European soccer's top clubs are due to hold a "secret meeting" with UEFA on Tuesday to discuss "potentially radical changes" to the format of the Champions League. Any changes are "far from certain" and "unlikely to take effect" before '24. On the table is a "nascent proposal" that could replace the qualifying structure of the tournament with a "more closed system of promotion and relegation" that would "favor" Europe's biggest and richest clubs and "make it harder for smaller teams to qualify." Another proposal would move Champions League games from their midweek slots into the weekend, which would "subvert the primacy of each country's national league." The talks come amid "larger fears of a breakaway by some of the richest clubs in the sport," which have "threatened" to split off from the existing structures and start a closed "Super League" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/17). 

UEFA said that Tuesday's meeting would be a "brainstorming session" between itself and the European Club Association. UEFA said in a statement, "There is a meeting tomorrow. There is nothing secret about this brainstorming session" (REUTERS, 3/18).

Geraint Thomas (L) won last year's Tour de France and Chris Froome (R) won the event in '13, '15, '16 and '17. GETTY IMAGES

Cycling's Team Sky is "set to announce" Ineos as its new sponsor. The team will be renamed Team Ineos, after the chemical firm owned by Britain's richest man, Jim Ratcliffe (BBC, 3/18). The deal will reportedly be announced next month before the Giro d'Italia. Team Sky currently runs on $45M a year, "the biggest annual budget in cycling," but "may have even deeper pockets next year." Team Sky riders Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas have won a total of five Tours de France (CYCLING WEEKLY, 3/15). 

Meanwhile, France's Direct Energie will reportedly change its major sponsor and name this season. French oil company Total purchased Direct Energie last year, and its branding is expected to appear on the team's kit starting with the Paris-Roubaix race on April 14. The move "is expected to increase the team's operating budget," which is currently at around $11.3M per year (L’ÉQUIPE, 3/17).

Sunday's women's soccer match between Atlético Madrid and Barcelona at Atlético's Wanda Metropolitano drew 60,739 fans, breaking the world record for attendance at a women's club game. Stories about attendance for the match -- which Barcelona won 2-0 -- made the cover of both As and Marca, two of the country's top newspapers. Sunday's game followed Athletic Bilbao attracting 48,121 for a match against Atlético on Jan. 30.

La Liga Dir of Women's Football Pedro Malabia said, "Women's football is a wave that is becoming bigger and stronger. It’s an unstoppable reality and this kind of success is becoming normal." He added, "The role of women in society is changing, as it should. Sport is a good example of this change." 

Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates said that the '20 Tokyo Games "will cost less than half as much as the London Games." He added that organizers "have already raised almost four times as much in sponsorship from Japanese companies as they had budgeted for" -- receiving $3.1B despite budgeting for just $800,000. Coates: "The cost of the new venues which in fact become the legacy has been reduced to $7 billion. For London it was £12 billion." Coates said that the main stadium in Tokyo, which will seat 68,000 people, would cost $1.5B (THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/19).

La Liga announced it will replace ball supplier Nike with Puma starting next season. The Puma deal will run through the '21-22 season. La Liga's deal with Nike dates back to '96-97, but the league was "not happy with the current ball because it resembled the ball used in other leagues" such as the EPL (AS, 3/17).

Meanwhile, with La Liga side Valencia celebrating its 100th birthday on Monday, club President Anil Murthy discussed his team's int'l growth strategy in Monday's edition of La Liga's newsletter. He also addressed the club's involvement in the growth of women's soccer, as it recently opened a training base exclusively for its women's team. Murthy said that future matches for the women's team will charge admission. On social media, Valencia's total following now exceeds 6 million, including over 500,000 in China.

U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen on Monday ordered sports marketing group Traffic to pay a total of $1M in fines related to the FIFA scandal. Traffic Sports Int'l and Traffic Sports USA "were implicated in the sprawling U.S. case accusing the companies and other firms" of bribing int'l soccer officials in exchange for commercial rights to major tournaments. Traffic exec José Hawilla, who died in May '18, was a "key witness" at the '17 trial of three South American soccer officials accused of corruption. He told the jury that he and other marketing execs he worked with "paid tens of millions of dollars over the years in bribes papered over by falsified contracts" (AP, 3/18).

The Crusaders are mulling a name change following the shooting at a Christchurch mosque last week. GETTY IMAGES

Super Rugby club Crusaders will "look at a possible name change" in the wake of the Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque attacks. Club CEO Colin Mansbridge said in a statement that "the franchise's name will be reviewed." The Crusaders have had the name since '96, but it has "come under question" in the wake of the recent attack (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 3/18). Mansbridge added that a potential review of the name would include discussions with the Muslim community. He said, "In the context of what's happened, it is pretty hard to sort of elevate this conversation at the moment. We've heard it, we've heard the feedback, and we do want to have a conversation about it" (REUTERS, 3/18).

McLaren F1 and Coca-Cola announced a partnership for the '19 season. McLaren, which had a pilot deal with Coke last year, will be paired with multiple brands across different beverage categories (McLaren). 

Meanwhile, the Middle East Broadcasting Center acquired the free-to-air F1 rights in MENA, signing a five-year deal. BeIN Sports said that it did not renew its contract in the region "due to rampant piracy" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 3/16).

New Zealand telecom Spark is giving its "fledgling" sports streaming service a "pass mark" for its first major assignment. Many users "praised" Spark Sport's streaming of the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, but "some found it underwhelming" (STUFF, 3/18).

Tottenham confirmed it will play its first game at its new stadium against Crystal Palace on April 3. The opponent for the first game at the stadium was dependent on Brighton & Hove Albion's FA Cup campaign (BBC, 3/18).

Sunday's Greek soccer match between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos "had to be abandoned" after 70 minutes on Sunday as fans "clashed with both players and police." Olympiakos was leading 1-0 when the referee was "forced to bring an end" to the game after fans "filtered from the stands onto the athletics track around the perimeter of the field" (CNN, 3/18).

The yet-to-be-opened BankWest Stadium in Parramatta will host its first rugby int'l on Sept. 7, when Australia will play Samoa as its final warm-up game before the Rugby World Cup (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 3/18).

The Australian National Rugby League's eight round one games drew a total of 4,055,000 viewers across Fox League and Channel 9, down from 4,140,000 a year ago (THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/18).

The London Telegraph launched Telegraph Women's Sport, an initiative that promises unprecedented coverage of women's sport by a U.K. publisher (London Telegraph).

AC Milan and car rental company Avis Italia signed a partnership covering the current season as well as '19-20 (AC Milan).

League Championship side Swansea City named TREVOR BIRCH its chair. Birch will control all football and business matters, reporting directly to majority owners STEVE KAPLAN and JASON LEVIEN (Swansea City).

JUSTIN MORGAN was named New Zealand's women's national rugby league head coach through the '21 Women's Rugby League World Cup (STUFF, 3/18). ... TSUNEKAZU TAKEDA, who is "being investigated for corruption" linked to Tokyo's '20 Games bid, is expected to resign as president of the Japanese Olympic Committee on Tuesday (JAPAN TODAY, 3/18).

"[Leeds United Dir of Football] Victor Orta told me 'The Godfather Part II' is better than 'The Godfather'" -- Monchi, on his return as sporting director of La Liga side Sevilla (FOOTBALL ESPANA, 3/18).

"My dad took me to Anfield in 1959. I was four years of age and I have bled Red ever since. But my son may be the last generation in the Moore family that organically became a Liverpool fan because of me. ... It is not happening organically anymore. That rite of passage I think is finished with this generation" -- Liverpool CEO Peter Moore, on how the way football fans find their club is changing (REUTERS, 3/15).

"It's a historic day for Afghanistan, for our team and our people" -- Afghanistan cricket captain Asghar Afghan, on the country recording its first test win on Monday (REUTERS, 3/18).

Under the headline, "Why 48-team World Cup in Qatar 2022 is a good idea," Gabriele Marcotti wrote in the London Times why he supports more teams in the tournament, saying, "It may be a trite thing to say but simply participating is hugely important. Why deny that to a big chunk of the world in the name of some highfalutin sense of 'soul?'"

The Washington Post's Steven Goff disagreed with Marcotti, and asserted that the "2022 World Cup was already flawed. Expanding it would make things worse." Goff: "Fans see a diluted competition and logistical chaos. FIFA sees money."

Reuters' Liam Proud wrote that although it may "sound alarmist" to say the EPL is financially precarious, "English soccer's current predicament comes close to crisis territory."

The London Times' Stuart Fraser lamented the Lawn Tennis Association's "failure to capitalise on Andy and Jamie Murray's legacy" saying, "It is baffling that the LTA continues to neglect Scottish tennis. ... Lo and behold, this indeed looks to be the case as Andy seemingly approaches the end of his remarkable career."

In case you thought it was a dream. Sports pages in Spain today. 🙆‍♀️
Lionel who?!
Brilliant by @marca & @diarioas.

📸 via @SC_ESPN. pic.twitter.com/IDk7sNvkyA

— FIFA Women's World Cup 🇫🇷 (@FIFAWWC) March 18, 2019

So that’s how it feels to score against your rivals, in front of 60,000 people!!!! Wow, What a day, more importantly what a WIN! Today we made history... Congrats team @fcbfemeni 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/msmJsk5nA3

— Toni Duggan (@toniduggan) March 17, 2019

With 20,000 euros the going rate for a cojones gesture, Cristiano Ronaldo should see this UEFA disciplinary charge as good value for the pleasure it gave.https://t.co/8WPDoVqIzt

— Graham Dunbar (@gdunbarap) March 18, 2019

The @acmilan Hellboy tifo is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Never thought I’d see this at a ⚽️ game when I first read the comings almost 20 years ago. pic.twitter.com/nRTFXI1KPg

— Cristian Nyari (@Cnyari) March 17, 2019

Major League Baseball’s Korean marketing campaign is incredible pic.twitter.com/8uSPLZM7wg

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) March 17, 2019

Let's PLAY BALL!

We're underway from Tokyo as the Mariners square off once more vs. the Yomiuri Giants. pic.twitter.com/GeDMPf23dn

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 18, 2019

Sometimes, all you can do is applaud 👏

Real Betis fans showed their appreciation for a Messi masterclass 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/6s5EiZ0jKW

— Goal (@goal) March 17, 2019