分类： sports

Embattled breakaway golf circuit LIV Golf is set to implement unexpected structural adjustments as it navigates swirling speculation that its primary backer, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is preparing to end its massive financial support, chief executive Scott O’Neil confirmed Thursday.

Recent reports from multiple international media outlets have claimed that the Saudi fund, which has poured billions into luring top-tier golf talent away from the established PGA Tour and DP World Tour since LIV launched in 2022, will imminently halt its funding commitments for the divisive league. Despite the uncertainty, LIV has insisted its ongoing 2024 season will proceed without interruption. This week’s tournament in Mexico City kicked off as scheduled Thursday, though broadcast coverage was disrupted for an extended period by local power outages that caused a blackout.

In an on-air interview during the Mexico City event, O’Neil addressed the growing speculation head-on. “I talked about some structural changes. They’re coming,” he said, referencing a plan he had already presented to roughly 50 stakeholders during last weekend’s Masters tournament at Augusta. “We have one, and it is… It might surprise some people.”

Since its debut in 2022, the Saudi-backed league has upended the global golf landscape, pitting the new circuit against traditional golf governing bodies. Built around a format of shorter, faster events with team-based competition and a geographically diverse tournament schedule, LIV has attracted some of the sport’s biggest names, including major champions Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, while drawing large crowds to stops in emerging markets such as Australia and South Africa. However, the circuit has struggled to secure the lucrative multi-year media rights deals that are a core revenue stream for established major sports leagues.

Industry estimates peg the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s total spending on LIV Golf at roughly $5 billion to date. During a recent five-year strategy presentation, the fund signaled a shift to prioritize “increasing the efficiency of investments,” fueling rumors of an imminent pullback from the golf project.

O’Neil acknowledged Thursday that LIV will “probably” need to secure new external capital to sustain operations, pointing to the league’s long-stated strategy of selling ownership stakes in its 12 existing team franchises. The circuit’s long-term business model is modeled after motorsport’s Formula 1, which relies on independently owned and operated team franchises. “I had two calls this morning” about stake sales, O’Neil confirmed. Prior to this week’s funding rumors, LIV had already been exploring the sale of minority or even controlling stakes in two teams to outside wealthy investors or corporations, and in January Bloomberg reported the league was targeting valuations as high as $300 million per team. No public valuation of the franchises has been released to date.

O’Neil also pushed back against recent sensationalized media coverage of the league’s turmoil, specifically calling out a report from Britain’s *Telegraph* that claimed LIV executives had been called to an emergency emergency meeting in New York. “It’s a lot of reaching and grabbing for headlines and clickbait and stories,” he said. While he rejected claims of an imminent collapse, he did confirm that operational shifts are on the horizon. “Will there be a change in how we operate? Of course,” he added.

Two English Premier League sides have written their names into 2024-25 UEFA Europa League history, securing an unprecedented all-English showdown in the semi-finals after commanding quarter-final second leg wins on Thursday.

Unai Emery’s in-form Aston Villa turned a solid 3-1 first-leg advantage into an emphatic 7-1 aggregate rout, crushing Italy’s Bologna with a 4-0 clean sheet at their home ground Villa Park. The result marked Villa’s second consecutive European semi-final appearance under Emery, following their 2023-24 Conference League last-four run, and extends the four-time Europa League-winning manager’s incredible legacy in the competition.

England international striker Ollie Watkins once again led the charge for Villa, opening the scoring in the 16th minute to cap a fluid 14-pass team build-up finished with a close-range tap-in from Morgan Rogers’ assist. The goal marked Watkins’ 100th goal across all competitions for the club, pushing him to the top of Villa’s all-time European scoring charts with 10 goals, overtaking club legends Peter Withe and John McGinn.

Though Rogers missed a 25th-minute penalty after a Bologna handball, Emiliano Buendia struck just one minute later with a blistering effort to double Villa’s lead. Rogers redeemed his miss before halftime, scoring his first goal in 12 matches with a clinical strike past Bologna goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia. Center-back Ezri Konsa capped the dominant display with a 89th-minute volley, sealing a resounding home victory.

“We needed to get the first goal, it was very important. They are a dangerous team away from home,” Villa captain John McGinn said after the match. “A great first half gets us to a semi-final, I’m delighted.”

Over at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, the underdogs pulled off a historic upset to knock out Portugal’s Porto, securing a 2-1 aggregate win with a 1-0 second-leg victory. Forest, currently 12 places below Villa in the Premier League table, reached their first continental semi-final since the 1983-84 UEFA Cup, more than 40 years ago. Playing in Europe for the first time since 1995-96, the result is a landmark moment for the club. The match was shaped by an early red card for Porto defender Jan Bednarek, who was sent off in the 8th minute for a dangerous foul on striker Chris Wood that forced the New Zealander off injured.

Forest capitalized on their numerical advantage just four minutes later, when Morgan Gibbs-White’s deflected strike from the edge of the box looped into the Porto net. The goal celebration carried emotional weight: Gibbs-White held up a shirt bearing the name of teammate Elliot Anderson, who missed the match following the death of his mother. Another touching moment came at halftime, when former Forest striker Tony Woodcock was finally presented with his 1980 European Cup winner’s medal — he had been denied the honor after leaving the club mid-season during the side’s second consecutive European Cup title run amid a strained relationship with legendary manager Brian Clough.

Porto came close to forcing extra time twice in the second half, with William Gomes and Alan Varela both hitting the woodwork from close range, but Forest held on to secure their place in the semis. Forest manager Vitor Pereira, whose side is currently fighting a relegation battle in the Premier League, paid tribute to his team’s character after the win. “The club and the supporters deserve it. I have a fantastic team. They have the spirit, character and quality,” he said, adding he would not turn his focus to the Villa semi-final until after this weekend’s league match against Burnley.

Two other sides booked their semi-final spots on Thursday. Germany’s Freiburg reached their first ever Europa League semi-final after a 3-1 away win over Spain’s Celta Vigo, wrapping up a dominant 6-1 aggregate win with an opener from Igor Matanovic and a brace from Japanese winger Yuito Suzuki. Portugal’s Sporting Braga completed a comeback to beat Real Betis 4-2 away, sealing a 5-3 aggregate win to set up a semi-final tie against Freiburg.

Ahead of the opening bounce of the final term in their Australian Football League clash, Collingwood Magpies already banked on a familiar Carlton Blues collapse to turn their 18-point deficit around. That confidence, forged from Carlton’s well-documented history of surrendering leads late in matches, was front and center of Collingwood’s three-quarter time huddle, where players and coaches explicitly highlighted the Blues’ trend of letting strong positions slip away. What followed was a thrilling, momentum-shifting final quarter that delivered one of the most dramatic wins of the 2025 AFL season so far.

Fuelled by a masterclass performance from young star Nick Daicos, Collingwood piled on seven unanswered goals in the final stanza to claw their way back into the contest, sneaking across the line with a narrow five-point victory. Speaking after the match, Magpies head coach Craig McRae opened up about the tactical and mental framing that shaped the comeback, revealing his side entered the final quarter questioning whether Carlton could maintain their intensity across all four quarters.

“We spoke about playing the full minutes right in front of us,” McRae told reporters post-game. “They’d been in front most games, I think Carlton have been in front for four of the five. We were questioning whether they could do it for four quarters and that’s the evidence they put in front of everyone. We want to play it out, you’ve still got to take your chances, make the most of it.”

The catalyst for Collingwood’s stunning turnaround was Daicos, who put on a clinic in the final quarter, racking up 13 disposals and slotting a spectacular freakish goal that shifted the entire energy of the match. The young star played every second of the final term, and finished the match marking his 100th AFL game with a career-defining performance that drew high praise from his coach.

“He’s a remarkable talent, we didn’t want to get him off in the last quarter (and) he played 100 per cent game time I am pretty sure,” McRae said. “He does some remarkable stuff, that first goal in the fourth quarter when he just runs contest to contest to contest and ends up in the goalsquare. 100th game, if you break the stats down they’re pretty amazing, not many players can do that in a game.”

Even with the dramatic comeback, McRae cautioned against overconfidence, noting his side still has areas to improve ahead of coming fixtures: “I am not naive to think we don’t still have work to do.”

For the Blues, the result extends a worrying early-season slump that has cast doubt over their 2025 campaign. The collapse marks yet another late-game lead surrendered by Carlton, leaving the side with just two wins from their opening six matches. For Collingwood, the crucial win keeps the club firmly in contention for a top-eight finish, keeping their postseason hopes alive heading into the middle phase of the regular season.

In a tense Australian Football League clash that ended in a narrow defeat for Carlton at the hands of Collingwood on Thursday night, 22-year-old young talent Elijah Hollands emerged as an unexpected talking point after a match that left him struggling for any meaningful on-field impact, prompting public displays of disappointment and a supportive intervention from senior coach Michael Voss.

Hollands, who had earned 75% of game time through the first three quarters, failed to register a single disposals or statistical contribution for the entire match, a rare outcome for a player with that much on-field involvement. He was ultimately benched for the majority of the final quarter as Collingwood clawed back to secure the win over the Blues. Footage of Hollands drifting out of play and failing to impact contests circulated widely online on social media immediately after the final siren, amplifying scrutiny of his off-night.

Following the final whistle, Voss found a visibly distraught Hollands, who described the young midfielder as “shattered” and “pretty emotional” in post-game press comments. “I spoke to him after the game, he was really disappointed with how he started the game, really upset, he feels like he’s let me down,” Voss shared. The coach confirmed he held an extended supportive conversation with the young player, noting that Hollands carried strong disappointment over his inability to work his way into the flow of the high-stakes match.

Addressing the decision to bench Hollands in the final minutes of the game, Voss explained the tactical call was made to adjust the team’s on-field mix for the closing stretch. “It comes to the last quarter, you obviously have to work out what mix you want out on the field with five minutes to go. He wasn’t having a great night, so (we had) conversations with him, but we obviously thought the best mix was not have him out there,” Voss said.

Late drama unfolded after the siren when a review gave Carlton a last-gasp chance to force a draw, with fourth-year player Talor Byrne stepping up for the decisive kick that ultimately skewed wide. Voss emphasized that blame for the loss does not rest solely on the shoulders of young players like Hollands and Byrne, pointing to the team-first culture the club has built.

“It’s understanding it’s not all on the young man’s shoulders,” Voss said. “He’s probably rehearsed that 2000 times… he didn’t quite obviously get the job done but the boys rallied. You win together, you lose together.” The coach added that the club would continue to support Hollands through the tough moment, rejecting any concerns over the young player’s effort on the night, and confirming the program would stand by him as he works to bounce back from the off-night.