Morgan bats for T-10 cricket at Olympics

England's World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan says “cricket's 10-overs format would be ideal for a global multi-sport event such as the Olympics as the entire tournament could be squeezed into 10 days”.

Cricket featured at the 1900 Olympics and was played in the 1998 Commonwealth Games but has largely been absent from multi-sport events, which some say has restricted its growth beyond the traditional pockets.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will feature a women's Twenty20 competition but Morgan says the T10 format would be a better fit than T20, 50 overs or Test cricket.

"The one thing that T10 offers above the three formats that makes it so appealing to an Olympic Games or a Commonwealth Games is the fact that you can play a whole tournament in the space of 10 days" he said in a video conference.

"When you can play a cricket tournament in eight-10 days it really does make it appealing, and on top of that it really would be extremely entertaining," said the 33-year-old, who captains Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10 league.

But he believed it was also challenging.

"But if you look at a T10 game, the earlier overs are the most important. You need to make the most of that very short powerplay, so who you put in those key positions and in the form that they're in, is the most critical factor."

“women's soccer team in equal pay case!!!” New rules ‘US Judge’

A federal judge dismissed the United States women's soccer team's bid for equal pay on Friday, rejecting claims the players had been underpaid in a crushing defeat for the reigning world champions. 

In a 32-page ruling, Judge Gary Klausner of the US District Court for Central California in Los Angeles tossed the women's claim of pay discrimination, ruling in favour of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).

“The history of negotiations between the parties demonstrates that the WNT rejected an offer to be paid under the same pay-to-play structure as the MNT, and the WNT was willing to forgo higher bonuses for benefits, such as greater base compensation and the guarantee of a higher number of contracted players,”

‘Accordingly, plaintiffs cannot now retroactively deem their CBA (collective bargaining agreement) worse than the MNT CBA by reference to what they would have made had they been paid under the MNT's pay-to-play terms structure when they themselves rejected such a structure,

 # Shocked and disappointed #

The US women were left stunned by their defeat on the pay issue. The women had been seeking back pay of $66 million under the Equal Pay Act.

“We are confident in our case and steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that girls and women who play this sport will not be valued as lesser just because of their gender”.

The increasingly acrimonious lawsuit had taken a dramatic turn in March, when a filing by lawyers for the federation argued that US men's team players required a "higher level of skill based on speed and strength" than the women.

The filing triggered outrage amongst the women's players while influential sponsors such as Coca-Cola voiced disgust at the remarks.

The US women, who clinched back-to-back World Cup wins with victory at last year's finals in France, had based their claim for back pay in the disparities between prize money distributed by FIFA at the men's and women's World Cup.

Germany's men won $35 million for their victory in the 2014 World Cup while France earned $38 million after triumphing in Russia in 2018.

The United States women, victors in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, earned total prize money of $6 million over the two tournaments.

Under the current CBA, which was signed in 2017, more than half the women's team players receive an annual base salary of $167,000. 

Dozens of million" euros in damages after they were deprived of a spot in a European competition.

Club president Jean-Michel Aulas said. “Olympique Lyonnais will seek "dozens of million" euros in damages after they were deprived of a spot in a European competition for the first time in a quarter of a century following the French League's decision to end the Ligue 1 season amid the COVID-19 crisis”.

With some teams having played 27 matches and others 28, the French League (LFP) drew up the final standings according to a performance index - number of points per game weighed by head-to-head record, resulting in Lyon finishing seventh with no chance of a European spot for 2020-2021.

Aulas argued the season could have been finished in the form of playoffs behind closed doors in August and that the ranking method was disputable.

Lyon were seventh after 28 games on 40 points 10 behind third-placed Stade Rennais, who occupy the last European Champions League qualifying spot.

‘It is an injustice’ Amiens president Bernard Joannin said in a facebook live broadcast.

French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said aggrieved clubs were welcome to explore legal options but also called for restraint.

"I appeal to everyone's solidarity and responsibility. I appeal to the wealthy and better off that they don't split hairs ... We must also think of others and society. The world must know how to take its losses."

The new season will start on Aug. 22-23 at the latest and is likely to be held without fans as mass gatherings are banned in France until September.