4-time MLB All-Star Ronald Acuna Jr. joining Baseball United ownership group

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Ronald Acuña Jr.with Baseball United CEO Kash Shaikh. (Supplied)
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Updated 02 April 2024
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4-time MLB All-Star Ronald Acuna Jr. joining Baseball United ownership group

  • MLB most-valuable player and Atlanta Braves All-Star becomes youngest investor in new Middle East league

DUBAI: Baseball United, the first professional league focused on the Middle East and Indian subcontinent, has announced that four-time MLB All-Star and Most Valuable Player, Ronald Acuna Jr., has joined its investment and ownership group.

Acuna, ranked as the top player in baseball by MLB Network, becomes the youngest and highest-profile active athlete to join the new league.

Acuna, an All-MLB First Team selection, took home all of baseball’s top awards last season, including the National League MVP (unanimous), the Hank Aaron Award, and The Sporting News Player of the Year. The Atlanta Braves superstar, who is just 26 years old, hit 41 home runs and stole 73 bases last year to become the first player in MLB history with a 40-70 season. He also hit .337 while leading the league in 10 key statistical categories, including hits (217), runs (149), total bases (383) and on-base percentage (.416).

“It’s such an honor to welcome Ronald into the Baseball United family,” said Kash Shaikh, chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Baseball United. “Ronald is not only a generational athlete and the game’s best player, but he’s a cultural icon who inspires fans all over the world.

“He truly believes that baseball can be global, and he plays the game with the type of passion, charisma, and style that can help millions of new fans fall in love with the game. Last year, while our team was making history bringing professional baseball to the Middle East for the first time, Ronald was making history of his own on the game’s biggest stage. Now, we get to go make history together.”

Acuna joins 19 other MLB legends within Baseball United’s ownership group, including Hall of Famers Barry Larkin, Mariano Rivera and Adrian Beltre, as well as icons Albert Pujols, Robinson Cano and Bartolo Colon. The league began play in Dubai last November with an inaugural All-Star Showcase event, the first professional baseball games in the history of the region. The event was broadcast in 127 countries, reaching 200 million households.

Acuna is the fourth Venezuelan-born MLB star to invest in Baseball United, joining Felix Hernandez, Elvis Andrus and Robinson Chirinos.

“I am truly grateful to join the Baseball United family as an investor, co-owner, and an active ambassador to help grow the game we all love,” said Acuna. “It’s been exciting to watch what Kash, John (Miedreich), and the BU team has built over the past two years. They’ve done things that no one has ever done before.

“And now, I’m honored to be a part of it. Growing up in Venezuela, I always dreamed of making a big impact on the game of baseball. I’m very blessed to compete every day with my teammates to do that for Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves, and I can’t wait to help carry the game to new fans in the Middle East and South Asia with Baseball United.”

In addition to his ownership stake in Baseball United, Acuna will also play an ambassador role helping to promote the league, its teams, and players across his social media and at special events in the Middle East after the MLB season.

The league is scheduled to announce its 2024 plans and expansion franchises this summer. Baseball United’s first full season is slated for the winter of 2025.


Journalism wins the Preakness two weeks after finishing 2nd in the Kentucky Derby

Updated 7 sec ago
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Journalism wins the Preakness two weeks after finishing 2nd in the Kentucky Derby

BALTIMORE: Journalism won the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, coming from behind down the stretch make good on the lofty expectations of being the favorite in the middle leg of the Triple Crown two weeks after finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby.
Finishing first in a field of nine horses that did not include Sovereignty but featured some of the best competition in the country, Journalism gave trainer Michael McCarthy his second Preakness victory. It is Umberto Rispoli’s first in a Triple Crown race, and he is the first jockey from Italy to win one of them.
Gosger was second, Sandman third and Goal Oriented fourth.
Journalism thrived on a warm day that dried out the track after torrential rain fell at Pimlico Race Course for much of the past week. Those conditions suited him better than the slop at Churchill Downs in the Derby.
Sovereignty did not take part after his owners and trainer Bill Mott decided to skip the Preakness, citing the two-week turnaround, and aim for the Belmont on June 7. That made this a fifth time in seven years that the Preakness, for various reasons, was contested without a Triple Crown bid at stake.


Nice take Champions League place, Saint-Etienne relegated in French season finale

Updated 56 min 59 sec ago
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Nice take Champions League place, Saint-Etienne relegated in French season finale

PARIS: Nice romped to a six-goal win to secure Champions League qualification on the final night of the French season on Saturday, as Saint-Etienne were condemned to relegation back to the second tier.
Champions League finalists Paris Saint-Germain had already clinched the title while Marseille and Monaco wrapped up qualification for Europe’s elite club competition before the Ligue 1 campaign reached its climax.
However, one more spot at the continent’s top table remained up for grabs on the last day with fourth-placed Nice in pole position to take it if they could hold off the challengers of Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon.
The Ineos-owned club made sure of a top-four place by crushing Brest 6-0 on the Cote d’Azur with Gaetan Laborde scoring twice.
Ivorian international Evann Guessand put Nice in front with his 12th Ligue 1 goal this season, with Badredine Bouanani later netting a penalty before Terem Moffi and Ali Abdi also hit the target toward the end.
Nice will enter next season’s Champions League in the third qualifying round in early August and will have to win two two-legged ties to make it to the league stage.
Lille finish fifth and go into the Europa League after substitute Chuba Akpom’s late penalty secured a 2-1 win at home to Reims, while Strasbourg suffered a dramatic 3-2 loss against Le Havre in a result which created a stunning late twist in the relegation battle.
Le Havre needed to win and hope one of Reims or Nantes lost in order to escape the drop zone, and the Normandy side showed remarkable resolve to come from behind twice before snatching victory in extraordinary fashion.
Abdoulaye Toure’s second penalty of the game, in the ninth minute of stoppage time, propelled Le Havre out of the drop zone and means Reims will go into a play-off against second-tier Metz for the right to play in Ligue 1 next season.
Reims will now have to navigate the two legs of that tie either side of next weekend’s French Cup final against PSG.
Strasbourg’s defeat allowed Lyon to climb above them and take sixth place as they beat Angers 2-0 with Alexandre Lacazette scoring twice.
The former Arsenal striker’s brace allowed him to reach a double-century of goals for his boyhood club as he now prepares to leave Lyon, the club where he made his Ligue 1 debut in 2010.
Lyon are guaranteed European football next season and will be in the Europa League if PSG win the French Cup, which would mean Strasbourg go into the Conference League.
Saint-Etienne needed a positive result as well as favors from elsewhere in order to avoid being relegated but they slumped to a 3-2 loss at home against Toulouse.
Yann Gboho scored what proved to be the winner for Toulouse, as 10-time champions Saint-Etienne make an immediate return to Ligue 2.
PSG warmed up for their upcoming finals, including the Champions League showdown with Inter Milan in Munich on May 31, by coming from behind to beat Auxerre 3-1 in the capital.
Lassine Sinayoko put Auxerre ahead as the visitors threatened to spoil PSG’s title party, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored twice in the second half for the hosts either side of a Marquinhos header. Goncalo Ramos also had a penalty saved.
Marseille made sure of finishing second as they beat Rennes 4-2 at the Velodrome with Mason Greenwood scoring twice, including once from the penalty spot, while Adrien Rabiot also grabbed a brace.
Greenwood scored 21 goals in his debut Ligue 1 season to finish as the division’s joint-top marksman alongside PSG’s Ousmane Dembele.
Third-placed Monaco slumped to a 4-0 loss at Lens, for whom Neil El Aynaoui netted twice, while Nantes ensured their safety by defeating relegated Montpellier 3-0.
 


Sporting defend Portuguese title with final day win

Updated 17 May 2025
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Sporting defend Portuguese title with final day win

  • Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match
  • Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga

LISBON: Sporting Lisbon defended their Portuguese crown on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Guimaraes to hold off rivals Benfica on the final day of the Primeira Liga season.

Both Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match after a tense 1-1 derby draw last weekend left the title race on a knife edge.

Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga, although even a victory would not have been enough as Rui Borges’ side triumphed and had the superior head-to-head.

Pedro Goncalves broke the deadlock in the second half and the division’s top goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres notched his 39th league goal of a stunning campaign to seal Sporting’s victory.

Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim led Sporting to last year’s title and after he departed in November was replaced by Joao Pereira, who only lasted six troubled weeks before Borges took over.

Sporting claimed their 21st Primeira division title and could make it a domestic double as they face Benfica next Sunday in the Portuguese cup final.


Crystal Palace’s Eze seals historic FA Cup final win against Man City

Updated 17 May 2025
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Crystal Palace’s Eze seals historic FA Cup final win against Man City

  • Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes
  • Omar Marmoush had first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season

LONDON: Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze sparked a massive south London party by scoring the only goal to win the FA Cup 1-0 against Manchester City on Saturday and claim the club’s first major trophy in their history.

Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes, former Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson performed heroics in the Palace goal and City contrived to waste a sack-load of chances including a penalty in an enthralling final.

After England forward Eze, whose goals in the last eight and semis fired his team into the final for the third time, scored completely against the run of play, Palace had to survive a City siege to spark wild celebrations.

Omar Marmoush had a first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season, summing up a harrowing campaign in which they have been dethroned as the powerhouse of English football and will go without a domestic trophy for the first time since 2016-17.

For Palace’s massed ranks decked in purple and blue, it was a day of unbridled joy as Oliver Glasner’s team rode their luck to make it third time lucky after suffering defeats in their previous two FA Cup final appearances in 1990 and 2016.

Glasner, who took charge of the club 15 months ago, becomes the first Austrian coach to win the FA Cup.
City have been a pale imitation of the side that has dominated the English game for the most of the past decade.

But the way they began at Wembley suggested that Pep Guardiola’s side were determined to prove that talk of their demise had been greatly exaggerated.

Having picked an ultra-attacking lineup shorn of defensive midfielders, City hemmed Palace deep inside their own half for the opening 15 minutes with Kevin de Bruyne pulling the strings on what was his last Wembley appearance in City’s colors.

BRILLIANT HENDERSON

His lofted ball picked out Erling Haaland whose stretching effort at the far post was brilliantly saved by Henderson who shortly afterwards beat out Josko Gvardiol’s header.

Palace finally broke the siege and in their first foray beyond the halfway line they ripped through City’s lines.

Jean-Philippe Mateta played in Daniel Munoz and his cross was met by Eze who flashed a first-time volley past Stefan Ortega to provoke an eruption of noise from the Palace fans.

Ismaila Sarr nearly made it 2-0 but Ortega saved and Palace’s hearts were in their mouths when Henderson appeared to have handled the ball outside his area under pressure from Haaland but a subsequent VAR check spared him a possible red card.

There was no escape for Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell when he tripped Bernardo Silva and referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot. Surprisingly, Haaland did not take it and instead Omar Marmoush stepped forward for his first penalty since joining City in January, but his effort lacked conviction and Henderson dived to his right to save.

Henderson made a flying save to keep out Jeremy Doku’s curling effort as Palace reached halftime ahead despite having only 19 percent of possession.

Munoz thought he had made it 2-0 just past the hour mark but a lengthy VAR check ruled his effort out for offside.

Seven-time winners City went close numerous times after the break with Henderson and his defenders performing heroics to preserve Palace’s lead.

A huge groan went up from the Palace fans as 10 minutes of stoppage time but after more close shaves and nail-biting the final whistle sounded and the club’s anthem Glad All Over bellowed around the stadium.


Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga

Updated 17 May 2025
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Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga

  • Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification
  • It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač

FRANKFURT: Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League on the last day of the Bundesliga on Saturday, leaving Freiburg to be content reaching the Europa League.

Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification after a 3-0 home win over already-relegated Holstein Kiel, which played with 10 men after less than 10 minutes.

It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač, who took over in February when Dortmund were languishing in 11th place. Dortmund won their last five Bundesliga games.

Frankfurt stayed third with a 3-1 win in Freiburg, which dropped to fifth as a result, two points behind Dortmund. Freiburg needed to win to qualify for the Champions League in place of Frankfurt.

Mainz overcame three disallowed goals and drew with Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 to qualify for the Conference League in sixth place, a point ahead of Leipzig, which missed out on European qualification after losing at home to Stuttgart 3-2.

Stuttgart next faces Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup final next weekend.

Kane scores again
Bayern Munich, which clinched the title with two rounds to spare, finished the season a 4-0 winner at Hoffenheim in Thomas Müller’s last Bundesliga game for the club. It was his 503rd.

Harry Kane replaced Müller for the last half hour and set up Serge Gnabry for Bayern’s third goal before he completed the scoring with his league-leading 26th.

It’s the second consecutive year Kane has finished as the Bundesliga top-scorer.

Leverkusen record
While Mainz were playing for European qualification, Leverkusen were thinking of the future in the last game for the club for coach Xabi Alonso and some players.

Mainz had two early goals ruled out for offside then another ruled out through VAR before Anthony Caci finally gave the home team a deserved lead.

But Leverkusen emerged a different side after the break. Patrik Schick scored twice to jeopardize Mainz’s European spot.

A Jonathan Burkardt penalty kept Mainz ahead of Leipzig, which twice squandered a lead against Stuttgart.

It was Leverkusen’s 34th away game without defeat, a new Bundesliga record.

Other results
Heidenheim stayed in the relegation playoff place after losing at home to Werder Bremen 4-1. Frank Schmidt’s team next faces a two-leg playoff against the side that finishes third in the second division to determine which play in the Bundesliga next season.

Bottom club Bochum, relegated last weekend, signed off with a 2-0 win at St. Pauli for their first victory since beating Bayern 3-2 away in early March.

Wolfsburg won at Borussia Mönchenglabach 1-0 and Union Berlin won in Augsburg 2-1.