La Liga has denied that it threatened to relegate Barcelona to the second division if it swore a new president before depositing the required €125m bank guarantee.

Barcelona presidential candidate, Toni Freixa, claimed on Thursday that he and the two other presidential candidates, Joan Laporta and Victor Font, were told by then acting president Carles Tusquets ahead of the March 7 election what La Liga's position was when it came to having the bank guarantee, which is part of the club's statutes to officially take office.

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The bank guarantee, which is 15% of Barca's budget, is a way of protecting the club against being run irresponsibly and has to be ratified by La Liga.

Freixa tweeted: "La Liga's response, more specifically that of [its president] Javier Tebas, was 'if you allow the swearing-in of the new president without depositing the bank guarantee, I will relegate Barca to the second division.' That is what Carles Tusquets explained to all three candidates."

Freixa, a lawyer by profession, also claimed he met with La Liga president Tebas in October to discuss the possibility of eliminating the rule of having the bank guarantee as it was introduced by the club "over 30 years ago when the club budget was a hundred times lower."

La Liga has denied there was any contact between Tebas and Tusquets during the electoral period and said the only possible outcome that could have arisen had the president-elect not deposited the guarantee was for a repeat of the elections and not relegation.

The La Liga statement said: "The one contact made by La Liga [during that time] was with the legal services, who requested a legal report that was sent to the Electoral Board of FC Barcelona, in which there was no mention of the demotion to which Freixa refers to.

"Finally, La Liga wants to remember that, in the event that the newly elected president of a club does not present the guarantee, it is only possible from a legal standpoint to repeat elections and never demotion."

Laporta, who was previously Barca president between 2003 and 2010, was sworn in on Wednesday as Barca's 42nd president after he and his executive board secured the required bank guarantee.

La Liga, meanwhile, announced on Thursday that the Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be played on April 10, at 9 p.m. local time.

Barca will travel to the Spanish capital to face Real Madrid at the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium in round 30 of La Liga.

Real Madrid won 3-1 at Barcelona in their most recent league encounter, on Oct. 24.

Chelsea have put contract talks with Tammy Abraham on hold, sources have told ESPN.

The 23-year-old was expected to sign a long-term deal last season but negotiations stalled in part over his wage demands.

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Abraham ended up triggering an automatic one-year extension last July, tying him to the club until 2023 and earning him a small increase on his £50,000-a-week wage.

That extra 12 months reduced the urgency to find a longer agreement but sources have told ESPN that both parties are now likely to wait until the end of the season before reviewing the situation.

Abraham enjoyed a breakthrough season at Stamford Bridge last term after years spent out on loan, scoring 18 goals across all competitions and scoring his first England goal at senior level in a 7-0 win over Montenegro.

Chelsea moved to tie down Reece James, Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi to long-term deals and were expected to do the same with Abraham but it is understood they were reluctant to offer Abraham a six-figure weekly salary.

Abraham fell down the pecking order this season with Timo Werner arriving in a £47.6 million summer move from RB Leipzig to provide renewed competition in attack alongside Olivier Giroud.

He has started just 12 Premier League games this season and is sidelined with an ankle problem that will rule him out of Gareth Southgate's England squad for this month's matches against San Marino, Albania and Poland. Abraham is also thought to be wary of speculation that Chelsea will look to sign another striker this summer.

ESPN reported on March 5 that senior figures at the club were confident of pulling off a move for Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland.

Competition will be fierce with Manchester United, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain among a host of top clubs interested but the mere fact the Blues are in the running is viewed by some as ominous for Abraham's playing chances in the future.

He has started just four times under Thomas Tuchel with his only goal coming in February's FA Cup fifth round win at Barnsley.

Lancashire have announced the signings of Finn Allen, the 21-year-old New Zealand batsman, and Jackson Bird, the experienced Australian seamer, as overseas players for the T20 Blast and County Championship respectively.

Allen enjoyed a breakout season for Wellington in this year's Super Smash, hitting a competition-leading 512 runs at 56.88 with a strike rate of 193.93. His feats earned him an IPL contract at Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for Josh Philippe, and he will travel straight to the UK from India for the start of the T20 Blast.

Allen is yet to make his international debut - though was named as a standby player during the series against Australia last month - and has played only 13 professional T20 games. As a result, he would have fallen short of the ECB's requirements for a visa, but he is able to appear as an overseas player thanks to a British passport, which he has previously used to play for MCC Young Cricketers and for Brondesbury in the Middlesex League.

"I'm really excited to get over to England," Allen said. "It will be my first spell in county cricket and a great opportunity test myself in one of the world's best T20 tournaments. To win the Super Smash, and finish as leading run scorer in my breakthrough T20 tournament, has provided me with a platform and I am now looking forward to continuing to learn and improve as a cricketer.

"Lancashire is a huge Club with a proud history and I absolutely can't wait to play at Emirates Old Trafford throughout the Vitality Blast competition. They've got a very talented, young and exciting squad so I'm really looking forward to joining up with the group later this year to hopefully challenge for the title."

Bird, the Australian fast bowler, is due to arrive in the UK in time to play Lancashire's third Championship fixture of the season against Kent following the end of his Sheffield Shield commitments with Tasmania, and will be available for six matches.

With Richard Gleeson still recovering from the back injury that limited him to a single first-class appearance last summer and James Anderson's workload likely to be managed carefully by England, Bird will add fast-bowling depth to Lancashire's squad. He will fill their second overseas slot for the first group stage of the Championship, alongside club captain Dane Vilas.

Lancashire will be Bird's third county, following previous spells with Hampshire and Nottinghamshire. He has played nine Tests for Australia, taking 34 wickets at 30.64, but has not made an international appearance since 2017.

"I've felt in good form during this year's Sheffield Shield and hope I can continue this into the English summer and help the club in the LV= County Championship," Bird said.

"I feel as though I have unfinished business in English county cricket, and I am looking forward to showing my best to my new teammates and the Members and supporters at Emirates Old Trafford."

Paul Allott, the club's director of cricket, said: "Jackson's skills bowling with the new ball and his vast experience will complement our current pace attack nicely.

"Following Graham Onions' retirement at the end of last season, it was important that we were able to add depth to our quick bowling ranks and help to replace his on-field leadership of the attack. Richard Gleeson will be unavailable due to a back injury for the first part of the season, so Jackson will give us another option for those six four-day fixtures.

"Jackson's accuracy and ability to swing the ball means that he is an incredibly useful asset to have in English bowling conditions and I am looking forward to seeing him in action for Lancashire this summer."

Big Picture

Cricket is a confidence game. Afghanistan, searching for a spark in the first Test in which they were ambushed in less than two days, found it a week later in the second Test. And they've carried that forward into their favourite format, the T20s, breaking little sweat in seeing off Zimbabwe in the series opener.

Rashid Khan, a global T20 superstar, one of the architects of their series-levelling second Test win, singlehandedly works magic for them. His presence automatically lifts a young side, many of whom are slowly spreading their wings in leagues like the BBL, CPL and the Abu Dhabi T10. Most times, his four overs are like an insurance policy when they defend or are under sustained aggression from opponents.

While he lived up to his reputation on Wednesday too, the star was opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who displayed a ferocity to his batting to make a 45-ball 87 at the top of the order. Asghar Afghan, chipping in with just his fourth T20I fifty in his 64th innings, may have steered away from some of the "is he good enough" debates. Only a week ago, he also became the country's second Test centurion. And it all bodes well for Afghanistan: the batting not being dependent on just one or two people alone is something they'd want to cultivate as they build up to the T20 World Cup in India in October.

Zimbabwe have no immediate requirements of that kind, because they won't be playing in that showpiece event after failing to qualify for administrative reasons - their board was suspended at the time of the qualifier. But there's plenty of pride at stake and an opportunity to look a year into the future, when there's another T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022.

For a while now, Zimbabwe's schedule hasn't been defined. So having an intense stretch of games such as this in a span of four weeks by itself is a positive sign. Now the next step is for them to overcome the batting dependency on Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza, if they're to put up tall totals or chase down scores like the 199 were faced with in the first T20I. There's also a streak to break. They've lost each of their last five T20Is, including nine of the last 10 against Afghanistan.

Form guide

Afghanistan: WLWWW (completed T20Is, most recent first)
Zimbabwe: : LLLLL

In the spotlight

Twenty-two-year old Karim Janat, brother of Afghan, is developing into an allrounder. He first showed shades of his brilliance against West Indies in November 2019, after his selection had become somewhat of a talking point because at that stage, he had averaged 31 with the bat, while his bowling numbers weren't that impressive either. Then, he shredded a power-packed West Indies by first making a freewheeling 18-ball 26 and then taking 5 for 11, Afghanistan's second-best T20I figures, in a win. Over the past year, while his bowling has come on superbly, he's fallen behind slightly with the bat. For an opener, he's yet to hit a T20I half-century. Can he on Friday?

A prodigious batting talent at 16, Wesley Madhevere has found the transition to international cricket tough. A member of two Under-19 World Cup squads and a heavy scorer for Eagles in domestic cricket, Madhevere's struggled for runs on tour. He's made two ducks in his first two Test innings and, on Wednesday, managed just 2 before being foxed by Rashid trying to slog. It speaks of the side's confidence, perhaps, that he's also batting at a lowly No. 7 currently. He didn't bowl either in the opening game, so there is much to prove.

Pitch and conditions

It's likely to be a good surface in Abu Dhabi, but one of the square boundaries will be considerably shorter. The heat at this time of the year isn't yet intense by UAE standards, but it'll still test the fitness and endurance of the players nonetheless.

Probable XIs

The status of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Gulbadin Naib is as yet unclear after the two were among a group of five players whose UAE visas were delayed.

Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Usman Ghani/Gulbadin Naib, 3 Karim Janat, 4 Asghar Afghan (capt), 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Afsar Zazai (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Naveen Ul Haq, 10 Amir Hamza, 11 Fareed Ahmad/Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Tarisai Musakanda, 2 Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, 3 Sean Williams (capt), 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 7 Wesley Madhevere, 8 Donald Tiripano, 9 Brandon Mavuta, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Richard Ngarava

Stats and trivia

• Mohammad Nabi, now just a white-ball player, hasn't picked up a wicket in his last 12 T20I bowling innings. This is the longest streak without a wicket for any player who's bowled regularly in this format.
• Rashid Khan will make his 50th T20I appearance on Friday.
• Rashid is currently the joint-fourth-highest wicket-taker in men's T20Is, with Shakib Al Hasan. He needs two more wickets to go past Tim Southee (93 wickets). Lasith Malinga (107) and Shahid Afridi (98) occupy the top two spots

Toss England won the toss and chose to bowl vs India

Eoin Morgan called right at the toss once again, with England choosing to bowl in the fourth T20I, on the same surface that was used for the first T20I of the series against India.

England have gone in unchanged from the team that won the third match by eight wickets, while India had two changes, one of them forced. Ishan Kishan has a groin strain from a diving stop at fine leg in the third T20I, and so makes way for Suryakumar Yadav. Meanwhile, Rahul Chahar gets a game for India in place of Yuzvendra Chahal, with captain Virat Kohli saying that India wanted to "give an opportunity" to Chahar.

Kohli reiterated his stance about India needing to embrace batting first and figuring out a way to win T20 matches when they had to bat first.

The surface for the fourth T20I might give India the best chance to do that, with both captains saying it looked like the best one of the series so far.

Kohli, who is coming into this game after back-to-back unbeaten 70s, is expected to slot back at his usual No. 3 spot with Kishan absent. That also means the combination of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will continue to be the openers. Kohli had stated before the series that would be India's preferred combination, and both he and batting coach Vikram Rathour reiterated their faith in Rahul after scores of 1, 0 and 0 in the series so far.

England will back their devastating pace attack, led by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, to continue to make inroads into India's batsmen. In a series that has so far seen the chasing team win each game, Morgan said setting a total was always 'unnerving' given a poor start.

"The challenge of setting a total is always unnerving depending on how you start in the first 10 overs," Morgan told the host broadcaster during the toss. "Then there's the dew element, that adds to the stress of setting a total. I also think both sides have bowled better in the first innings."

Kohli meanwhile called on his team to show more intensity in the field.

"I think last game our body language wasn't up to the mark and we discussed that in the team meeting," Kohli said. "It doesn't have to be a do or die situation for you to bring your best on the field. Batting and bowling is easier, fielding is a selfless act. You really need to be in the best frame of mind to give fully."

India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Rahul Chahar

England 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

The decision to cut short an enterprising maiden international innings from India batsman Suryakumar Yadav has thrown open the debate about the validity of the on-field umpire's soft signal for outfield catches.

Off the second ball of the 14th over of the fourth India-England T20I in Ahmedabad, Yadav, on 57, pulled Englad left-arm seamer Sam Curran into the deep where Dawid Malan initially appeared to have taken a low catch at deep-square leg. England's fielders celebrated as umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan gave a soft signal of "out".

That decision sparked instant debate as third umpire Virender Sharma remained unconvinced about whether it was a clean catch, despite reviewing Malan's pouch multiple times for nearly four minutes. Sharma repeatedly described the evidence as "inconclusive", and subsequently, as per the rules, was forced to stick to Anathapadmanabhan's soft-signal ruling.

Atherton: Soft signal for boundary catches is nonsense

Former England captain Michael Atherton, who is one of the commentators for Sky, the UK broadcaster for the T20I series, was critical of the soft signal for outfield catches, calling it "nonsense".

It's the "soft signal" which is odd. Hard for off field umpire to overturn. 'Let's go upstairs cause I don't have a clue but I'm guessing (soft signal) it's out.'
Malan's Twitter feed will be ugly- but he wouldn't have known the ball hit the ground diving forward at pace https://t.co/hCwlFQKpIf

— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) March 18, 2021

"The third umpire had a long look at that and the key thing here - and it is a thing I have a slight problem with - is the on-field umpire's call is out and therefore the third umpire made exactly the right call: he said it is inconclusive, I've got to go with the on-field umpire's call which was out," Atherton said immediately after Yadav was ruled out. "But how you have a soft signal from the umpire standing in the middle for a boundary catch is beyond me. I don't how the on-field umpire can see that when the fielder makes a catch on the boundary."

India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, doing commentary for Sky, echoed Atherton's thoughts. "I'm absolutely with Athers on that," Karthik said. "I don't understand this: the [on-field] umpire is not sure whether it's taken or not [cleanly] hence he goes to the third umpire. And then why give a decision [soft signal] at all? Allow the third umpire to take the call. Another grey area of cricket along with the DRS umpire's call - these are things always up for debate."

According to the ICC's playing conditions, the soft signal is a "visual communication by the bowler's end umpire to the third umpire (accompanied by additional information via two-way radio where necessary) of his/her initial on-field decision prior to initiating an Umpire Review".

Where do you stand on the soft signal? #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/GSsFW4QRuE

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 18, 2021

According to Atherton the soft signal should be valid only for rulings on catches in the 30-yard circle, where the on-field umpires have a better view of events. "I can absolutely understand why an on-field umpire gets a good view of the catch inside the inner circle, but when it is out on the boundary, 50 metres away, there's no way that the standing umpire can see whether Dawid Malan has caught that. So the soft signal for boundary catches is nonsense. You [should] just send it upstairs and let the third umpire make his call. There's no way that the standing umpire can see that: he has not got X-ray eyes from 50 yards away."

The frequency of the controversial rulings on outfield catches due to soft signals has resulted in the topic being debated at the most recent meeting of the MCC's World Cricket Committee, on which sit some eminent former international captains including Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, and umpire Kumar Dharmasena who stood in the 2019 World Cup final.

"The committee felt that the soft-signal system worked well for catches within the 30-yard fielding circle, but that catches near the boundary often left the umpires unsighted," the MCC said at the time in a media release. "It was proposed that, for such catches, the on-field umpires could give an 'unsighted' instruction to the TV umpire, rather than the more explicit soft signal of 'out' or 'not out'."

A Lahore court has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to file a case against Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, on charges of blackmail and harassment.

The charges include two others alongside Azam and have been filed by Hamiza Mukhtar; they stem from allegations Mukhtar filed last year. Ahead of Pakistan's tour to New Zealand, Mukhtar held a press conference in which she had made allegations of harassment and exploitation against Azam. She had approached a court at the time, which directed the police to investigate the case.

That case was never registered, however, as Azam's legal team secured a stay order from the Lahore High Court - both the original direction and Thursday's have been made by the lower sessions court. The High Court proceedings were adjourned after an initial hearing until March 22 as Azam was leading Pakistan in the series against South Africa and subsequently in the PSL, both requiring him to be inside a biosecure bubble.

Since then, however, Mukhtar filed a complaint with the FIA - Pakistan's federal investigating body - alleging that she had received threatening phone calls and messages from unidentified people. On investigation, the FIA found one of the numbers to be registered to Azam - who they refer to as Muhammad Babar. Azam was summoned to appear before the agency but didn't. In his place his brother Faisal Azam appeared, asking for more time.

In their original report, once Azam didn't appear, the FIA report concluded, "This shows guilty form [sic] his part." Judge Hamid Hussain on Thursday directed the FIA "to proceed further with respect to registration of the FIR against the culprits within the stipulated time following legal formalities".

Azam's family, however, are understood to argue they did not receive the FIA summons. ESPNcricinfo understands they will once again approach the Lahore High Court.

"The Honourable High Court in a connected case has already restrained the police from registering the FIR," Azam's legal counsel Barrister Haris Azmat said. "The instant order has been passed without issuing a notice to Babar in violation of his fundamental rights of fair trial as guaranteed in the constitution. The order is prima facie against the law and will be assailed soon."

The PCB has not commented on the matter.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Longtime New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung, who had intended to play this season after opting out of the 2020 NFL campaign, has reversed course and announced his retirement Thursday.

Chung, 33, said on Instagram that "it's time to start a new life."

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A post shared by Patrick Chung (@23patrickchung)

This would have been Chung's 12th season in the NFL and 11th with the Patriots. He has played in 153 career regular-season games (122 starts) in addition to 23 playoff games (20 starts).

Having originally joined the team as a second-round draft choice in 2009 out of the University of Oregon, Chung was part of three Super Bowl championship teams in New England. He had spent one season with the Philadelphia Eagles, in 2013, but returned the next season and said the only coach he planned to play for was Bill Belichick.

In his Instagram post, Chung said he was making his retirement announcement through tears, thanking Belichick for "teaching me life on and off the field."

Chung, whose toughness, versatility and work ethic were often noted by Belichick, is the only player in NFL history to appear in the playoffs in each of his first 11 seasons. He was selected as a member of the Patriots' 2010s All-Decade Team.

Chung opted out of the 2020 season for family considerations, telling CBS in an interview, "It was a tough decision. You want to play football. I'm in the latter end of my career, but when it comes down to it, I feel money is not that important. I have a girlfriend who is pregnant, a baby girl coming soon, my son has a little asthma, my dad is 75 years old. I just felt like this was the best decision for my family to keep everyone safe. It's not over, it's just postponed a little bit."

Along those lines, Chung had been working out recently at Gillette Stadium, signifying his plans to play again in 2021. But things obviously changed in recent weeks.

The Patriots are deep at safety, with returning starters Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips, and top 2020 draft pick Kyle Dugger returning. They also struck a four-year, $24 million agreement with free-agent defensive back Jalen Mills, who had switched from cornerback to safety last season with the Eagles.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- New Arizona Cardinals wide receiver A.J. Green feels like he still has "a lot left in the tank" and doesn't think he has anything prove by signing with a different team for the first time in his career.

"I still feel young," the 32-year-old Green said Thursday during his introductory Zoom press conference. "Legs feel young. ... I think I have lot of years left playing at a high level."

Green signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals hopes those legs can help carry Arizona to at least its first playoff berth since 2015. Sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter that the deal is worth up to $8.5 million and includes $6 million guaranteed.

"I think that's the main goal, with winning a championship," Green said. "For me, I've been in Cincinnati 10 years. So, for me, to go somewhere to where the organization is ready to win now, it's unbelievable."

He said Arizona was among a handful teams that were "very" interested in him, but Green's attraction to the Cardinals was how he saw his fit in their offensive scheme.

"I was looking for an offense that really can fit my skill set and I felt like -- with Kyler [Murray] and Hop [DeAndre Hopkins] and [Christian] Kirk, and the guys that they have around this offense -- I felt like this was gonna be the best fit for me," Green said.

Their stability at quarterback also helped the Cardinals' cause.

Green said last season was "difficult" because of the Bengals' three-man quarterback carousel, especially since he was coming off an ankle injury that caused him to miss all of 2019. But he said that he also feels that last season helped him become mentally stronger.

"I've been in Cincinnati for 10 years, so that's all I know," Green said. "So coming to Arizona is refreshing. I think you look around the league with Tom Brady, all these other guys [that] have been in these same places for years, and you saw what Tom Brady did last year. I think it's good."