FIFA is backing a 24-hour social media boycott by professional players in England in "a protest against racial abuse." The global body also revealed plans for a new "campaign to eradicate discrimination in soccer." Following a "series of high-profile cases in recent weeks," the Professional Footballers' Association gathered support from EPL players to "stay off Twitter, Facebook and Instagram" for 24 hours, starting at 9am GMT Friday, "as they push for a crackdown on racist messages." FIFA was criticized in '16 for "dismantling its anti-racism task force after saying its mission had been completed." FIFA now says that it will launch a "powerful campaign against discrimination" (AP, 4/18). 

Meanwhile, ManU said that it will take the "strongest possible action" against any supporter found to have sent Ashley Young racist abuse on social media following Tuesday's Champions League loss to Barcelona. Young was subjected to a "torrent of abusive messages" on Twitter (ESPN, 4/18).

The FA has put discussions to change its name to "English FA" on hold. Chair Greg Clarke and outgoing CEO Martin Glenn were keen to push through a "rebrand" of the organization, to help boost England's chances of landing the 2030 World Cup -- and counter accusations of arrogance. The FA was "reportedly unwilling to rubber stamp the changes." The plans will be revisited by Glenn's replacement, Mark Bullingham, when he takes up his role in the autumn (SKY SPORTS, 4/18).

More than 720,000 tickets have been sold for the Women's World Cup in France. The opening match between the host and South Korea on June 7 at the Parc des Princes in Paris is sold out, along with the semifinals and final, which will be held in Lyon. At a "similar stage" for the Women's World Cup in Canada in '15, 665,857 tickets had been sold. The total attendance for the tournament four years ago was 1,353,506 (BBC, 4/18).

Registration for Japanese residents to enter a ticket lottery for the '20 Tokyo Games will begin on May 9. Customers will be able to "choose which events they wish to attend." The results of the lottery will be announced June 20, and winners "must submit payment by July 2." Only Japanese residents "can use the website to register and purchase tickets" (JAPAN TIMES, 4/18).

Under Olympic rules, ticket resellers "are appointed by the local national Olympic committee." Resellers can "mark up the ticket price" by 20%, which is termed a "handling charge." However, many "sought-after" tickets are packaged by resellers with "top hotel and other premium perks," and the markups can be "much more" than 20%. Tokyo 2020 organizers will open sales globally in the spring of '20, meaning any remaining unsold tickets "can be purchased at the prices offered in Japan." Tokyo estimates it will have 7.8 million tickets to sell, with 20-30% "dedicated to sales outside Japan" (AP, 4/18).

Meanwhile, the website listed as the place for fans from Spain to buy tickets, https://www.issta.co.il/sport, "is in Hebrew, without the possibility to be translated to Spanish or English" (MARCA, 4/18).

CVC Capital Partners is reportedly "poised to complete" a $156M deal for a share of approximately 27% in Pro14 rugby "within the next few weeks." The private equity firm paid about £220M for a 27% stake in Premiership Rugby in December. An acquisition of the Pro14 "could lead to a grand final played between the winners of the two competitions." The Pro14, which includes clubs in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy and South Africa, "has stopped negotiating with rival firms and has agreed the price, structure and terms of the sale to CVC." Combing the two leagues for a joint playoffs is among the "options being considered" (LONDON TIMES, 4/18).

The Six Nations took the next step toward World Rugby’s proposed Nations League by "agreeing to due diligence." The unions will be given access to "commercially sensitive documents to establish the viability of the plan," which the organizers say will be worth $6.5B over 12 years. The major southern hemisphere unions had already agreed and a decision on the league, which would start from '22, is expected on May 22. France supports the plan but the other five unions have "expressed reservations," not least over the introduction of relegation to the Six Nations (London GUARDIAN, 4/17). The Six Nations have "viable alternatives" as private equity firms look to invest in Europe's int'l rugby showpiece (STUFF, 4/18).

Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu (left) and Gasol signed a two-year deal in March.Barcelona/Jonathan Scott

When Barcelona made Milwaukee Bucks F Pau Gasol an ambassador, strategic adviser and partner in March, it was the culmination of talks that lasted more than one year.

The deal also marked the latest step in a long-running relationship between Gasol and the club in general, and Barcelona Managing Dir of the Americas Xavier O'Callaghan in particular. Gasol said that he helped introduce the club to AEG and its former CEO, Tim Leiweke, when Barcelona was in talks about its Espai Barça project. The two-time NBA champ called his role as a Barcelona ambassador part of his broader ambition of becoming a "bridge between Spain and the U.S."

Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic have helped the NBA's growth in Slovenia and Serbia.GETTY IMAGES

The NBA's int'l League Pass subscriptions were up 21% this season. Unique int'l viewers were up 15%, and total watch time for NBA League Pass internationally increased by 16%. The Denver Nuggets (+41%) and Dallas Mavericks (+31%) rank first and second, respectively, in year-on-year unique viewer growth on League Pass internationally. They featured a combined 11 int'l players on their opening night rosters. Serbia (+395%) and Slovenia (+186%) saw the largest year-on-year unique viewer growth on League Pass among all countries outside the U.S., driven in large part by Nuggets C Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Mavericks G Luka Doncic (Slovenia) (NBA).

Barcelona and Rakuten announced the club will visit Japan in July to compete against J.League club Vissel Kobe and EPL side Chelsea in the "Rakuten Cup supported by Scalp-D" tournament. It will be Barcelona's first visit to the country since '15, and the first tour to Asia since '13. Barça will play Chelsea on July 23 at Saitama Stadium and Vissel Kobe on July 27 at Noevir Stadium Kobe (Barcelona). 

Meanwhile, WE Red Bridge partnered with Barcelona to help "deepen the club's connection" with its fan base in China (YUTANG SPORTS, 4/18).

Chelsea will also play J.League side Kawasaki Frontale in Yokohama on July 19 (Chelsea). 

The IOC pledged $561,500 to help "ensure Notre Dame is restored in time" for the '24 Paris Games (AFP, 4/18).

The Italian Football Federation extended its partnership with TIM for another four years (TELECOMPAPER, 4/17).

ManU was promoted to the FA Women's Super League after beating Aston Villa 5-0. The "only full-time team in the Women's Championship, a semi-professional division," ManU has won 15 of its 17 league games since its "reformation" in May '18 (London TELEGRAPH, 4/17).

The Anzac Day Australian Football League clash between Essendon and Collingwood "has sold out to the public," meaning it will be the "first test" of the Melbourne Cricket Club's new ticketing policy. Under the new policy, "some reserve tickets could be made available to the public" (THE AGE, 4/18).

Pakistan delivered Cricket Australia its "wish" for a day-night test in Adelaide. After "missing out last summer," CA is "poised" to unveil a fixture list with "back-to-back" pink ball tests for '19-20 (THE AGE, 4/18).

Scotland national soccer team head coach ALEX MCLEISH was sacked after 14 months in charge (BBC, 4/18). ... La Liga side Valencia Technical Secretary VICENTE RODRÍGUEZ reached an agreement with the club to rescind his contract (MARCA, 4/17).

SADAF KHADEM, the "first female Iranian boxer to win an overseas fight," intends to stay in France, where she fought last weekend, after an arrest warrant was issued by her country. She had "defied" her country's rule that "female athletes should dress in line with Islamic laws." Khadem "was bare-headed and wore shorts for the bout in Royan" (London GUARDIAN, 4/18). ... Human rights activists called on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to ban SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM from "entering his horses in races at Churchill Downs," possibly including the track’s Derby week card. The issue stems from the Dubai ruler’s decision to "prohibit" his adult daughter, PRINCESS LATIFA, from leaving the UAE and seeking asylum to the U.S. (CASINO.org, 4/17). ... Real Madrid announced that AGUSTÍN HERRERÍN, a delegate at the Santiago Bernabéu who worked at the club for more than 50 years, died on Thursday (MARCA, 4/18).

"I think we need to change the way we treat women in our culture -- it's not optional" -- Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, calling for women to be treated with more respect (ESPN.com, 4/18).

"The NRL's no-fault policy of having automatic stand downs preserves the players' presumption of innocence but also has a purpose to show women the game does respect them" -- Melbourne Storm Chair Bart Campbell, on the NRL's policy regarding "player behavior" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 4/17).

"In assets I've got more than Espanyol's budget this year" -- Barcelona's Gerard Piqué, on his growing business empire (IRISH EXAMINER, 4/15).

ESPN.com's Mark Ogden asked whether Wednesday's Tottenham-Man City Champions League quarterfinal match was "the greatest UCL game ever?"

After the Dutch club knocked Real Madrid and Juventus out of the Champions League, the London Guardian's Sam Wallace wrote that "Ajax's marathon journey to gatecrash European elite defies those who want to turn Champions League into closed shop." 

ESPN.com's Ian Darke recognized the EPL's "competitive issues" with the Big Six, but claimed the league "still tops Europe for excitement."

#Enough

👊🏽👊🏼👊🏿 Making a stand against racist abuse!

A player led 24hr boycott on social media.

Read more: https://t.co/XxVkrefZ1H pic.twitter.com/I787Ar6rKg

— PFA | Professional Footballers' Association (@PFA) April 18, 2019

From 2007 onwards Cristiano Ronaldo has reached the CL semi-finals in every year except ones in which a Toy Story film has been released

— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) April 16, 2019

It's not only teams, players, fans (and us) celebrating today's 50 days to go #FIFAWWC milestone. Ettie and @equipedefrance 🌟🌟🌟 are too! 🐥😍🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/5j6tKnEX4X

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