SPORT | 22

Djokovic, Nadal

and Serena

enter US Open

tune-up event

SPORTFormula One:

Hamilton eyes

record win at

Silverstone

SPORT | 23

THURSDAY 30 JULY 2020

Harvard Business School study details PSG's astonishing riseTHE PENINSULA — PARIS

Harvard Business School yesterday released an extensive case study exploring the global growth of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) since the Club was taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011.

Professor Anita Elberse, renowned for her expertise in the Sports, Media, and Enter-tainment space, and Harvard graduate David Moreno, visited the Club earlier in the 2 0 1 9 / 2 0 s e a s o n ,

conducting a series of inter-views with President Nasser Al Khelaifi (pictured), along with Club management, first and youth team players and s t a f f , and our principal

p a r t n e r

Accor Live Limitless, amongst various stakeholders.

The independent 30 page case study investigates the meteoric rise of the Club and the ambitious efforts taken on and off the pitch to elevate its standing as one of the most globally recognised sports brands in the world.

The piece pays particular attention to Paris Saint-Ger-main’s commercial growth and industry leading brand

diversification efforts and i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s a t i o n , investment in core infra-structure including stadium hospitality and the brand-newstate of the art training centre, and the Club’s talent investment policy (across

first and youth team sports, and commercial staff).

H a r v a r d Business is

school is widely rec-

ognised as

the premier business educa-tional institution globally, pioneering in thought lead-ership in the fields of strategy, management, marketing, and various other commercial disciplines.

The School is credited with creating the first ever MBA class in 1908.

“It was a pleasure to

welcome Professor Elberse to our Club and to grant her the access to conduct a candid review of the Paris Saint-Germain story so far,” said President Nasser Al Khelaifi.

“We take great pride in the speed and magnitude of progress made since 2011, and our objectives today for the club are as great as they have ever been."

"Elevating the club to its current status has been on a personal level both highly challenging, yet truly rewarding. Paris Saint-Germain will continue in its pursuit to be one of the three leading sports institution glo-bally, by all measures —rev-enues, brand strength, societal impact, and most importantly, sports success. We hope to bring pride to the growing number of our pas-sionate and loyal supporters around the world,” he added.

Extracts from the case, reflecting on the PSG’s strategic direction and subsequent results ��“By March 2020, nearly nine years since QSI acquired PSG in 2011, the results of the club’s new strategic direction were clearly visible—on and off the field.”

��“The [Club’s] investment had paid off on and off the field. Since 2011, PSG had amassed 22 national trophies, including six French league titles and four French cups. And the club had steadily risen in the ranking of Europe’s highest-grossing soccer clubs, now claiming the fifth spot”

��“On the business side, PSG had shown strong growth since QSI had taken over. Revenues were up from €95m in the 2010-2011 season to €637m in the 2018-2019 season”

��“Helped by the improvements in seating and hospitality, match day revenues had quadrupled, from €24m in 2010-2011 to €115m in 2018-2019.”

��“Commercial revenues, covering sponsorship, merchandising and partnerships, increased more than twelvefold, from €26m to €366m, in eight years”

��“PSG’s own social media presence had significantly grown as well. Whereas the club had half a million followers across platforms in 2011, that count was up to nearly 81 million followers by 2020”

��“PSG’s executives set out to connect more widely with other cultures beyond soccer—with other sports, but also with areas such as fashion, music, film and television, and art.”

ploring the global ggrowtth Paris Saint-Germain (PSGG) ce the Club was taken oveer Qatar Sports Invesstmennts2011.

Professor Anita Elberse, nowned for her pertise in the Sportts, dia, and Enter-

nment space, andrvard graduate vid Moreno, ited the Club rlier in the 0 1 9 / 2 0

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We take great pride in the speed and magnitude of progress made since 2011, and our objectives today for the club are as great as they have ever been: PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi

22 THURSDAY 30 JULY 2020SPORT

England face pace dilemma after announcing unchanged squadAFP — LONDON

England will once again face a selection dilemma over the make-up of their pace attack after an unchanged 14-man squad was named yesterday for next week’s first Test against Pakistan.

Joe Root’s side rotated their frontline fast bowlers during the 2-1 series win over the West Indies, which ended on Tuesday, with the competition for places intense.

Stuart Broad responded to being left out of the opener with 16 wickets at under 11 in the last two Tests, while Chris Woakes ended the series with five wickets in the West Indies second innings.

James Anderson is Eng-land’s leading wicket-taker, the raw pace of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood h a s s w u n g matches i n

England’s favour in the past while Sam Curran has won every Test he has played in at home.

Wood and Curran were the u n f o r t u n a t e

seamers to be left out

o f

t h e decider

a t O l d

Trafford but they have been retained in the squad to face Pakistan at the same ground next Wednesday. Top-order batsmen James Bracey and Dan Lawrence, wicketkeeper Ben Foakes and slow left-armer Jack Leach will stay on with the group as reserves.

“After three Tests in quick succession against the West Indies, we now turn to an equally condensed Test series against Pakistan, with 15 days of Test cricket scheduled in a three-week period,” said national selector Ed Smith.

“Our 14-man squad is unchanged. County cricket now restarts on Saturday 1st August. We want to have sufficient reserves inside the bio-secure Test match ‘bubble’ but we may also want to give opportunities, where possible, for the reserves to play county cricket.

“As we seek the best balance here, England may make changes to the reserves during the three-match series against Pakistan.”

The second Test starts at the Ageas Bowl in South-

ampton on August 13, with the third match taking place at the same venue

from August 21.The Tests are taking

place behind closed doors due to the c o r o n a v i r u s

pandemic.

Younis: Pakistan need ‘fighting tail’ on England tourREUTERS — LONDON

The onus will be on Pakistan’s top batsmen to post compet-itive totals against England but batting coach Younis Khan said the team will need “a fighting tail” to win the series.

Given the team is prone to inexplicable batting collapses, Pakistan roped in former captain Younis to help their batsmen for the three-test series beginning in Man-chester on Wednesday.

“We’re here to win the series,” Younis, only Pakistan Test batsman in the 10,000-run club, said.

“For that we need a fighting tail, which is the hallmark of all top teams.

“It’s not just the top six-seven batsmen. The tailenders must also perform with the bat,” he said, citing the con-tribution of England’s lower order in their 2-1 series victory against West Indies.

Younis has been working with the pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and

Mohammad Abbas, who have single digit batting averages.

“I think Abbas has nice balance. I’m trying to make him their leader, someone who can guide the tailenders,” Younis said.

“They may not score a lot, but they need to put up a fight with the bat.

Skipper Azhar Ali and batting mainstay Babar Azam will have to share bulk of the scoring duty against an England team fresh from their win against West Indies.

Younis acknowledged the pressure on Babar, currently among top six batsmen in all three formats, and said he has been trying to help the 25-year-old focus on his game.

“He’s been a fantastic player for Pakistan with strong performance in the last couple of years. I’m here to help take his game to the next level.

“I want him to bat longer, converting his 100 into 150 and 150 into 200.”

Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.Reserves: James Bracey, Ben Foakes,Jack Leach, Dan Lawrence.

ENGLAND TEST SQUAD

uesday, w t t e co pet t ofor places intense.

Stuart Broad responded to being left out of the opener with 16 wickets at under 11in the last two Tests, while Chris Woakes ended the series with five wickets in the West Indies second innings.

James Anderson is Eng-land’s leading wicket-taker,the raw pace of Jofra AArcher and Mark Wood h a s s w u n gmatches i n

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Pakistan's Akmal gets ban halved to 18 monthsREUTERS — LAHORE

Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal’s three-year ban for an anti-corruption breach has been halved

by an independent adjudicator, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday.

The middle-order batsman was banned in April for failing to report approaches to engage in corrupt practices ahead of this year’s Pakistan Super League Twenty20

competition.Umar, who last played for Pakistan

in a Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka in Lahore last year, appealed against the suspension in May.

Independent adjudicator Faqir Muhammad Khokhar said Umar’s con-

fession that he failed to report match-fixing approaches on two occasions had left “no room for doubt as to the veracity of the charges.

“The stance taken by the appellant is self-contradictory and not credit-worthy. The case against the appellant stands proved to the hilt,” the retired Supreme Court judge added.

However, the PCB said the adjudicator, “taking a compassionate view” had reduced Umar’s ban to 18 months, backdating the start to February 20 when the player was provi-sionally suspended.

Umar, whose brothers Adnan and Kamran have also featured for Pakistan, will be eligible to play from August 2021 but the 30-year-old hopes to return earlier.

“I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further,” he told local media after his hearing. “For now I am not sat-isfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead. There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got.”

Djokovic, Nadal, Serena enter US Open tune-up eventAFP — NEW YORK

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and world number two Rafael Nadal have entered the US Open tune-up tournament to be played in New York while Serena Williams is in the women’s field.

Organisers of the ATP and WTA Western and Southern Open, typically played in Cincinnati but moved to New York this year due to the coro-navirus pandemic, announced initial singles entry lists yesterday.

The event will be staged August 20-28 in a quarantine environment without spectators at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, where the Grand Slam hardcourt showdown would begin August 31 in similar conditions.

Djokovic, the reigning Wim-bledon and Australian Open champion, and Nadal, the defending US and French Open champion, had been concerned about the wisdom of staging the US Open during a widespread COVID-19 outbreak across the United States.

The New York area has been able to keep cases at a relatively low level since spiking in March and April while areas such as Florida, Texas and California have become hotspots.

The only top-10 men’s players not on the entry list were injured Swiss star Roger Federer, the world number four behind Austrian Dominic Thiem, and France’s ninth-ranked Gael Monfils.

It also includes defending Western and Southern champion Daniil Medvedev, the

world number five from Russia. Federer owns a record 20

Grand Slam men’s singles crowns while Nadal has

captured 19 and Djokovic won his 17th earlier this year in Melbourne.

Williams, who turns 39 in September, has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, one shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record. She gave birth to a daughter in 2017 and has gone 0-4 in Slam finals since, losing in the 2018 and 2019 US Open and Wimbledon finals.

Ninth-ranked Williams said she was playing in the US Open on the day the US Tennis Asso-ciation announced it would stage the event. She has also entered a WTA tuneup tour-nament in early August at Lex-ington, Kentucky.

Williams last won a Grand Slam singles title at the 2017 Australian Open.

The only women among the WTA’s top six on the list are

Czech Karolina Pliskova, who ranks third, and world number four Sofia Kenin, the reigning Australian Open champion from the United States.

Absent are Australia’s top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, the reigning French Open champion, and world number two Simona Halep of Romania, the current Wimbledon champion, plus fifth-rated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and last year’s US Open champion, Can-ada’s sixth-ranked Bianca Andreescu.

The women’s field also includes 16-year-old Coco Gauff and defending Western and Southern champion Madison Keys, both Americans.

In all, 40 of the 43 top-ranked men are entered while only 39 of the top 53 plan to play on the women’s side.

In this file photo Rafael Nadal of Spain (right) shares a light moment with Novak Djokovic of Serbia as they and the world’s top players play in the Rally for Relief charity tennis match in support of the victims of the Australian bushfires, in Melbourne on January 15, 2020.

Pacer Broad inspired by ‘idol’ AndersonAFP — MANCHESTER

Stuart Broad wants to follow “idol” James Anderson by being a force for years to come after taking his 500th Test wicket during England’s series-clinching win over the West Indies.

The 34-year-old Broad was controver-sially left out of the series opener -- the first time he had been omitted from a home Test in eight years -- which the West Indies won by four wickets at Southampton.

During that match, Broad revealed how “angry” he felt at being on the sidelines but the Nottinghamshire seamer was included for the final two Tests of the series, both at Old Trafford.

His 16 wickets, at under 11 apiece, were the most by a bowler on either side and pivotal to England’s eventual 2-1 win against the West Indies as international cricket returned from the coronavirus lockdown.

He rounded things off in style by taking his 500th wicket during England’s 269-run win in the third Test completed Tuesday, a match that also saw Broad return his first 10-wicket haul at this level since 2013.

“A couple of weeks ago I was in a bit of a thinking place -- I couldn’t leave a cricket ground where I’d been left out of the team. I thought ‘where am I going here?’” said Broad.

“But I’m glad I stayed strong because I’m very happy two weeks later.

“You always hear ex-sportsmen saying they knew when it was time to go, that they’d lost that feeling. Well, I’ve still got it in abundance.” Broad, who has now joined long-time England new-ball colleague

Anderson as one of just seven bowlers, and four pacemen, to have taken 500 Test wickets, added: “Jimmy is my idol on that. “He turns 38 soon and he’s someone who I have watched very closely, a great friend of mine for many years.

“Over the last few years, he has maintained himself and kept upskilling himself to be able to not only compete but get better at this level.

“If you look at both of our records over the last few years, we are actually improving. Compare my last 18 months to my career record and it’s way better, which is always a great sign.” Anderson, on 589 Test wickets, sug-gested before play on Tuesday that Broad, who now has 501 scalps, could surpass his tally, which is already an England record.

“I’ve never even thought about that,” said Broad. “I’m not particu-larly a goal-setter, so it’s not as though I sit here and say, ‘I want 600 wickets’.”

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Brussels DL meet to take place behind closed doors

AFP — BRUSSELS

The Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, the fourth meeting of the coronavirus-hit Diamond League (DL) athletics season, will be staged behind closed doors on September 4, organisers have said.

Officials explained that as a decision has still not been made by the Belgian government on whether fans can return to stadiums from Sep-tember, they were erring on the side of caution.

“The health and the safety of the spectators, the athletes and the staff are our highest concern and priority,” Brussels meeting director Cedric Van Branteghem said in a statement.

“From a practical point of view the best thing to do was to decide now and to clearly com-municate with our fans and our audience on tick-eting issues.”

The Diamond League season is set to belatedly get underway on August 14 in Monaco, but meetings in Eugene, London, Paris, Rabat, Gateshead and China have all been cancelled.

The Brussels meet will feature four-t ime Olympic champion Mo Farah (pictured) and Belgian Bashir Abdi attempting to break the track hour record set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007.

Sweden’s pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis will also compete at the King Baudouin Stadium.

Olympic heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam is set to go head-to-head with rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the world champion, in a triathlon featuring the 100-metre hurdles, high jump and shot put.

The Brussels meet will feature 4-time Olympic champion Mo Farah and Belgian Bashir Abdi attempting to break the track hour record set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007.

AP – ZURICH

FIFA’s $1.5bn coronavirus relief plan to revive the sport and help national associations stay afloat will come with “strict compliance and audit requirements,” the governing body of soccer said yesterday.

The massive spending plan aims to help men’s and women’s professional soccer as well as youth and grassroots football through grants and loans.

“This relief plan is a great example of football’s solidarity and commitment in such unprecedented times,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.

The regulations establish appropriate use of funds and loan repayment conditions under the supervision of a newly created steering com-mittee. FIFA’s 211 member associations will receive a $1m grant “to protect and restart football” and can access interest-free loans of up to

$5m. Each member association will also receive an additional $500,000 grant for women’s soccer.

Each of the six soccer con-federations will also receive a grant of $2m and have access to a loan of up to $4m.

FIFA expects to make all of the funds available by January 2021. Some funds will be released this month.

The loans for member associations are limited to 35% of their audited annual revenues.

FIFA said in a statement

that associations “will be able to use the funds for activities such as the restart of compe-titions, the implementation of return-to-play protocols, the participation of national teams in competitions, the hiring and re-hiring of staff, the maintenance of football infrastructure, and general administration and operating costs.”

Applicants must file reports proving their pan-demic-related losses or needs and must specify how they plan to use the funds. For women’s grants, associations must commit “to including the development of a women’s football strategy or the inclusion of a women’s football strategy with relevant details in its strategic plan.”

The $1.5bn total breaks down as $885m in grants and loans, and it includes $617 million approved earlier this year in liquidity injections and additional support to member associations.

23THURSDAY 30 JULY 2020 SPORT

FIFA eyes ‘strict compliance’ for $1.5bn virus relief plan

Al Hajri extends Al Sadd contract THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Qatar international Salem Al Hajri has signed a contract extension which will keep him at reigning QNB Stars League champions Al Sadd SC until 2023.

Speaking after signing the extension, Salem said: “I feel very happy that I will continue with this great club until 2023.”

He added: “As a player, I still have a lot to offer, and doing so with Al Sadd is a great honour.”

“Al Sadd is a great club and it is great to be one of its members. We have a balance between youth and experience within the team. There is a friendly relationship between the group as a whole and we are one family that always seeks to win titles.”

The midfielder also indicated that he would continue his rehabilitation training, saying: “I will continue working hard with my treatment program in order to return to the team and that moment is coming up soon, as I want to be with the team on the pitch at the earliest opportunity.

Salem concluded by saying: “I am happy with the renewal of the con-tract, and I hope that I will be able to return quickly to the team and stay true to everyone’s expectations – the coaching staff, management and fans.”

As a player, I still have a lot to offer, and doing so

with Al Sadd is a great honour. Al Sadd is a great

club and it is great to be one of its members. We

have a balance between youth and experience

within the team. There is a friendly relationship

between the group as a whole and we are one

family that always seeks to win titles: Salem Al Hajri

This relief plan is a

great example of

football’s solidarity and

commitment in such

unprecedented times: FIFA President Gianni Infantino

Mohaather wins Gr1 Qatar Sussex StakesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The events of Qatar Goodwood Festival 2020 continued on Day 2 yesterday featuring seven races, including two black type races. The coveted Gr1 Qatar Sussex Stakes, for three-year-olds and older over a mile — the feature event of the day — was won by Mohaather for trainer Marcus Tregoning and jockey Jim Crowley.

The last race in the card was a fitting finale of the day with an impressive win by Al Shaqab Racing’s homebred Toro Strike, who is trained by Richard Fahey and was ridden to victory by Oisin Murphy.

The success of the son of Al Shaqab’s sire Toronado repre-sents a further demonstration of the success of Al Shaqab Racing’s breeding operation and their long-term plan, which has already started to yield a highly positive outcome.

The final race on day two of the Qatar Goodwood Fes-tival, the seven-furlong Theo Fennell Handicap, went the way of Al Shaqab Racing’s Toro Strike (Toronado x Scarlet Strike).

After encountering trouble in running behind the leaders, Toro Strike delivered his effort a furlong out and showed an impressive turn of foot, under Oisin Murphy, to score going away by two and a quarter lengths.

Magical Wish finished second for trainer Richard Hannon and jockey Thore Hammer Hansen and Deep Intrigue, trained by Mark Johnston was third under Kieran Shoemark.

Murphy said: “Toro Strike is a beautiful, physical

specimen. I feel like if he could stay at seven furlongs for the time being would be a big help. We’ll see what Richard thinks but it would be nice to see him land another big prize.”

Mohaather (Showcasing x Roodeye) put up an amazing performance to land the

highlight of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the mile G1 Qatar Sussex Stakes. Two furlongs from home, the winner still had five of the seven runners in front of him with jockey Jim Crowley facing a wall of horses.

Crowley did not panic

though and pulled his mount wide approaching the final furlong. The response was electric from Mohaather, who overhauled leader Circus Maximus (Galileo x Duntle), trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, entering the final half-furlong before

going on to win by a cosy three-quarters of a length. Siskin (First Defence x Bird Flown), who is trained by G M Lyons, finished third under Colin Keane.

It was a first Qatar Sussex Stakes for trainer Tregoning while jockey Crowley was winning the prestigious prize for the second time following Here Comes When (2017).

Meanwhile, Steel Bull jus-tified being a favourite with an impressive victory in the G3 Markel Insurance Molecomb Stakes, run over five furlongs for two-year-olds. It was a first Qatar Goodwood Festival success for both trainer Michael O’Callaghan and jockey Colin Keane.

The grey son of Clodovil was making just his second racecourse appearance having made an eye-catching winning debut at Naas a week ago.

Chamade, trained by Ralph Beckett, made every yard of the running in the opening British Stallion Studs Fillies’ Handicap over a mile and a quarter.

Ridden by Harry Bentley, the three-year-old Sepoy filly kept finding out in front, seeing off all challengers, and at the finish had two and three-quarter lengths to spare over Waliyak, who is trained by Roger Varian and was ridden by David Egan. Dean Street Doll, trained by David Men-uisier finished third Ryan Moore.

Al Shaqab's entries enjoy success on second day of Qatar Goodwood Festival 2020

Jockey Jim Crowley riding Mohaather (front) celebrates after winning the coveted Gr1 Qatar Sussex Stakes on second day of Qatar Goodwood Festival yesterday.

REUTERS – SILVERSTONE

Lewis Hamilton can celebrate a record-stretching seventh British Grand Prix win

on Sunday but the Formula One leader will be doing none of the usual

crowd-surfing after what may be the weirdest home race of his

life.The second triple-

header of a pandemic-hit season will be in

front of empty grandstands

and behind c l o s e d

doors a t

Silverstone, celebrating 70 years since the first world championship grand prix there in May 1950.

The windswept circuit will host two races on successive weekends for the first time, the second as the anniversary race, but Ham-ilton’s army of flag-waving fans will have to cheer from afar.

“The British Grand Prix is the best grand prix, particularly because of the fans, the thousands that turn up and really create the spectacle,” the six-times world champion said after winning in Hungary. “So it’s going to be super-weird.”

Mercedes have been dominant so far, with Hamilton now on for a hat-trick of wins after victories in Austria’s Styrian Grand Prix and Hungary. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas won the opener at the Red Bull Ring.

The pair have also been alone on pole so far and Silverstone’s long and fast lap will suit their car, but team boss Toto Wolff is taking nothing for granted.

“We’ve had a good start to the season: we resolved the issues that troubled us on the first weekend, won three out of three races and scored a good amount of points,” said the Austrian.

“But the first three races have also high-lighted another crucial factor: the importance of reliability in this shortened season.

“We’re one of only two teams that have

finished all races with both cars this year and we know how quickly a DNF (no-finish) can make a lead in the points disappear.”

Hamilton is five points clear of Bottas but 30 ahead of third-placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who has been on the podium in the last two races.

“We know the areas we need to work on and with Silverstone being a home race close to the factory, that’s good news,” said the Dutch youngster.

“I think we can hopefully get a good result there, historically it’s been a pretty good track for the team, and it’s one I really enjoy driving.” Racing Point, with a factory across the road, could be Mercedes’ closest rivals with their car a close copy of the one Ham-ilton drove to the title last season.

They can expect to be protested again by Renault afterwards, with a stewards’ decision on the legality of the car not expected until August.

Ferrari, 17 times winners in Britain, have slumped to fifth overall and the first high-speed circuit of the season may bring more pain.

“We know that from a pure competi-tiveness point of view it will be difficult, but we need to focus on acquiring the best infor-mation possible so that we can develop our car in the right direction,” said sporting director Laurent Mekies.

Hamilton eyes record win at Silverstone

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix on July 19.