Lazami Village Baptist Church

B E R L I N, J U N 1 7 (

AGENCIES): Bayern Munich celebrated in a near-empty stadium after securing an outstanding eighth successive title, reports BBC Sports .

Robert Lewandowski chested down Jerome Boateng’s chipped pass to net the winner against Werder Bremen - and seal the league with two games to spare.

Bayern’s 11th straight Bundesliga win put them 10 points clear of Borussia Dortmund, who have three games left.

Bayern finished the 12 positive COVID19 cases at EFL match with 10 men after Alphonso Davies was sent off for two yellow-card offences.

Poland striker Lewandowski has scored 31 league goals this season, a tally that equals the singleseason scoring record by a foreign player in the league. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, now at Arsenal, scored 31 Bundesliga goals for Borussia Dortmund in 2016-17.

Bayern were far from their best against a Werder Bremen side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.

With the game goalless, Bremen’s Maximilian Eggestein went close from

Bayern Munich are the second team in one of Europe’s top five leagues to win eight consecutive domestic top-flight titles, after Juventus in Serie A from 2011-12 to 2018-19.

distance before Lewandowski’s quality winner after Kingsley Coman had earlier headed narrowly wide.

Coman again went close before teenager Davies was sent off with 11 minutes remaining, while Werder Bremen had a late appeal for a penalty for handball turned down.

Seven points clear of nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund with three games to go before kick-off, Bayern needed one win from their remaining three games to wrap up another title.

Hansi Flick’s side did just that - but they got over the line in unusual circumstances.

When Bayern won the title on the final day of last season, they did so after an emphatic 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in front of 75,000 fans at the Allianz Arena.

On Tuesday, there were no supporters present inside Werder Bremen’s 42,000-capacity Weserstadion as they wrapped up the title in pouring rain.

The full-time whistle was greeted with shouts of delight from Bayern’s players which echoed around the empty stadium, but it was a far cry from previous title celebrations before the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is sensational the kind of football we have played in the past few months,” said Flick, a fourtime Bundesliga winner with Bayern as a player.

“You could feel the passion, the joy for the game and the team spirit.”

With matches at home to Freiburg and away to Wolfsburg still to come, Bayern’s latest domestic triumph looks relatively straightforward but it required a managerial change to kick-start their season after a poor opening.

After an embarrassing 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt on 2 November, Bayern were fourth in the table, four points behind early-season leaders Borussia Monchengladbach.

That result spelt the end of Niko Kovac’s 16- month reign, Flick appointed interim boss before signing a new contract until 2023 in April.

And Bayer n have flourished under the 55- year-old former Germany assistant.

This result means they have taken 58 points from a possible 66, yet their season is far from over.

While Bayern have progressed to the final of the German Cup, where they will meet Bayer Leverkusen on 4 July in Berlin, the fivetime champions of Europe are still in the Champions League and are well placed to reach the quarter-finals after establishing a 3-0 lead over Chelsea in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

“We have now taken the first step and reached our big goal,” added Flick.

“But we also have the cup in our sights and then obviously the Champions League games are something you cannot plan for and we still need to survive

the Chelsea game.” clubs in past week

BRENTFO RD, JUN 17

(AGENCIES): Twelve individuals from English Football League clubs have tested positive for coronavirus in the past week.

The EFL said eight cases came from six Championship clubs, with Brentford publicly confirming one case. The other four positive tests came at two League One clubs, from which only the four playoff entrants were involved in the testing process.

There were no positive results from the tests at four League Two clubs.

More than 2,600 players and staff from EFL clubs were tested during the past week, including 2,213 connected to Championship teams.

Championship side Bristol City said on Tuesday that one person from their club had tested positive for coronavirus, while League One Oxford United confirmed on 12 June that two people had tested positive from their club. Those who returned positive results must self-isolate away from their respective clubs, as per EFL guidelines.

US sprinter suspended for missing doping tests

Düsseld or f (Ger man y), Jun 17 (AP):

American sprinter Christian Coleman was suspended Wednesday by the Athletics Integrity Unit for missing doping tests. The AIU updated its list of athletes on provisional suspension to include the 100-meter world champion hours after he revealed details of the case.

Coleman has been temporarily banned from competition until a final decision at a hearing conducted under World Athletics Anti-Doping rules or the Integrity Code of Conduct.

Coleman had a previous whereabouts charge dropped last year ahead of the world championships and was a favorite for Olympic gold in the 100 meters ahead of the Tokyo Games. Those games have been postponed to next year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Coleman wrote on Twitter that drug testers were unable to find him Dec. 9 while he was shopping at a nearby mall for Christmas presents. That was his third infraction in a 12-month period.

Coleman asked why

Christian Coleman

he didn’t receive a phone call when the testers were unable to find him, saying he had received calls “every other time” he was tested.

“I think the attempt on December 9th was a purposeful attempt to get me to miss a test,” he wrote.

The AIU said a phone call wasn’t a requirement and that it usually asks employees not to call athletes because that could undermine the testing program.

“Any advanced notice of testing, in the form of a phone call or otherwise, provides an opportunity for athletes to engage in tampering or evasion or other improper conduct which can limit the efficacy of testing,” the AIU said in an e-mailed statement.

The AIU added that under World Anti-Doping Agency rules “proof that a telephone call was made is not a requisite element of a missed test and the lack of any telephone call does not give the athlete a defense to the assertion of a missed test.”

Some of Coleman’s earlier missed tests were not with the AIU but with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, whose own handbook for athletes says phone calls are usually reserved only for the last five minutes of a time slot and “to confirm the unavailability of the athlete, not to locate an athlete for testing.”

Athletes are required to list their whereabouts for an hour each day when they must be available to be tested. A violation means an athlete either did not fill out forms telling authorities where they could be found, or that they weren’t where they said they would be when testers arrived.

Coleman said in his post he has been appealing the latest missed test for six months with the AIU, which runs the anti-doping program for World Athletics. He explained there was no record of anyone coming to his home and that if he had been called he was only five minutes away.

It’s the second time Coleman has faced a potential ban for a whereabouts violation.

ISL: Mandatory Asian footballer, developmental players

Ayanti Reang Ko lka ta , Jun 1 7

(IANS): A Tripura U-19 women’s cricketer, Ayanti Reang, was found dead at her residence on Tuesday, Tripura Cricket Association secretary Timir Chanda has confirmed.

“It is really unfortunate. I am still in shock. We don’t know the reason for her death but she was perfectly fine till last season. She was very promising,” Chanda told IANS from Agartala.

“See we cannot say if she had any family issues or not. We had online classes too and we did not find anything wrong,” he added.

Ayanti was the youngest of four siblings. For the past one year, she has been part of Tripura’s Under-19 team and also took part in a T20 tournament for the state in U-23 age group.

She hailed from the Reang tribe from Tainani village under Udaipur sub division, which is outside the state capital of Agartala. Recently Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput passed away on June 14. He was found hanging at his residence in Mumbai.

Rajput played the character of M.S. Dhoni in his biopic among his best roles on celluloid. Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson recently took to Twitter to share how he was amazed by Rajput’s acting in the 2016 movie.

Taking to Twitter, Watson wrote: “I can’t stop thinking about #sushantsinghrajput. It is just so tragic!!! In The Untold Story, at times you forgot whether it was Sushant or MSD. Amazing portrayal and now the world is much poorer with him not here in it. #gonetoosoon.”

Kolka ta , Jun 17 (IANS): The Indian Super League (ISL) has made it mandatory for its participating clubs to have one Asian player in their squad from the upcoming 2020-21 season.

As per the ISL player guidelines provided to all the clubs by organisers Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), accessed by IANS, each club is also mandated to have two developmental players born in or after 2000 in the squad of 18 for each match.

The ISL, which is now the country’s top league, will still have five foreigners on the pitch but from next season there will also be one Asian player in the squad.

Further, each club will have a minimum squad of 25 and a maximum of 35 from next season. Till last term, the squad size was maximum of 25 players, but with an eye on helping more youngsters get an opportunity, it has been increased.

A minimum of five and maximum of seven international players can be signed by a club including the Asian recruit. Each club can have a minimum of 18 and maximum of 30 domestic players.

“It’s a very positive step to have two developmental players in the squad of 18. Even though let’s assume they will be on the bench mostly, but being part of the match day sheet and a possibility of getting an opportunity as a substitute will be very promising for these youngsters. Another welcoming step I would say is an increase in the overall squad size to 35 and I would hope to see ISL clubs bring more domestic lads into the roster,” a top source privy to the development told IANS.

The salary cap for each club is Rs 16.5 crore for the 2020-21 season. Player loans and transfer fee will not

be included in the salary cap. Like last season, the marquee player shall be considered one of the international recruits but his salary will not be included in the club salary cap. The technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had recommended that the ISL and I-League should follow the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) guidelines and adhere to the 3+1 foreigner’s rule from the upcoming season. The decision was ratified by the AIFF executive committee, with I-League agreeing to implement the change from the upcoming season itself while ISL was given an exemption for the 2020-21 season.

During the meeting, ISL organisers had principally agreed to the suggestion but sought time of about a month to discuss the issue internally before confirming.

The ISL is expected to start in the third week of November, keeping in mind how the health situation is in the country following the coronavirus crisis. The final of the last season was played behind closed doors between ATK and Chennaiyin FC with the former winning the summit clash 3-1 to bag their record third ISL title.