And what convinced you the CSK offer was a good trade deal?We would retain him. The other two conditions of the process were: one, I would personally lead the process so that we had no leaks. It’s a sensitive thing doing trades, because owners have to declare which players may be available in the knowledge that they may then be playing for them next year. You are also dealing with human beings. You are not dealing with robots. The second condition for the process was I would personally contact every franchise so that no franchise could ever say, ‘oh, he did a deal with him because he’s a friend of his’. So I did call every single franchise quite quickly.It was clear there were sort of five teams, very, very interested. As for why CSK, we went through a five to six week process of negotiation, analysis, review, as well as discussions with Sanju. And that’s how we got to the answer we did.So you involved Samson, too?Hundred per cent. We spoke lots and lots.The media narrative fascinated me because the media narrative was this is a franchise in chaos. Rahul leaves, there’s management changes, Sanju’s asking to leave. There were three or four big figures that left the franchise in quick succession. Actually, that could not be further from how it felt internally. The season finished in June, my message to everyone was, ‘listen, decompress for the end of June’. We started the review, I think, on July 1, and we finished the review exactly when we wanted to, I think at the end of the first week of August, because Stuart was starting a new coaching job and people were going to start disappearing on a holiday. I said I wanted till August to digest the review. I had multiple conversations with Sanga and with Rahul and with Sanju through that period. And September and October have been the implementation months.Kumar Sangakkara has been reappointed head coach while still being the director of cricket•SA20What tempted you to agree on bringing Jadeja in?Personally, any owner would be mad not to be tempted by Jadeja. I don’t need to talk about his cricket credentials: he’s won trophies in the IPL, he’s won trophies on the international stage. He’s arguably one of our best batters, one of our best bowlers, one of our best fielders.Even though he played for us [in 2008-09], I didn’t really know him as a person. And also the person I knew was a 19-year-old. I mean, obviously there’s a nice narrative about returning home and coming back to where he started, but in truth, that’s been a bigger theme for him. He called me when CSK informed him that he was up for trade. He was so happy to be coming back to RR. Actually, that made me smile and laugh. But it wasn’t just about Jadeja – it was about Jadeja and [Sam] Curran.Curran is a key part of this trade because it’s the combination of the two that fill three or four slots that you and your colleagues identified were big weaknesses. And it’s stating the obvious, but when you get players that can bat and bowl, it just allows you to change the balance. I think we spent 68 of our 90 crore last year on batting. And that inevitably kind of drives an imbalance. The exciting part from our perspective is arguably one of India’s greatest superstars and one of England’s all-round superstars added to the team.Jadeja, I believe, is keen on captaincy. Was that part of your conversation with him?Not really. And it’s not part of the conversation right now. We actually have got the player leadership group together twice, once including him, to make it clear that we are going to go through a process over the next couple of months. We’ve got probably six or seven players that could be RR captain. We didn’t want to get into that and embark on that part of the process until we knew the trade was happening. Otherwise, it becomes a futile process. Now that the trade is done, our absolute short-term focus is the auction. Once the auction is done, our next focus then will be the captaincy process.5:40

What will RR’s rejig look like?

Moving away for a bit, what are your thoughts on mega auctions, and whether they should remain?I do. The thing that makes the IPL the tournament that it is, and I personally think it’s the essence of sport, is unpredictable outcomes. So we can go from, in my humble opinion, certainly being one of the best two teams in the last three-year cycle to being one of the worst two teams last year. Now, while that’s frustrating and leads to conversations like this and hours of work, protecting the unpredictability of the outcomes should be the central objective of any of the governors of the IPL.The only way you do that is with really robust salary caps – otherwise it becomes a tournament for the richest owners – and a very transparent procurement process. And whether it’s the NFL Draft or the IPL auction, I can’t think of a more transparent approach. Clearly, the teams with the deepest pockets will always push for more retentions, they will push for abandonment of the auctions, but then you end up with the challenge that you have had in other sporting leagues like soccer, where it’s a league of ten teams on paper, but it’s four teams that are really competing for the final. I don’t think that’s good for the fan. We sometimes forget these tournaments exist for the fans and they are the people that pay for it with their eyeballs. And fans want to watch games where they don’t know who’s going to win, even if their team is playing.Why I asked that was because owners have to bother about retentions and negotiations every three years.It’s part of the strategy. As long as you know the rules and as long as the rules don’t keep changing at the last minute, it’s part of the fun of plotting, which is thinking two years ahead to the players that you are going to retain, thinking one year ahead to what does this mean for that mega auction.

“The conversations with Sangakkara were not about any sort of rebuilding or radical transformation, but how do we sort of return to the things that made us successful from 2022 to 2024”Manoj Badale

With Sangakkara back as head coach, can you talk about the conversations you have had with him to drive the strategy forward?The conversations with him were not about any sort of rebuilding or radical transformation, but how do we sort of return to the things that made us successful from 2022 to 2024. We were the worst fielding side in the IPL last year. We have always believed that culture is incredibly important. So how do we double down on some of those weaknesses and some of those historic strengths? And it was a reasonably quick conclusion that that sort of stability and evolution rather than revolution would be best managed this year if he took the helm.What are the short- and mid-term goals you have set for the team?The media has been always very kind describing us as India’s most important talent factory. And, of course, the stats bear that out pretty unambiguously. But I’ve always had a wry smile when I read those things because we’ve never had any other objective – certainly for the past four years – of doing anything other than winning the IPL. We are not only here to develop young talent. We are here to compete and win.Again, I come back to the unpredictability of the IPL. As stakeholders, as shareholders, as owners, it’s too tough a competition to set goals in terms of outcomes. It’s naive to say we must win the IPL this year because the margins between the teams are so thin and a couple of tosses here or there, a couple of umpiring decisions here or there can take that away from you. So we don’t define our goals in terms of outcomes, we define our goals in terms of inputs. The things that you can control, like squad selection, like behaviours, like culture, like leadership, structure, those are the things you have to focus on, not the outcomes.Another key parameter is winning at home. There’s always this question about whether RR will play in Jaipur or whether they will go to Guwahati. What will be the home base in IPL 2026?Our home is, has been, and will always be Rajasthan. Whether it’s this season, next season, the season after, we are the Rajasthan Royals. Our heart is in Rajasthan. The only reason we will ever not play in Rajasthan is because of stadium security, stadium infrastructure, fan protection, fan safety. If we cannot guarantee those things, then we’ll play wherever we need to. That’s what makes the decisions. It’s not about the location. It’s about making sure we can play in high-quality stadiums, making sure we can ensure great fan experiences. And that’s going to be a challenge this year as it has been for the last 15 years.11:36

Samson-Jadeja trade – shocking, or not?

Have the past few months been the most challenging during your time in the IPL? And are you convinced what you have chosen is the right path to go forward?This has been the toughest pretty much since RR started. This has been a really tough period.
All you can ever be confident of is: have you made the decisions with the best available information? You can’t be confident of outcomes in sports. There are too many variables that you can’t control. Injuries, weather, tournament location, pitch location. So after doing this for 18 years, again, it’s naive to say I’m confident that these will be proven to be the right decisions. You cannot be. What you can be is be true to yourself is that you have made decisions with care, courage and based on the right information. And I sort of sleep easy with that. I don’t sleep easy with the loss of two people – Rahul and Sanju – who’ve been personal friends for 15 years. And I still get emotional thinking about the fact that they won’t be there in 2026; in the same way, by the way, I felt very emotional last year about not having Jos Buttler in then squad, but you’ve got to keep looking forward.Since you mentioned Buttler, given another chance would you revisit the 2025 retentions and releases?It’s a surefire way of going mad if you spend your life revisiting decisions that perhaps weren’t the right ones. I mean, it’s like you have got to keep looking forward. I’m hugely excited about this squad. I hope our fans are excited and I hope they just appreciate the amount of work, care and thought that goes into these decisions. And now I think on paper we’ve got a team that can absolutely compete.

The allrounder smashed the second fastest ODI hundred for Australia, off 47 balls, in the final ODI against South Africa

Andrew McGlashan24-Aug-20252:14

Green: ‘I was told I was next one ball before Heady got out’

Ask Cameron Green to do a job over the last couple of months and he’s generally made a success of it. Batting No. 3 in Australia’s Test side had a tricky start but he came good during the West Indies tour; then given the No. 4 role in T20Is he earned Player of the Series honours. It was very much in that T20 style that he surged to a maiden ODI hundred from just 47 balls in the third match against South Africa in Mackay.While his promotion to No. 3 from No. 4 had started to be discussed around the 30-over mark, as Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh forged their double-century opening stand, Green had one ball’s notice that it would actually happen before Head was dismissed for 142. “I think it always happens like that,” he said after the game. “You make a decision that doesn’t effect on-field, but for some reason it does. The next ball I was in, so it took me a while to get ready.”He was off the mark second ball, skipping down the pitch at Keshav Maharaj, Australia’s nemesis from the opening game of the series, and hammering a drive wide of long-off. From then on Green was always above a run-a-ball, and the gap quickly grew wider”I think it is that mindset of when you switch positions, kind of your role does change,” he said. “Instead of maybe nudging it around, maybe getting Bison [Marsh] on strike, I think it was just get out there, get on with it straight away.”Related

• Green set to bowl in Shield cricket

• Green, Head and Marsh flay centuries as Australia put on a show

• Stats – Records tumble in Mackay as Head, Marsh and Green batter South Africa

One of the most eye-catching moments of Green’s innings came when he faced left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy in the 45th over and turned down a single to keep the strike with an eye on the match-up. It was a continuation of the tactic Tim David had used in recent T20Is and Green responded by depositing the next three balls for six.”We were discussing it before Tim David did it in West Indies,” Green said. “If you get a really good match-up I think the bowler likes when a single gets hit, for example. Try and make the most of the short boundary.”Another curiosity in Green’s innings was that one of his eight sixes came courtesy of the amended boundary-fielding laws that prevent a player from “bunny-hopping” outside the playing area to field the ball mid-air. Green had launched Wiaan Mulder to long-on where Dewald Brevis couldn’t keep himself in the field of play and palmed the ball back having leapt in the air outside the boundary. Previously he would have prevented the boundary, but now it was six.Green’s century came in the next over, putting him between two of Glenn Maxwell’s finest hours in the list of fastest hundreds for Australia. Maxwell is one of the lynchpin ODI figures Australia need to replace ahead of the World Cup in 2027, alongside Steven Smith, with the batting performances in the first two games of this series raising a few questions about the health of the one-day side.It would be unwise to draw too many conclusions from the 431 for 2 in a dead rubber against a weakened South Africa attack and where batting first proved a distinct advantage. But it was an emphatic response, with timely runs for Head and Marsh’s continuing increase in output being the other encouraging signs.Cameron Green high-fives Alex Carey as he completes his hundred in Mackay•Getty Images”It’s been a while since we played one-day cricket so it just took a while to find our groove,” Green, who before this series had also not played an ODI since last September, said. “Shame it was a bit late for this series, but good signs moving forward.”I think you can normally work your way back from Test cricket. I think that’s a reasonably easy way [to go] because your technique’s normally in a good place and then you can open up and expand your game. Potentially going the other way is a bit tougher. You’re really looking to attack and then you have to kind of rein it in a little bit, pick and choose your times when to go.”Australia’s next ODIs are in mid-October against India, the No.1-ranked side, but Green could miss that series as he uses the Sheffield Shield to return to bowling ahead of the Ashes. If so, it will be another lengthy gap in the format for him.There remain some interesting questions for the selectors to ponder. Green’s performance in this match raises the possibility as to whether he could be Australia’s long-term ODI No. 3 or if that role stays with Marnus Labuschagne, who didn’t get the chance to bat after two scores of 1 in the first two matches of the series.Matt Short and Mitchell Owen were initially due to be part of this squad before injury and will likely feature against India. Aaron Hardie, a late call-up, struggled in two outings and his stock may have fallen although time remains on his side. Xavier Bartlett, however, will have done his cause no harm with new-ball wickets.Cooper Connolly, someone the selectors have been keen to expose at the top level, ended the series as an unlikely holder of the best ODI figures by an Australia spinner. He had Labuschagne’s brilliant out cricket to thank for a couple of wickets, and a stream of South African batters swinging in a lost cause, but if he grows into a genuine all-round option then he would be a valuable addition to the next generation of Australia’s 50-over cricketers. A team in which Green will be one of the most important figures.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has issued an injury update on star player Cole Palmer ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with Arsenal. The England international has had an injury-hit season so far, with the playmaker missing a big chunk of the season from a persistent groin issue. Most recently, he has been sidelined with a fractured toe but Palmer is now on the cusp of being back fit for the Blues.

• Palmer's luck is out

  Chelsea fans were chomping at the bit to see what Palmer could do this season, especially after starring in their Club World Cup final win over Paris Saint-Germain this summer. But a groin problem has limited him to just four appearances in all competitions this term, and just when he looked like he would be fit and ready again, he fractured his toe. In late September, Maresca admitted he was wary of rushing the 23-year-old back to action.

  "We need to protect Cole for sure, 100%. Not only Cole in my personal view because as I said now because of the Club World Cup or because we never stop, we need to manage and protect different players," the Italian said at the time." The solution with Cole, I don’t know, now we have a meeting with the medical staff and we decide the best solution for him. But it’s also a kind of injury that is not like black and white. It’s an injury that someday you can be better. It’s not that you have pain and tomorrow disappear. Sometimes you can be better, sometimes you can be worse. That’s why we need to manage day by day."

  But sure enough, he had to be withdrawn early from their defeat at Manchester United just over a month ago due to this same injury.

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  Chelsea hit with Palmer boost

  The former Manchester City man did not feature in Chelsea's 3-0 thrashing of Barcelona in the Champions League in midweek, with Maresca trying not to get Blues fans' hopes up about him before the contest.

  "Yes, Cole is wearing a [protective] boot. We don’t know when he will be back but for sure it will be soon. He’s already on the pitch, he’s already touching the ball, and the feeling [for him] is good," said the ex-Leicester City boss. "At the moment, we are only looking at tomorrow’s game. It’s a Champions League game against Barcelona, that is our focus, and then we will look ahead to Arsenal. I don’t think he will be available for these two games, but he is doing well."

  But on Friday, he confirmed Palmer is ready to face Arsenal.

  He told reporters: "He is available for both [to start and to play]. [His return will elevate the squad] A lot. As you said, he's probably our best player. We are happy he is back. We need to give him time to make sure he's 100 per cent fit. He has done fantastically in the past, and there is no doubt he will do fantastically in the future."

• Huge Arsenal test

  Arsenal are on a roll right now. They are six points clear at the top of the Premier League, have outclassed Europe's most in-form team in Bayern Munich, and are the side to beat right now. That, and more, is why Maresca is very respectful of their upcoming opponents.

  He said, via Football London: "They defend fantastically. Any team struggles to score goals against them, even to create chances. They have weapons when they attack. They are top in the Champions League and top in the Premier League. It's another big game. We finished the Barcelona one, and we won, it's a good feeling. If it's bigger than the last one, I don't know. For me, they are all important games. For sure, beating Barcelona and if we are able to beat Arsenal, it's a nice feeling, it's three points. We try to defend in the best way we can. They score goals in set-pieces against every team. They score goals against any team, they have a system in place that works very well and we will try to do our best to prepare in the best way."

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  What comes next for Palmer and Chelsea?

  It remains to be seen if Chelsea will play Palmer from the start against Arsenal, or if he will be brought off the bench. A win would take the Blues to within three points of Mikel Arteta's side, massively boosting their own title chances. But a defeat on their own patch would make the Gunners even stronger favourites to finally win their first league title since 2004. After this contest, Chelsea travel to lowly Leeds United on December 3, followed by a trip to Bournemouth three days later.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been blasted by Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson for the "silly decision" that led to his historic red card for Portugal in their 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium. CR7 was sent off for the first time in his international career during that contest, when earning his 226th cap, with his reaction to that dismissal being revealed.

• Ronaldo suspension: Sent off for first time when winning 226th cap

  Portugal headed to Dublin knowing that a positive result would confirm their automatic qualification for next summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico. That process will now go down to a final group phase outing against Armenia on Sunday. Ronaldo will sit that game out through suspension.

  A ban must be served after swinging an elbow in the direction of Ireland defender Dara O’Shea. Said incident was the subject of a VAR review, leading to Ronaldo being sent for an early bath. Hallgrimsson had said in the build-up to the game that he felt like CR7 was able to influence the referee during an October contest in Lisbon that delivered a dramatic 1-0 victory for the hosts.

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  Ronaldo fails to deliver on 'good boy' promise

  He said: "It's obviously up to the referee if he takes part in a play. But the thing in Portugal, he was not only controlling the referee, he was controlling the whole stadium, so all the fans supported his actions. The referee just kind of played along. I hope it will be the vice versa now that we are in Aviva. Obviously, a player shouldn't be refereeing. It should be the officials doing the refereeing."

  Ronaldo reacted to those comments by vowing to be on his best behaviour. He told reporters: "I really like the fans here, the support they give to their national team is lovely. For me it's a pleasure to come to play here again, and of course it will be tough. I hope they don't boo me too much, I swear that I'm gonna try to be a good boy!"

• Ronaldo's reaction to red card: Ireland boss reveals what was said

  The five-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to deliver on that promise. He cut a frustrated figure as Portugal conceded twice before half-time. He was then given his marching orders just after the hour mark.

  Hallgrimsson told of that incident: "He lost his focus a little bit, again maybe the fans helped a little bit in that. He was frustrated and reacted in a way that he knows he shouldn't. He said to me walking away, he told me (Hallgrimsson's pre-match remarks were) a clever thing to do and he blamed the referee or whomever, but it was his silly decision to attack our player."

  Hallgrimsson went on to say of his touchline exchange with Ronaldo as the all-time great made his way off the field: "He complimented me for putting pressure on the referee. It was his action on the pitch that cost him the red card. It had nothing to do with me – unless I got into his head."

  Asked if he had spoken to Ronaldo after the game, Ireland’s head coach added: "No, I think we spoke enough when he came off. There was nothing to speak about. This was just a moment of a little silliness from him, I would say."

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  2026 World Cup qualification: Crucial games for Portugal & Ireland

  Two goals from Troy Parrott helped Ireland to a notable win on home soil, meaning that their own qualification hopes now rest on a final showdown with Hungary. Hallgrimsson said of that must-win encounter: "That is what we wanted, it is in our hands and with a performance like this we have a chance. We have to focus and recover, we have tired legs and the staff need to work really hard to get everyone fit and ready because that game is very important now. We won the second game in the last window and rotated players and happy we did that today. Those who played 90 minutes will be tired but hopefully everyone will be ready."

  Portugal will be at the 2026 finals. Ronaldo has admitted that tournament will be his last World Cup – as he graces FIFA’s flagship event for the sixth time at 41 years of age – but is not yet ready to head into retirement as he continues to chase down 1,000 career goals.

كشفت شبكة سكاي سبورتس اليوم الأربعاء، عن حقيقة مغادرة محمد صلاح صفوف نادي ليفربول خلال الفترة المقبلة والانتقال للعب في أحد أندية الدوري السعودي للمحترفين.

محمد صلاح يرتبط بالرحيل عن صفوف ليفربول خلال الفترة المقبلة، وذلك في ظل الخلاف الذي حدث بين اللاعب وإدارة النادي الإنجليزي والمدرب آرني سلوت.

واتهم محمد صلاح إدارة ليفربول بعدم تنفيذ الوعود المقدمة له، إلى جانب اعترافه بأن علاقته مع المدرب آرني سلوت قد تدمرت بالكامل.

وأدت تصريحات محمد صلاح إلى استبعاده من قائمة ليفربول لمباراة إنتر ميلان يوم أمس الثلاثاء، وذلك في إطار منافسات بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

اقرأ أيضًا .. وارنوك عن أزمة محمد صلاح: كأس أمم إفريقيا فرصة لتهدئة الوضع مع ليفربول

وذكرت الشبكة، أن محمد صلاح بالفعل مطلوب من قبل أندية الدوري السعودي، ومن بين أبرزها الهلال وكذلك اتحاد جدة، لكن هناك بعض الشروط التي قد تمنع حدوث هذه الخطوة.

وأضافت الشبكة، أن أندية الدوري السعودي تريد ضمانات، بأن محمد صلاح جاهز بشكل تام من الناحية الفنية والبدنية، وذلك لاتخاذ خطوة التعاقد معه.

وأوضح المصدر، أن أندية الدوري السعودي قد غيرت استراتيجيتها وأصبحت تستهدف اللاعبين الشباب بدلاً من النجوم الذين يقتربون من نهاية مسيرتهم الكروية، لكن محمد صلاح استثناء.

وأردفت الشبكة، أنه في الجهة الأخرى فإن محمد صلاح لم يبد رغبة حقيقية في اللعب في الدوري السعودي، وإنما يريد التركيز بشكل أكبر على استكمل مسيرته في أوروبا.

وتابعت الشبكة قولها، إن محمد صلاح لم يغلق باب اللعب بأحد أندية الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز ولا يرى الدولي المصري أن الانتقال إلى الدوري السعودي خطوة مناسبة حاليًا، في حين لم يتلق الريدز كذلك عرضًا رسميًا لضم اللاعب.

Former USMNT star Tim Howard reflected on Inter Miami’s 3-1 MLS Cup win over Vancouver, acknowledging the significance of the title while warning of challenges ahead. He said the trophy cements the club’s place in MLS's history after years of high-profile signings and marketing. He also cautioned that next year could provide challenges for Lionel Messi and warned Vancouver are on the rise.

AFP'I think it's good for the league'

The former Manchester United and Everton star noted that while the club had already captured attention through high-profile signings and lucrative television deals, winning the championship provided tangible validation of their ambitions.

“I think it's good for the league,” Howard said on thepodcast. "Ultimately, there's the haves and the have-nots, and I just tend to think that makes for better drama, makes for better viewing, which ultimately, at the end of the day, this is the sport, just the business we're in, a viewership, sort of, driven sport. So, I like it."

Howard emphasized that the trophy represents more than just silverware – it demonstrates that Inter Miami has successfully translated their financial investments and star power into actual competitive success.

“You get the, you get the television deal that's linked to Messi, the biggest name in football. Like, you kinda need to win. Like, I mean, that's just my opinion on it.”

AdvertisementBelieves Vancouver better positioned for future

Looking ahead to potential rematches between these two clubs, Howard expressed confidence that Vancouver Whitecaps would be more likely to return to future MLS Cup finals. 

“I think Vancouver because, because I really like their team,” Howard said. “I do. I like their team, and I think they showed how good they are in the final and in the run-up to the final. Um, Sebastian Berhalter's gonna be an X factor. Can they keep him? Um, can they keep him happy? 

"Arsene Wenger used to talk about the World Cup hangover…And here's what I would say. Now, look at Inter Miami. You got a Supporter Shield last year, you got a MLS cup this year, middle of the season this year, you're gonna have a World Cup, right for two or three of your best players, and obviously, Messi, the greatest player.

“There's no doubt in my mind that that team will down tools [because of the World Cup]. There's no doubt in my mind. Not because they're bad guys. Not because they're bad, but because literally the exhaustion. "

Getty Images SportHoward urges caution

Howard stressed the unique pressure Messi carries for Argentina and suggested that both the player and Inter Miami will carefully map out his appearances to ensure he remains fully fit and rested before – and even after – the tournament.

“And by the way, don't forget, Messi, who runs this team,” Howard explained. “He's the heartbeat of his team, right? And I know he can do it 'cause he's done it for years. But just don't forget, Messi playing at a World Cup isn't a player playing at a World Cup. It's the hopes. It's the dreams. It's the threats. It's the entire nation. There's so much more on Messi's plate going into a World Cup, and then post-World Cup, how he unwraps that, than anybody else.

“He's not gonna play a ton of minutes before the World Cup, FYI, MLS. He's basically gonna look at the calendar when it comes out, speak to Mascherano, and just say, 'All right, I'll play here, here, and here.' And I'm not, I'm not lying when I say that, right? He's gotta be fully fit and rested before the World Cup. And then after the World Cup.”

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Getty Images SportChampionship validates MLS growth

The victory validates MLS's investment in attracting world-class talent while establishing Inter Miami as a franchise capable of winning at the highest level. 

Welcome to 'Ask Jimmy,' where SI Media writer Jimmy Traina will answer one question about a burning topic from the sports media world.

A balls and strikes challenge system is finally coming to Major League Baseball. After being used for several years in the minor leagues, the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System will be featured in the big leagues beginning next season. Each team will get two challenges per game when it comes to balls and strikes, which will be retained if successful.

This is nothing but a positive for the sport. You can’t have games decided on missed calls by the home plate umpire and this is a way to fix that.

The only downside is that I wish teams were allotted more than two challenges per game from the start. I’d give teams four or five challenges per game. Even if you think home plate umpires do a great job, they’re still going to miss a handful of calls in each game. Why not implement a system in order to rectify that?

If your argument against the ABS challenge system is that it will slow down the game, think again. 

Baseball has done a great job of speeding up the game by instituting the pitch clock. The challenge system won’t have a significant effect on the length of games.

Via MLB: In 288 games with the ABS Challenge System during Spring Training 2025, there were an average of 4.1 challenges per game. Those challenges took an average of 13.8 seconds. 

Adding on a minute to each game to get important calls correct is a no-brainer. 

Baseball already has instant replay, so adding another layer to have balls and strikes challenged seems like a natural progression. 

Think about how history would have changed if ABS was around in 1998 when the Yankees got this gift from the home plate umpire.

You just can’t miss a call like that in a World Series game.

The only downside in my view is that this will limit the number of player explosions when a home plate umpire gets a call wrong. Now, instead of throwing their helmet or slamming their bats, a batter will simply tap his head to call for replay. 

We have 14 memorable wins for you to choose from

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2024Where does India’s win in Perth rank among their greatest Test wins away from home since 2000? Vote for your favourite below.