SHORT CORNER
Rain halts BCL
Sports Reporter
None of the teams took to the field on the first day of the Bangladesh Cricket League's fifth round matches between North Zone and Central Zone at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi and South Zone and East Zone at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogura due to inclement weather yesterday.
It was the same case at both venues with not a single ball being bowled on the day as even the toss did not take place.
The two four-day matches will resume today if the weather is favourable.
Fatigue not behind injuries,
says De Bruyne
Agencies
Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne insisted misfortune and not exhaustion are behind his injury-ravaged season with the Premier League champions.
Knee problems have blighted De Bruyne's 2018-19 campaign, with the Belgium international midfielder only making his return in last week's win over Everton, having been sidelined since November.
"There's nothing I can do – it was two accidents," said De Bruyne. "I wasn't exhausted. I think in general people need a good summer break, sometimes we play for 11.5 months at a time and there is not enough time to rest.
"I had a rest of about three weeks – after 12 months of playing. Is that short? Probably, yes. But I felt OK to come back. There's not a lot to say, I came back and trained and was out after one week – it's just the way it goes.
"I'm happy with my body because I know I have no problems with muscles. They were both just accidents, the second time also. I felt my knee and it pops, so you just work hard and try to be back as soon as possible.
"I played the most of anyone last year – in the whole world. And I played the World Cup without a problem."
Boca hire Burdisso as sports director
AFP
Former Inter Milan and Roma defender Nicolas Burdisso has been appointed sporting director at Boca Juniors, the Argentine giants announced in a press conference on Monday.
The move comes three days after the Buenos Aires club parted ways with coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto following the historic Copa Libertadores defeat to arch rivals River Plate.
Burdisso began his career at Boca before moving to Italy as a 23-year-old and playing out the rest of his career there, where he also donned the colours of Genoa and Torino.
"I've been waiting for a long time to return to the place that formed me," said Burdisso, 37, who retired earlier this year having won 49 Argentina caps.
Atalanta stall Lazio
AFP
Duvan Zapata scored within the first minute as Atalanta piled the pressure on Lazio to boost their European hopes with a 1-0 win in Bergamo on Monday.
Colombian striker Zapata pounced on a Lazio defensive error after just 57 seconds to fire in his fifth goal in three consecutive league games.
Atalanta, now sixth equal on points with Roma and Sassuolo, move one point behind Lazio, in fifth, but without a win in their last five league games.
Lazio defender Francesco Acerbi looked as if had grabbed a point with his injury time header but the goal was ruled out after long consultation with VAR for the defender's foot being slightly in an offside position.
PSG bar L'Equipe from press conference
AFP
Paris Saint-Germain have refused press conference entry to journalists from popular sports daily L'Equipe ahead of a French League Cup match, the newspaper said on Monday.
L'Equipe claims the measure was taken as a reprisal after they published an article titled "Financial Fair Play: PSG under pressure to sell Kylian Mbappe or Neymar if they're punished".
In a statement L'Equipe said it "regrets the decision from PSG but it will continue to inform its readers of the club's latest news".
L'Equipe staff were stopped from asking questions at a previous press conference before PSG's Champions League tie at Red Star Belgrade last week.
UEFA opens Chelsea racism probe
AFP
UEFA has launched an investigation into alleged racist chants during Chelsea's Europa League tie at Vidi, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Minutes into the Europa League match in Budapest on December 13, which ended 2-2, a vocal minority of Chelsea fans were heard allegedly singing a derogatory chant about Tottenham Hotspur supporters, featuring anti-Semitic language.
Chelsea condemned the chanting and promised to take the strongest possible action against any supporters found to be guilty of singing racist songs.
The incident in Hungary came a matter of days after four fans were suspended for abusing Manchester City's Raheem Sterling.
The England forward later issued a statement accusing the British media of fuelling racism in the way it reports certain stories about black players.
Chelsea banned four supporters pending an internal inquiry.
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