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In April they will clash three times – twice in the Champions Cup and once in Matchday 15 of the league

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Giménez scored 21 goals in 105 matches with Cruz Azul

He was never able to score against América

The striker has three goals in 10 matches with AC Milan

Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED?

América and Cruz Azul have built one of the most intense rivalries in recent years, frequently facing off in thrilling finals and semifinals of Liga MX. Both teams boast strong squads and are expected to compete for the Clausura 2025 title.

In April, they will clash three times – twice in the Champions Cup and once in Matchday 15 of the league.

Santiago Giménez, a Cruz Azul academy product, shared his thoughts on the upcoming trilogy:

"They will be incredible, high-intensity matches. In the last 10 or 15 years, this has become the most important game in Mexico. Every time they play, something happens. It’s a great showdown, and I think this time will be no exception."

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

On April 1, the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals will take place between América and Cruz Azul. This competition remains the only one missing from the trophy cabinet of the historic Águilas under André Jardine, who have won three consecutive Liga MX titles – but have yet to secure an international championship.

For Cruz Azul, this will be a big chance for revenge. They were eliminated by América in the semifinals of the Apertura 2024, and were defeated in the Clausura 2024 final by Jardine's team.

Currently, Cruz Azul is in great form in both the Champions Cup and Liga MX. They reached the quarterfinals after an impressive victory over the Seattle Sounders. In the Liga MX, they are in the fifth position with 22 points, making them strong contenders in both competitions.

The second leg of the Champions Cup quarterfinals will be played on April 8 at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, while on April 12, América and Cruz Azul will face each other again in Matchday 15 of Liga MX at América's home stadium.

These three matches, across both tournaments, will be crucial for both teams as they continue their pursuit of titles in both international and domestic competitions.

AFPWHAT SANTIAGO GIMENEZ SAID

The striker spoke about his arrival at AC Milan and the role he has with the Rossoneri:

"I see it as a great responsibility. I try to carry Mexico’s flag as high as possible, wherever I am and against whoever I face. I believe that is the great role I feel as a Mexican playing in Europe."

GettyDID YOU KNOW?

Before going to Europe with Feyenoord, Santiago Giménez made his professional debut with Cruz Azul, a team that had been without an Liga MX title for more than 23 years. The forward played a key role in winning the Guard1anes 2021 title.

Despite being very young and not being a regular starter under coach Juan Reynoso, Giménez scored important goals in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. Cruz Azul eventually defeated Santos Laguna in the final, ending the club’s long drought without a championship.

Manchester United have been really disappointing in front of goal this season. The Red Devils are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the Premier League, and it is not an issue that seems like it will change anytime soon.

Ruben Amorim’s side have scored just 21 goals in 19 top-flight games this term. There are just four teams with fewer, all of whom are 15th or below in the league table. To make matters worse, United have missed 35 big chances.

To help with the issue, the board could splash the cash on a new striker in January.

Man United targeting new striker

The player in question here is Sporting centre-forward Viktor Gyokeres. Naturally, since Amorim made the move from the Portuguese champions to Old Trafford in November, there have been strong rumours of a move for the Swede. Those links have intensified recently.

According to a report from the Daily Star, United ‘will step up their bid’ to sign the centre-forward sooner rather than later. They were originally believed to be waiting until summer to make a move, but the reports suggest the new United manager ‘has told club bosses he cannot wait until the summer’ for the signing. Due to their previous affiliation, it’s believed the English giants are ‘favourites’ to secure his signature.

Indeed, the Sweden international will not be cheap to bring in. The striker has a reported release clause of £80m, and it is ‘understood Sporting president Frederico Varandas would hold United to the full amount’ if he leaves in the January window.

Why Gyokeres would be a good signing

There are few strikers as deadly on the planet as Gyokeres. He had a simply extraordinary year in 2024, scoring 62 goals in all competitions. The majority of those strikes came whilst Amroim was manager, under whom he has an extraordinary record.

In 68 games playing for the Portuguese manager, he scored an incredible 66 goals and grabbed 23 assists. In essence, he was phenomenal under the United boss, and it is not hard to see why he wants to bring him to Old Trafford.

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This season has been no different for the formidable centre-forward. So far in 2024/25, he has 27 goals and six assists in 27 appearances in all competitions.

Arguably the forward’s best moment in a Sporting shirt so far was his hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League. He contributed three goals in a 4-1 thrashing of United’s biggest rivals.

That is certainly another reason why he might be an appealing addition to a struggling Red Devils side. He is already well-appreciated by their supporters, with journalist Alex Turk describing the Swede as a “monster”. There are certainly lots of things that make this an attractive signing.

Red Devils fans could be licking their lips at the prospect of seeing Gyokeres take to the field alongside creative winger Amad Diallo. The young Ivorian has made a real impression under Amorim so far and has two goals and five assists in 11 games playing for the Portuguese boss.

Indeed, there has not really been anyone as creative as Amad for United in the Premier League this season. According to FBref, his average of 0.47 assists per 90 minutes is the most amongst his teammates, and he averages 2.05 key passes per game, the third most in the squad.

Sadly, no one is really profiting off the chances that Amad is creating. United still seem to be lacking a true goalscorer, but that is where Gyokeres comes in. Should he make the move to Old Trafford, he could be the man the Red Devils are looking for to put the ball in the back of the net more often.

Many of the chances Amad is creating seem like they are going to waste, but a natural-born goalscorer like Gyokeres could profit off them. It could be a match made in heaven. Although it is an expensive deal to do, it could be necessary to help United score more goals and climb the table.

He's like Haaland: Man Utd could sign "monster" Rashford & Zirkzee upgrade

Manchester United desperately need reinforcements within the final third in January.

1 ByEthan Lamb Jan 1, 2025

English fans believe Gareth Southgate's side "was more entertaining" as England chugged to a 2-0 win against Albania on Thomas Tuchel's debut.

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England were made to toil for the three pointsKane and Lewis-Skelly were on target for the Three LionsFans give honest verdict on the performanceFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Tuchel had vowed to bring the excitement back to Wembley after delivering a brutal verdict on England's playing style in the Southgate era, especially in last summer's European Championship. However, the German manager got a harsh reality check on Friday evening as his side struggled to break down a determined Albanian side and was subsequently forced to admit that "we have to do better".

AdvertisementGetty/GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

England got their noses in front in the 20th-minute courtesy of a composed finish from Arsenal starlet Myles Lewis-Skelly. However, the Three Lions struggled for fluency and had to wait until the 70th-minute to get an insurance goal with skipper Harry Kane finding the net from close range. A routine win, but far from the bells and whistles that Tuchel expected to provide a sell-out Wembley crowd on his international managerial debut.

WHAT THE FANS ARE SAYING

The English fans took aim at Tuchel after the match as @MarkWalkerFord wrote: "Uninspiring start… Southgate was more entertaining 😬".

@MissLSW was a bit kinder as she wrote: "Not great but not bad."

@mvlaren echoed the sentiment: "it was not amazing but it was a solid performance vs an easy team."

Whereas, @_archiegrant6 put forward a fresh challenge and wrote: "Meh it’s alright, dominated the ball and played well but if we don’t put at least five past Latvia I’ll be disappointed."

@RealTomHoskins seconded and quipped: "I expected much better from a Thomas Tuchel team. The performance was so passive and lacking creativity. Tuchel has a lot of work to do if this lot are to compete at next years World Cup."

AFPWHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND?

After a sombre start to the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, England will be looking to turn up the heat against Latvia on Monday at Wembley.

After Wolves’ poor run of form continued, with a fourth consecutive Premier League loss, Gary O’Neil has been sacked as manager.

Their four losses in a row, coming against Bournemouth, Everton, West Ham and Ipswich, have proven costly, leaving them 19th in the table, and leading to O’Neil’s dismissal.

Wolves held more possession against Ipswich, having 54% of the ball, taking 16 shots (more than Ipswich’s 10), creating one big chance and generating 1.27 xG (more than Ipswich’s 1.20 xG). However, despite outperforming the Tractor Boys in certain metrics, the result is the most important, and it was yet another loss.

Plenty of factors have hurt O’Neil and his attempts to revitalise Wolves this season, losing a few key players to injury, and more importantly, losing stars such as Pedro Neto in the summer transfer window, failing to effectively replace them.

Gary O'Neil's Demise

O’Neil’s side had averaged 46.4% possession this season (14th in the division), averaged 11 shots per game (fourth lowest in the league), and averaged 14.6 shots against (sixth highest).

This was down from their possession average last campaign (48.6%), shots taken per game (11.3) and shots against (15.2), with their performance seeing a decline in all aspects.

To go along with this, Wolves only conceded ten goals from set pieces in 38 games last season, yet already this campaign, they have shipped 14 in just 16 games.

With their performances dropping off this season, alongside also acquiring a new Achilles heel, O’Neil’s time as Wolves manager has come to an end, and they could already have a Premier League legend waiting to take the reins.

Manager Focus

Who are the greatest coaches in the land? Football FanCast's Manager Focus series aims to reveal all.

A new manager for Wolves

Reports from David Ornstein on Sunday afternoon suggested that the club were making a move to hire Vitor Pereira.

Despite those claims, there could be an alternative. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was spotted at the Molineux for Wolves 2-1 defeat against Ipswich, as pressure was mounting on O’Neil and this has led to plenty of rumours for Solskjaer to take over as the Wolves manager.

The Norwegian hasn’t been seen in management for three years now it would be a sizeable gamble, but what exactly could he bring to the Midlands?

Well, Solskjaer is best known for scoring 91 goals in 235 games in the Premier League, and also providing 41 assists in that time. However, he has also already managed multiple English sides, including Manchester United, most famously, where Bournemouth boss at the time (Eddie Howe) praised the job he was doing for the Red Devils as “excellent”.

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The 51-year-old Norwegian often deployed his Manchester United side in a 4-2-3-1, which would vastly contrast the last few managers at Wolves, who have often opted for the back-five approach. However, the squad is well suited to having three behind the striker, allowing the in-form Matheus Cunha a more free number ten role, which could get the best from him.

This would also allow the inclusion of two wingers, such as Hwang Hee-Chan, Goncalo Guedes, Carlos Borges and even Pablo Sarabia when he returns from injury.

Solskjaer could bring a well-needed change of dynamic to the club, allowing them to catch teams off guard, be more aggressive with their talented technicians such as Cunha, and start to build something slightly different to what Wolves fans have become accustomed to in recent times.

Mourinho upgrade: Wolves can land 3-5-2 boss who Fergie called "fantastic"

Wolves may make a managerial change soon

ByJoe Nuttall Dec 13, 2024

The Super Kings captain believes the Sri Lankan’s low release gives him a greater margin for error

Sidharth Monga15-May-20222:36

Vettori: Pathirana is an even more extreme version of Malinga

Lasith Malinga’s last ball in the IPL was a bewitching slower ball to trap Shardul Thakur lbw and defend one run off the final ball of an IPL final. Three years later, Baby Malinga, Matheesha Pathirana, trapped Shubman Gill lbw with his first ball in the IPL.A similar low release, accuracy with the yorker, and a slower one gave Pathirana figures of 3.1-0-24-2 on debut, which included wickets of Gill and Hardik Pandya. His captain MS Dhoni – the captain at the receiving end of Malinga’s sorcery in 2019 – was impressed with what he saw. Having faced Malinga for so long, and also Pathirana in the nets, he should know.Related

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“He is an excellent death bowler,” Dhoni told . “A bit similar to Malinga. Also what happens with his action, the margin of error for him is quite big. With a slingy action he doesn’t get a lot of bounce. Which means even if he commits an error of one yard, it is not like it will hit the middle of the bat. It wouldn’t bounce a lot.”Also with his action it is slightly difficult to pick. And he has got that slower one also. So you have to watch him very carefully. Which means when you spend those extra seconds watching the ball and he is bowling at a decent pace, it becomes quite difficult to consistently hit him.”ESPNcricinfo LtdSuper Kings coach Stephen Fleming was more reserved in his praise but excited to work with Pathirana. “We were really looking forward to him playing today,” Fleming said at the post-match press conference. “And he obviously got success immediately. He is very young. We know who he has similarities with, which is big shoes to fill. But he had a great debut. We are very pleased for him. It’s a unique skill, isn’t it? Learning to coach that and how to use that is one of the challenges. But it was great for him to get a game for us today.”Pathirana might have similarities with Malinga but his is an even more difficult action. “I think he is an even more extreme example of Malinga,” Daniel Vettori said on ESPNcricinfo’s analysis show T20 Time:Out. “He sort of reaches back and doesn’t even look like he is looking at the target. Whereas Malinga felt like he still had his eyes on what he is doing. But he obviously caught batsmen by surprise. Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya are quality players.”That surprise element still comes from the ball coming from a completely different angle to the one you are used to. His accuracy was good enough and once he adds those variations he can be the sort of bowler who disrupts the T20 game. I don’t think he is ever going to be an economical-type bowler but he can certainly come back, take wickets and put the fear of god into some tailenders.”Super Kings signed Pathirana up as a replacement for the injured Adam Milne, which means he’s currently only contracted for this season, but if Fleming is excited about working with Pathirana, there could be plans to retain him.Piyush Chawla believes it will be the right move. “To be very honest when you see one or two games, you don’t look at performance but you look at temperament and talent,” Chawla said. “He actually showed he has the talent. You can always give him more time and he can play accordingly. Just make sure he is attending those camps early and coming to play those practice matches early. So he showed the temperament and skill that yes, he belongs. Obviously with time he will improve when he adds more variation to his skills. So he will definitely be a better bowler.”‘He sort of reaches back and doesn’t even look like he is looking at the target’ – Vettori on Pathirana’s action•BCCIPathirana’s impressive debut does raise the question of whether he could have been tried sooner. Vettori certainly felt so. “The way they used [Dwaine] Pretorius for an extended period of time and then [Dwayne] Bravo had some injuries, [Chris] Jordan and Milne early on… So he was certainly the last cab off the rank. Potentially when they are out of the tournament you would have thought someone like him could have been thrown into the mix just to see what he could do. Tonight he showed he can be effective at this high level.”Vettori perhaps meant to say Pathirana could have been tried when Super Kings had only an academic chance and not when they were well and truly out. Now that they are properly out of the tournament, Super Kings have gone to the extent of giving players chances at the expense of having the ideal combination in the middle. An example of that was promoting N Jagadeesan ahead of Shivam Dube.”We could have pushed Shivam up the order but that defeats the purpose of giving Jaggi a game,” Dhoni said. “If it was a tactical decision proper, midway into the tournament, we would have pushed the left-hander up the order. But we wanted Jaggi to have some time in the middle.”We will try to give guys ample time in the middle. At times when you are at this stage you feel, oh, you want to win one more game, but at the same time you want to give a chance to guys who we haven’t been able to feature in the XI. Still try to pick a good XI. Not like we are playing a lopsided XI. But in the coming game also we will look to do that.”

Four Lads Had A Dream have paid special praise to one “excellent” Rangers player after his performance in his side’s 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham.

Rangers impress in Spurs draw

The Gers faced a big test of their European credentials on Thursday evening, as Spurs made the trip to Rangers for an important Europa League clash at Ibrox.

Philippe Clement’s Rangers side more than held their own on the night, taking the lead through Hamza Igamane, only to be pegged back by a Dejan Kulusevski’s strike with time running out. The draw leaves the Scottish Premiership giants sitting eighth in the table, remaining level on points with Spurs and still having a good chance of reaching the knockout stages.

The big games continue to come thick and fast for the Gers, whose next assignment sees them take on rivals Celtic in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday afternoon. Victory at Hampden Park would not only earn them bragging rights, but also take some pressure off the shoulders of Clement.

There were plenty of Rangers players who shone against Spurs on Thursday, as the hosts had 15 shots compared to the Premier League side’s tally of 12, and one player has come in for particular praise.

"Excellent" Rangers player hailed v Spurs

Taking to X, Four Lads Had A Dream lauded the performance of Nicolas Raskin in Rangers’ draw with Spurs, describing him as “the player we knew he could be”.

The positive reviews coming Raskin’s way are fully deserved, with the 23-year-old producing a superb performance in the middle of the park against top-class opposition. The Rangers midfielder completed 91% of his passes at Ibrox, according to Sofascore, as well as winning six out of eight ground duels and making four interceptions to go with three clearances.

Raskin is going to be an important player for Rangers as the season goes on, both domestically and in Europe, with Kenny Miller once describing him as “excellent”.

The Belgian provides both technical quality and tenacity in midfield, as highlighted by an average of 3.3 tackles and 1.3 dribbles per match in the Scottish Premiership so far this season.

At 23, Raskin is still such a young player who is still learning his trade, having arrived from Standard Liege last year, and there is no reason why he can’t continue to mature into one of Rangers’ most important players in the coming years.

Better than Igamane: Rangers star "who could run all night" was real hero

The Rangers central midfielder was the true hero for Philippe Clement on the night.

ByDan Emery Dec 13, 2024

Gers supporters will be hoping he can produce a similar performance against Celtic this weekend, inspiring the Gers to League Cup glory in the process.

The Philadelphia Union II star kicked off his 2025 campaign in style with spectacular goal in their home opener

Sullivan scored Union II's first goal of the 2025 seasonThe 15-year-old continues to impressUnion II secured a shootout victory after a 1-1 drawWHAT HAPPENED

Cavan Sullivan, Philadelphia Union II's 15-year-old prodigy, opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a stunning left-footed free kick, marking Union II's first goal of the 2025 season. The goal came in Union II's Matchweek 2 contest Monday night against New York Red Bulls II at Subaru Park.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT SULLIVAN SAID

“Obviously it was a a pretty fast start for me, a nice free kick goal," Sullivan said after the match. "I was happy to do that. Obviously it’s not awesome losing a point at home. We’re happy obviously to win penalties, but it would have been nice to get all three.

"We know what we did wrong, obviously late in the game we had a a few missed opportunities and then some sloppy things on the defensive end, so we know what to fix up and and what to change for these next couple of weeks."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Philadelphia Union II's home opener against New York Red Bulls II ended in a 1-1 draw, with Union II winning the subsequent shootout. After Sullivan opened the scoring, Red Bulls II equalized later in the match after Union II’s Gavin Wetzel was sent off, forcing a shootout.

Despite challenging weather conditions, Union II displayed resilience to secure the shootout victory.

Jerome Miron-Imagn ImagesWHAT’S NEXT?

Philadelphia Union II face Huntsville City on March 29 in an away fixture before returning home at Subaru Park to host Atlanta United 2 on April 11.

Apart from some of the decisions, which the players didn’t agree with, they felt the match officials didn’t control the South Africans’ sledging

Mohammad Isam04-Apr-2022Bangladesh will lodge an official complaint about South Africa’s “deplorable” sledging during the Durban Test after, according to them, the umpires ignored their on-field complaints. The BCB is, in fact, planning to complain to the ICC about both the sledging as well as the overall umpiring during the game.Bangladesh have already filed one complaint – about the umpiring – during the ODI series, but want to take up some other issues that cropped up during the Test, which Bangladesh lost on the final day by 220 runs after collapsing for 53 in their second innings.Related

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Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, BCB cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus said, “We have already lodged one complaint about the umpiring after the ODI series. The match referee [Andy Pycroft] had an argument with our manager Nafees Iqbal, but then we gave him a written complaint. We will lodge another official complaint about this Test match.”Mominul Haque, the Bangladesh captain, also spoke up, joining Yunus as well as team director Khaled Mahmud, selector Habibul Bashar and Shakib Al Hasan in expressing disgruntlement with the umpiring.”Sledging is quite normal, but the umpires didn’t seem to notice it,” Mominul said after the game. “The umpiring in the match is not in our control, but I think the ICC should think about bringing back neutral umpires.”On Sunday, after the fourth day’s play, Mahmud and Bashar criticised the match officials, while Shakib, who left the tour early because of personal reasons, had also tweeted that the ICC should look at reinstating neutral umpires considering the improved Covid-19 situation in most parts of the cricketing world. At the end of the fourth day’s play, Tamim Iqbal was also seen speaking to the umpires but it is not clear what they spoke about.

“Sledging definitely took place from both sides, but when they started it and took it overboard, we complained to the umpires. It wasn’t acceptable. We properly condemn it. We have to accept the umpires’ decisions, but the ICC must reinstate neutral umpires”Jalal Yunus

Bangladesh made lbw appeals on multiple occasions during South Africa’s second innings, especially in the first two sessions on Sunday. They opted for a review when Dean Elgar was given not out on the field by umpire Marais Erasmus in the fifth over after being hit on his back leg. But he survived on umpire’s call as ball-tracking showed that the ball was only clipping off stump.Then, in the 19th over of the innings, Bangladesh successfully overturned Adrian Holdstock’s not-out decision for an lbw against Sarel Erwee. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary, it “looked so out to the naked eye and it was a surprise that the on-field call was not given despite a screeching appeal”.In the 26th over, Khaled Ahmed was denied an lbw decision against Keegan Petersen. Bangladesh didn’t take that review but replays showed that it would have hit the stumps and would have been out had the review been taken.The main indication that emotions were running high was when, on the fourth morning, Ebadot Hossain, while bowling, threw the ball back in Dean Elgar’s direction after it was hit to him, and the pair exchanged words. Umpire Holdstock had to ask the players to calm down.Yunus also went back to the issue with the sightscreens, which delayed the start of the Test. He said that Bangladesh had expected the umpires to make up for the lost time as the Test went along.Should we go up? In this case, they did, and got the wicket of Sarel Erwee•AFP/Getty Images”There hasn’t been impartial umpiring in this Test match,” he said. “It started on the first day. We were held up for half an hour at the start of the game because of the sightscreens. We were deprived of the initial advantage.”To make up this half an hour, they extended the lunch session, instead of starting early, which we usually see. It is definitely at the umpire’s discretion, but generally we see them making up for lost time by starting early. These are subtle technical things.”It is, however, understood that both the teams had agreed to the playing conditions, which includes the rule when it comes to making up for lost time, before the start of the Test.Yunus said that Bangladesh were also concerned about how the umpires treated the Bangladesh players when they complained about the sledging by the home side.”They surrounded [Mahmudul Hasan] Joy when he went out to bat,” he said. “They were saying something. He couldn’t say anything back since he is a junior player. It was deplorable. Instead of controlling the situation, the umpires warned our players whenever we made complaints against the sledging.”Sledging definitely took place from both sides, but when they started it and took it overboard, we complained to the umpires. It wasn’t acceptable. We properly condemn it. We have to accept the umpires’ decisions, but the ICC must reinstate neutral umpires.”

Resolutions at emergency general meeting supported by more than 80% of members

David Hopps31-Mar-2022Yorkshire members have delivered a massive vote in support of Lord Kamlesh Patel’s proposals to restructure the club to address the fallout from Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of mistreatment, which brought accusations that the club was institutionally racist and also risked the potential loss of international fixtures at Headingley.More than 80% of members voted in favour of reform on all three resolutions, although disturbingly low voting figures underlines that Yorkshire have suffered both from a flood of member resignations or non-renewals – Covid may have been another influence – and that there is considerable disillusionment over the whole affair.That being so, “a plague on both your houses” appears at least an undercurrent among the Yorkshire membership – although Yorkshire have yet to find a present-day Romeo and Juliet to show them a new direction. That really would be a change in the age profile.After the result of the Emergency General Meeting, held in the Long Room at Headingley, was known, Lord Patel reacted: “We welcome the outcome of this EGM and thank the Members for their full and proper consideration, an open exchange of views, and their votes. It is an overwhelming vote for positive change.”This support will help Yorkshire County Cricket Club to be an inclusive and welcoming place and gives us the clarity and certainty we need to keep building this great club.”Yorkshire has now met the ECB’s conditions for the return of international cricket and, working with them, we’ll deliver some great events here at Headingley this summer. We’re looking forward to the start of the season, for all our teams and for cricket at all levels right across this County.”Three proposals were voted through. Lord Patel’s ratification as Yorkshire’s chairman was approved by 932 votes in favour to 155 against, with 22 abstentions. A second resolution, releasing Lord Patel and others from personal liability on decisions taken, after threats of legal action, passed by 897 to 182 (28 abstentions); and the restructuring of the board to include independent members went through by 927 to 159 (19 abstentions).Related

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Sacked staff seek legal action after Yorkshire purge

DCMS chair weighs in as Yorkshire crisis deepens

Latest indications are that with official membership figures standing at around 6,000, but full members – the only ones allowed to vote – down to 3,000, turnout was about 35%. Such figures must fill Yorkshire with trepidation, a once powerful county brought to its knees.Lord Patel, Yorkshire’s chair and de facto chief executive (a fact that defends his reported salary of around £200,000), had warned that failure to win the vote would make it virtually impossible for the club to pay players’ wages and complete the domestic cricket season, which begins next week.Key sponsors have also turned on the county following Rafiq’s testimony that “institutional racism” had left him close to taking his own life.The ECB wasted no time in expressing its support. A spokesperson said: “We are pleased that Yorkshire members have given their overwhelming support to these reforms. This is an important step forward in bringing about real change and setting the club on course for a more inclusive future.”We welcome the progress made by Lord Patel so far, as well as his commitment to making the club one which everyone, from all backgrounds, can be proud of. With these governance reforms now having been passed, we are satisfied that international cricket can now be staged at Headingley this summer. However, there is much work still to be done at Yorkshire and it is important that the plans set out so far are now delivered. We will continue to monitor progress closely.”Our regulatory investigation into the complaints brought by Azeem Rafiq, which is separate to this process, remains ongoing and we will update on this in due course.”Yorkshire’s immediate response might well be that of relief that the threat of removing international cricket from Headingley should now be lifted, and so avert the risk of bankruptcy.But their financial plight remains horrendous. Debts are around £20m and their opponents have predicted possible severance and unfair dismissal payments approaching £3m.Martyn Moxon stood down as director of cricket and Mark Arthur retired as CEO after accepting severance payments. As many as 14 employees, including the coach Andrew Gale, were then summarily sacked in a decision as shocking as any in Yorkshire’s turbulent history, for signing a letter which took an uncompromising stance against Rafiq’s allegations.That decision still divides the county. Nevertheless, the first major vote of the membership is an emphatic rejection of the rebellion from a rump of Yorkshire members, led by former chairman Robin Smith, a retired 79-year-old Leeds-based lawyer, who has threatened to resist change with a long-running campaign of legal action.That threat has not yet been withdrawn, and he might regard trying to prune the White Rose as a preferable occupation in old age to pruning his own roses, although it would take a considerable dollop of self-entitlement for Smith to pursue it when the members, as well as the ECB and politicians, have now spoken so loudly.Smith and his acolytes, some of them Yorkshire members for half a century or more, believe that Yorkshire’s independence is now under threat because of ECB interference and that Lord Patel has taken control in an undemocratic manner. Yorkshire counter that their restructuring actually follows Sport England guidelines.They particularly recoil at the fact that a new Board will be formed with eight independent members – not Yorkshire members – who will serve alongside two Board members drawn from the membership, the chief executive and director of cricket. Opponents have argued that Yorkshire is a co-operative society in law and so this us unlawful.Smith had also claimed in a leaked letter to Lord Patel that Yorkshire would now essentially become a subsidiary of the ECB, forever dancing to its tune, and that the shift of power to the centre would affect any other recalcitrant counties in turn.”A four to one ratio of outsiders to members as non-executives on the club’s board would so change the character of the club as to render it unrecognisable as a Yorkshire institution,” he wrote.That battle cry for independence would once have carried considerable weight across the Broad Acres, and it is some achievement for the county to have mismanaged its enquiry into Rafiq’s racism allegations so markedly that Yorkshire members have just shrugged off the risk and accepted that change is not just inevitable but desirable.

Relieved to see Lord Patel’s reforms backed today and that Yorkshire members chose a bright, inclusive future for my club

Big opportunity to show the world what can be achieved when you have strong leadership & good people

— Azeem Rafiq (@AzeemRafiq30) March 31, 2022