The 28 teams that have qualified for the Olympic football tournaments discovered their group opponents after the official draw was conducted in Zurich on Wednesday. 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams have been drawn into seven groups.

In the men’s event, Brazil and Germany, who faced off in the Rio 2016 final, were sent into Group D also comprising Cote d’Ivoire, Saudi Arabia. Egypt, Spain, Argentina, and Australia have been placed in Group C Japan was first out of the pot and drawn in Group A. They will face South Africa, Mexico, and France. In what will be the opening match of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Japan will take on South Africa in Tokyo Stadium.

Group G in the women’s tournament not only features the two co-hosts of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup, Australia and New Zealand, but it also gives the USA the chance for Olympic revenge over a Sweden side that eliminated them from Rio 2016 on penalties.

Japan will kick off the women’s finals against Canada, with Great Britain and Chile making up the section, while China PR, Brazil, Zambia and Netherlands comprise the other pool.

The women’s finalists will fight for the gold medal at Tokyo’s iconic new Olympic Stadium, which will also be the setting for the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies. Sapporo, Miyagi, Kashima, Saitama, and Yokohama (Men’s Final) will contribute to the Olympic passion by hosting exciting games until August 7, 2021.

“The draws were conducted by Jaime Yarza, FIFA Director of Tournaments, and Sarai Bareman, FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer. They were assisted by two FIFA Legends: Lindsay Tarpley, member of the USA women’s national team and two-time Olympic gold medallist, and Ryan Nelsen, captain of the New Zealand Olympic squad in 2008 and London 2012,” a FIFA statement read.

India skipper Virat Kohli remained firm at the fifth spot but Pakistan captain Babar Azam advanced one place to reach the second position in the ICC men’s T20I player rankings released on Wednesday.

Babar’s brilliant form had helped him replace Kohli at the top of the men’s ODI player rankings last week and this week’s T20I update sees him make a strong 47-point surge to overtake Australia’s Aaron Finch in the T20I rankings after scoring 122 in the third match. Though Babar is still 48 points adrift of top-ranked Dawid Malan of England, a three-match series against Zimbabwe from Wednesday presents the 26-year-old with another opportunity to move towards the top spot, which he had occupied till November last year.

Fakhar Zaman’s is a similar story as he follows up his progress in the ODI rankings with that in T20Is, gaining 17 slots to reach 33rd position after scores of eight not out and 60 in the last two matches.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who notched an unbeaten knock of 73 in the third match, has advanced eight places to reach a career-best 15th position.

Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has attained a career best-equaling 11th spot after grabbing a wicket each in the two matches while Faheem Ashraf (up 12 places to 16th), Mohammad Nawaz (up four places to 24th) and Haris Rauf (up 43 places to 38th) have also moved up in the bowlers’ list.

For South Africa, Rassie van der Dussen has advanced three slots to the sixth position, just one shy of his career-best, after scores of 34 not out and 52.

Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid have announced that they will be no longer part of the proposed European Super League project. On Sunday, 12 of Europe’s elite clubs were named as founding members of the breakaway project, designed to rival the UEFA Champions League. “FC Internazionale Milano confirm that the Club is no longer part of the Super League project. We are always committed to giving fans the best football experience; innovation and inclusion are part of our DNA since our foundation. Our engagement with all stakeholders to improve the football industry will never change,” Inter said in a statement.

“Inter believes that football, like every sector of activity, must have an interest in constantly improving its competitions, to keep on exciting fans of all ages around the world, within a framework of financial sustainability. With this vision we look forward to carry on working together with institutions and all stakeholders for the future of the sport we all love,” it added.

Atletico Madrid said: “Atletico de Madrid’s Board of Directors, which met on Wednesday morning, has decided to formally communicate to the Super League and the rest of the founding clubs its decision not to finally formalise its adhesion to the project. Atletico de Madrid took the decision on Monday to join the project due to circumstances that no longer exist today. For the club, harmony between all the groups that make up the Red & White family, especially our fans, is essential. The first team squad and the coach have expressed their satisfaction with the club’s decision, as they understand that sporting merits must prevail over any other criteria.”

Earlier, all six Premier League clubs—Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur involved in proposed European Super League withdrew from competition. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan are still part of European Super League but Barcelona’s participation is in doubt as the club could withdraw if their members vote against participation.

On Monday, FIFA had also expressed its disapproval for the proposed league. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president Aleksander Ceferin has also said that players will be banned from the World Cup and Euros if they participate in the European Super League.

WITH ANI INPUTS

This has been the best opening the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) could have hoped for. Virat Kolhi’s team is currently at the top of table in IPL 2021, winning first three games comprehensively. And he would like to keep the juggernaut rolling when RCB take on Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match in Mumbai on Thursday.

The Royals so far have a mixed tournament, winning only one of their three fixtures. They lost to Chennai Super Kings in their previous match to slip down to the sixth spot. Sanju Samson and his men will be eyeing a second win at the Wankhade Stadium.

Samson and boys have struggled to perform as a cohesive batting unit. While the skipper led the team to within touching distance of victory with his sensational century against Punjab Kings, it was the South African duo of David Miller and Chris Morris that pulled off a win against the Delhi Capitals. Against CSK, opener Jos Buttler looked dangerous but other batsmen failed to provide any valuable contributions.

Their bowling unit has not fired well as a unit. Pacer Jaydev Unadkat shone against the Delhi Capitals, registering the impressive figures of 3/15, while young Chetan Sakariya has shown promise. But as a unit they need to do more. In the absence of Jofra Archer, more will be expected out of the likes of Chris Morris and Bangladesh speedster Mustafizur Rahman.

For RCB, A.B. de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell have been the standout batsmen. While the South African continues to deliver season after season, the Australian all-rounder is proving to be a valuable addition to the middle order. Kohli has got decent starts in a couple of games but a big knock is eagerly awaited. Young Devdutt Padikkal, who impressed everyone last season, has been out of form.

The RCB bowling department has been impressive with pacers Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj boasting economy rate of of 5.75 and 5.81 respectively. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed (3/7) helped the team win the match in just one over against the Sunrisers.

After Khaleel Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma decimated opponents with their fine bowling performance, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener Jonny Bairstow smashed a fifty to steer the David Warner-led side to a comfortable nine-wicket win over Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday. This was the first victory for SRH after losing three straight games in this season’s IPL.

SRH’s Khaleel Ahmed celebrates the wicket of Shahrukh Khan, in Chennai on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)Jonny Bairstow of Sunrisers Hyderabad plays a shot during, at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday. ANI

A brilliant bowling effort from Khaleel and Abhishek had helped SRH restrict Punjab Kings to a paltry 120 in 19.4 overs. In response, SRH (121/1) chased down the target with eight balls to spare, thanks to a dominating batting performance by Bairstow.

David Warner and Bairstow (63*) started off the chase in dominating manner, taking SRH to 50 in style in six overs. In the next four overs, Warner slowed down a bit but Bairstow continued his onslaught and smashed timely boundaries. While Warner did try to up the ante, Fabian Allen removed the SRH skipper in the 11th over to give Punjab Kings a glimmer of hope. But Bairstow and Kane Williamson didn’t allow Punjab Kings to capitalise as the duo stitched a 48-run partnership to take SRH over the line quite comfortably in the 19th over.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Punjab Kings got off to bad start as they lost skipper K.L. Rahul in the fourth over. Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal then stitched a partnership but Khaleel Ahmed ended Mayank’s stay in the seventh over.

Deepak Hooda and Moises Henriques tried to revive Punjab’s innings, but without much success as Abhishek sent them back to see Punjab lose six wickets with just 82 runs on board. Shahrukh did manage to take Punjab past 100-run mark, but the right-handed batsman wasn’t able to convert it into the big one.

In the final two overs, Punjab Kings picked 10 runs to give SRH a 121-run target.

Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 120 (Shahrukh Khan 22, Mayank Agarwal 22; Khaleel Ahmed 3-21); SRH 121/1 (Jonny Bairstow 63*; Fabian Allen 1-22)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would not be walking away from the club despite his reservations over its involvement in the controversial European Super League.

A group of 12 European clubs on Monday confirmed their plans to launch a new European Super League. Among these 12, six belong to the Premier League. Liverpool, who played out a 1-1 draw in the Premier League against Leeds United on Monday were subjected to boos by the fans ahead of this particular fixture.

“I don’t feel that. I am 20 years in football, and a lot of times owners made decisions without asking me, and I deal with it. I don’t want to be involved in these things, I don’t understand them. I’m a football person. It’s not about letting me down. I’m here as a football coach and manager, and I will do that as long as people let me do that. I heard today that I will resign or whatever,” Goal.com quoted Klopp as saying.

“If times get even tougher, that makes me even more sticky that I will stay here. I feel responsible for the team, responsible for the club, and for the relationship we have with our fans. It’s a very tough time, but I will try to help to sort it somehow,” he added. Klopp said: “I am at the club six years, around about. I know our owners, they are serious people, reasonable people. They care about us. But they never had to explain these kinds of decisions to me or ask me for permission. That’s the situation. I speak a lot to them, but I was not involved at all in the process. I got the information yesterday.”

With ANI inputs