Guardiola backs player strike, China’s next NBA star, what happened overnight in world of sport
Cui Yongxi signs two-way deal with Brooklyn Nets, Wales women grab historic win over Australia, Lando Norris gets faster and LIV nears finale
The biggest games this weekend don’t happen until Sunday, when Blackburn Rovers travel to arch-enemies Preston North End and Al Ain battle Auckland City in the Fifa Intercontinental Cup.
But there’s also the Singapore Grand Prix, plenty of tennis, a team called the Springboks trying to win something, a trifling contest at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, and the culmination of LIV Golf’s third season.
Player power is the answer
You know football might have finally reached breaking point when Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola tells players to lead the fight for change and Chelsea counterpart Enzo Maresca believes a strike “could be a good idea”.
In a solid attempt to prove that yes, you can indeed have too much of a good thing, the game’s overlords, awash with the eye-wateringly offensive amount of TV money they gorge themselves on each year, have crammed so much football down everyone’s throats that even the players have had enough.
Top-flight clubs across Europe could be playing between 70 and 80 games this season, and for the “lucky” ones there is international football too.
“I’m pretty sure that if something is going to change, it must come from the players,” said Guardiola, whose team take on Arsenal on Sunday. “The business can be without managers, sporting directors, media, owners but without players you cannot play. The only ones with the power to do it are them.”
A two-way threat
Chinese free agent forward Cui Yongxi has signed a two-way contract with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, allowing him to move between the Nets and their G-League development team this season.
