This article was originally published on April 24th, 2020.
Here is this week's dose of “5-Point Friday”. A weekly round-up of the sports news and stories that I find most interesting and enjoyable.
Soccer news I am excited for -
Danish Superliga leaders FC Midtjylland have found a solution to have fans present at games after the coronavirus shutdown, through drive-in football. The Superliga is currently planning to restart on 17 May with the season finishing by the end of July.
The club announced plans that will allow around 2,000 cars to park around Midtjylland MCH Arena and watch matches from two big screens, with the possibility of 10,000 fans present. Furthermore, they will duplicate the audio from the TV commentary and make it available in cars through a specified frequency.
“We’re working hard to create the best possible experience,” Midtjylland’s marketing director, Preben Rokkjaer, told the BBC. “The coronavirus does not change that, it just provides some other preconditions.”
Stadium I want to visit -
Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande kicked off a $1.7 billion project to construct the largest soccer stadium on the planet, which is expected to be completed by 2022, showing the government’s optimism for the resumption of mass gatherings.
Tennis story I am pondering -
Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) has raised the prospect of merging the governing bodies that oversee the men's and women's professional tennis tours, while tennis is in limbo because of the coronavirus.
He said a merger of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the men's Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) "probably should have happened".
"We can come out of this with two weakened bodies or one stronger body"
Soccer story I am following -
La Liga side Barcelona is set to give a sponsor the naming rights of their Nou Camp stadium, for the first time and donate all the revenue to fighting coronavirus.
The club has given the title rights to the Barca Foundation, who will find a sponsor for 2020-21."Revenue will be used to fund research projects and the worldwide fight against the pandemic," the club said.
"FC Barcelona and the Barca Foundation consider it a necessity that at this time of humanitarian crisis, the institution should use all its resources to fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences."
What I have been watching -
This week I took the time to watch the second season of Sunderland 'Til I Die, on Netflix. The six-part documentary follows the fortunes of English League 1 side Sunderland across the 2018/19 season.
Have a wonderful weekend, all!
Jonathan
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