Chronicle

English clubs pay too much

Deloitte has released a report according to which the wage bill of football players in English Premier League clubs is 969 million pounds ($1.938 billion) per year, reports the BBC. This is 13% more than last season. The report states that such expenses could undermine the financial position of the leaders of English football, since, despite the fact that on average the annual income of English clubs has increased by 11%, the English Premier League is less profitable than, for example, the German Bundesliga.

The leader in the amount of funds spent on paying players is Chelsea. 132.8 million pounds ($265.6 million) were spent for these purposes in 2006/07. Manchester United is in second place with 92.3 million pounds ($184.6 million). Arsenal closes the top three, paying £89.7 million ($179.4 million).

Ovechkin received prizes

Hockey. NHL. Stanley Cup. Final. “Pittsburgh” – “Detroit” – 3:2. The series score is 1:2.

Washington's Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin was awarded the individual Art Ross Trophy as the best scorer of the regular season and the Maurice Richard Trophy as the best sniper of the regular season. Last season, Ovechkin scored 112 points (65 goals, 47 assists). Ovechkin is the fourth Russian to receive the Maurice Richard Trophy. Before him, this prize was won by Alexander Mogilny, Pavel Bure and Ilya Kovalchuk three times.

In addition, Ovechkin is also in contention for the Hart Trophy, which is awarded to the most valuable player. But, for example, Evgeni Malkin from Pittsburgh has a better chance of winning this trophy. The Penguins finally managed to get the better of Detroit in the third game of the final series for the Stanley Cup. But the main credit for this goes to their captain Sidney Crosby, who chalked up a brace.

Two Americans are vying for a place on the Russian team

Head coach of the Russian men's basketball team David Blatt and its general manager Sergei Tarakanov announced the list of candidates for the national team, which will prepare for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

So far, 21 people are vying for a place in the final application of 12 basketball players. Point guards and attacking defenders - John Holden, Zakhar Pashutin, Alexey Shved (all CSKA), Sergei Bykov, Pyotr Samoilenko, Travis Hansen, Dmitry Khvostov (all Dynamo Moscow), Anton Ponkrashov, Vitaly Fridzon (both -- Khimki), Victor Keyru (UNICS, Kazan) and Alexey Zozulin (Ural Great, Perm); forwards - Andrey Kirilenko (Utah Jazz, Salt Lake City, USA, NBA), Viktor Khryapa, Andrey Vorontsevich (both CSKA), Nikita Morgunov, Nikita Shabalkin (both Khimki), Sergey Monya (“Dynamo” M), Fedor Dmitriev (“Triumph”, Lyubertsy); centers - Alexey Savrasenko (CSKA), Sasha Kaun (University of Kansas, USA, NCAA), Dmitry Sokolov (UNICS).

This list, taking into account the injuries received during the club season by a number of candidates and the call-up of a group of young players, is expanded, explains the press service of the Russian Basketball Federation. The decision on the candidates will be made based on the physical condition of these players, as well as on the results of the performances of young basketball players in the training camp in Treviso (Italy) and as part of the youth team.

The final composition of the national team - 12 players who will represent the country at the Games in Beijing - is planned to be announced after our team's performance at the Mechel Cup in Moscow. This international tournament will be held from July 25 to 27 at USC CSKA as part of the Olympic Basketball Week in Russia. The hosts' opponents will be the national teams of Ukraine, Latvia and Serbia.

Please note that 2007 European champion Holden and Hansen are naturalized Americans and, according to the rules of the International Basketball Federation, only one of them can be included in the Russian national team. Champion of the US student league, Kaun is a graduate of Tomsk basketball; he has not lived in Russia for a long time, but has retained our citizenship.

Polnova and Pyatikh win in Greece

Specialists in the jumping disciplines of athletics Tatyana Polnova and Anna Pyatykh became winners in their events at the competition called “Women’s Day” held in the Greek city of Filotey.

Polnova achieved a height of 4 m 55 cm in the pole vault. She finished fifth in the triple jump with a result of 14.28 meters. In the long jump sector, Tatyana Kotova took second place, flying 6.63, according to the official website of the All-Russian Athletics Federation. The Russian lost only 3 cm to the host of the competition, Chrysofia Devetsi. The most titled participant in the tournament, Tatyana Lebedeva, took third place with a score of 6.62. Yulia Gushchina finished second in the 100-meter race - 11.64 seconds. In the hurdle race at the same distance, Tatyana Chernova finished third - 13.69 seconds.

The first serious tournament of the Olympic season will take place on Sunday. The most prestigious commercial series “Golden League” starts in Berlin.

Boston takes the lead

Basketball. NBA. Eastern Conference Finals. "Boston" - "Detroit" - 106:102. The series score is 3:2 .

For the winners, the most productive players of the meeting were Kevin Garnett (33 points), Ray Allen (29), who scored five long-range hits with only one miss from behind the arc, and Kendrick Perkins added 16 rebounds to his 18 points. Rashid Wallace from the visiting team surpassed Allen in bombing the opponent's hoop from behind the three-point line - six accurate shots.

The home team started the final quarter of the match leading with a quite comfortable advantage – 86:71. However, Wallace and his teammate Hamilton allowed the guests to make an 8-0 breakthrough in two minutes. Detroit's chase was inexorably approaching its logical outcome, and the Bostonians lost the ball. 1.23 before the siren, the Pistons' gap became minimal - 99:100. Allen increased the lead, but Stuckey made both free throws in response. The game of fouls began - tactical and forced. The last ten seconds of net time stretched out for a long time - Boston and Detroit players came out twice each to break fouls. The Celts' Allen and Garnett did not flinch, which predetermined their team's victory.

Prepared by Andrey VDOVIN and Ilya TRISVIATSKY