Sports

This Sunday's edition of the newspaper El Mundo exclusively unveils Leo Messi's contract with FC Barcelona. The contract dates to 2017, covering four seasons for a total of 555 million euros and it is "the sum of a fixed salary, image rights, a series of multi-million euro bonuses unheard of to date, allowances and a string of variables depending on various objectives".

According to the newspaper, Messi has already secured 92% of the contract, despite the team's setbacks in the Champions League's recent seasons, the competition that has the highest bonuses.

Barcelona denied "any responsibility for the publication of this document".

Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game on Sunday, 31 to 26, advancing to the Super Bowl LV. The reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes, celebrated the AFC Championship after a 38 to 24 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Super Bowl LV will happen on Sunday, February 7, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. This will be the first time in Super Bowl history that one of the finalists will be playing in their home stadium.

Andrey Esipenko has defeated chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen, playing his first classical game against him. He chose the most important move sequence in the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense and executed a typical piece sacrifice on b5 in the middlegame. Soon after, the Norwegian gave the material back; however, the white position was on the verge of winning. Esipenko achieved victory with precise and confident play.

Rumours about a breakaway Super League received an official remark from FIFA today, stating that any players competing in such competition would be barred from FIFA and its affiliated competitions.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has stated that "Due to safety and security issues that are beyond the IIHF’s control, the IIHF Council confirmed today that the decision to move the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship from Minsk, Belarus is unavoidable."

Santos will face Palmeiras, who overcame River Plate on Tuesday in the other semifinal, in the decider of Copa Libertadores on January 30 at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

After drawing the first leg 0-0 in Buenos Aires last week, Santos were vastly superior to their sluggish opponents, hitting the post inside the first minute and then taking the lead after a quarter of an hour.

Andy Murray has tested positive for coronavirus before his flight to Melbourne to complete in the Australian Open. Murray is in good health, isolating at home and still hopeful of travelling to Australia.

In a thrilling match in São Paulo, the game hinged on a series of contentious decisions that went against the visitors after consultations with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). River won the game 2-0 but it was not enough to revert the 3-0 Palmeiras' victory in Buenos Aires.

Palmeiras will play either Boca Juniors or Santos in the final of the Libertadores, South America's equivalent of UEFA's Champions League, later this month.

Japanese soccer legend Kazuyoshi Miura is set to play another season after extending his contract with Yokohama FC. Miura will be aged 54 when the season starts.

The striker is one of the most revered sportsmen in Japan and was at the forefront of the country's football boom in the early 1990s when he was the poster boy of the newly launched league in 1993.

The Guinness World Record for the oldest professional footballer is held by Israeli Isaak Hayik, who played in goal last April for Israel's Ironi Or Yehuda, aged 73.

Poland and FC Bayern München striker Lewandowski was named The Best FIFA Men's Player for the first time in his career.

Likewise, defender Lucy Bronze is also a maiden recipient of The Best FIFA Women's Player Award after rounding off an impeccable spell with Olympique Lyonnais in style before returning to England to play for Manchester City WFC. 12).

Jurgen Klopp was declared the winner after a close race with Hans-Dieter Flick (FC Bayern München), with the outcome, decided on voting by the national team coaches.

France Football announced Monday its all-time Ballon d'Or soccer Dream Team after voting by 140 journalists:

• Lev Yashin
• Cafú
• Paolo Maldini
• Franz Beckenbauer
• Lothar Matthäus
• Xavi
• Diego Maradona
• Pelé
• Messi
• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Ronaldo

After a draw made on Monday, UEFA Champions League round of 16 ties are:

• Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) vs Manchester City (ENG)
• Lazio (ITA) vs Bayern (GER)
• Atlético (ESP) vs Chelsea (ENG)
• Leipzig (GER) vs Liverpool (ENG)
• Porto (POR) vs Juventus (ITA)
• Barcelona (ESP) vs Paris (FRA)
• Sevilla (ESP) vs Borussia Dortmund (GER)
• Atalanta (ITA) vs Real Madrid (ESP)

The first legs are scheduled for 16/17 and 23/24 February, with the second legs on 9/10 and 16/17 March.

Esports team Virtus Pro has defeated the two-time world champion OG in the grand finals of the division one finals of the Epic League. With a 3-2 win in a best of five Virtus Pro has secured $200.000 in price money, followed by OG winning $100.000.

By winning Epic League the Russian team has secured the last tournament win in the current 7.27d patch, with a new game version expected in the coming days that will bring significant changes to the gameplay and balancing.

Max Verstappen won his second race of the season with the Red Bull team, while Bottas and Hamilton completed the podium lineup. With the last race of 2020, McLaren-Renault reached third position in the constructors championship, behind Mercedes and Red Bull Honda.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen secured the pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the first pole for the team this season.

Valtteri Bottas followed Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton third. McLaren's Lando Norris is fourth ahead of Red Bull's Alex Albon.

Italy's 1982 World Cup hero Paolo Rossi has died aged 64. His death was announced on Thursday, following what Italian media report had been a long illness.

He was the first player, later equalled by Ronaldo, to win the World Cup, the top scorer title and the Golden Ball in the same year.

Alejandro Sabella, the coach who led the Argentinean National Team to the runner-up in the World Cup in Brazil, died Tuesday at the age of 66.

Sabella has suffered from a severe heart disease since 2015 and had been placed in intensive care just a day after the footballing world mourned the death of Argentine legend Diego Maradona.

Stephanie Frappart from France is the first woman to whistle the Men's Champions League. The 36-year-old whistled 3-0 in the match between Juventus and Dinamo Kiev and received much praise for her unagitated and assertive performance.

Sergio Perez celebrated Sunday his first-ever Formula 1 victory at the Sakhir GP. Renault's Esteban Ocon and Racing Point's Lance Stroll completed the podium on a wild evening in Bahrain.

Carlos Sainz finished fourth, ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's Alex Albon.

Mick Schumacher is the Formula 2 champion in 2020, finishing 18th, but still saving his 14-point lead over rival Callum Ilott, who only placed tenth.

Two-time season winner Schumacher started the 24th and last race of the season in Bahrain with a 14-point lead over UNI-Virtuosi driver Ilott. Only 17 points were left to win, Ilott would have had to finish at least second and complete the fastest lap to catch Schumacher.

Valtteri Bottas is on pole position for the Sakhir Grand Prix, in Bahrain. Bottas, finished ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russel, acting as a stand-in for Lewis Hamilton who was forced to miss the event having tested positive forCovid-19.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took the third place, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc the fourth position, and Sergio Perez will start in the fifth position.

The Sakhir Grand Prix starts takes place Sunday at 17:10(UTC).

Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, the son of Michael Schumacher, will join the F1 grid in 2021 The two current F2 drivers have been announced by Haas F1 team for their next driver lineup replacing Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

In the meantime, Mercedes and Haas announced George Russell and Pietro Fittipaldi as the drivers that will fill in for Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean for this weekend's race. Earlier this week, Hamilton was diagnosed with Covid-19 infection, while Grosjean is recovering from the heavy crash suffered at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain last weekend.

Following the Formula 1 Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain, where he tested negative each day, the driver woke up on Monday with mild symptoms of Covid-19 and tested positive for the coronavirus. Hamilton will now miss at least one of the few remaining Grand Prix of the year. A replacement driver for the next race is yet to be confirmed.

According to the new FIFA regulations, professional female soccer players worldwide should be able to take paid maternity leave. For at least 14 weeks, two-thirds of the salary will be paid, and discrimination based on pregnancy will be prohibited. Also, clubs will be obliged to reintegrate the players after their return and to provide medical support. Now the FIFA Council still has to approve the new regulations.

Argentine prosecutors are investigating Diego Maradona's doctor, Leopoldo Luque, for possible manslaughter following the footballing legend's death four days ago. The police have searched the doctor's house and private clinic, trying to establish if the soccer legend's treatment, after his surgery, was negligent.

There are suspicions that the star's convalescence at home might not have met the conditions of his discharge from the clinic, such as a 24-hour team of nurses "specialised in substance abuse", the on-call presence of doctors and a stand-by ambulance equipped with a defibrillator.

In another eventful afternoon in F1, Romain Grosjean managed to escape his burning Haas F1 car after cutting through a trackside barrier that tore his car in half. The much delayed race restart was marked by yet another crash, leaving Lance Stroll upside down in his Racing Point car.

Later in the race, Sergio Perez managed to drive up to third position, until an engine issue forced him to retire with 3 laps to go. The race was forced to end with the safety car on track, and Alex Albon took the third place behind his team mate Max Verstappen. McLaren's Norris and Sainz took 4th and 5th place respectively, bringing the team back to 3rd place in the constructor's championship.

Hamilton, who celebrated his seventh title two weeks ago, had a comfortable 0.289 seconds lead to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and collected the 98th pole of his Formula 1 career.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon were third and fourth, with Sergio Perez in the fifth position.

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon were sixth and seventh, separated by just 0.002secs, ahead of Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris.

Naples city mayor Luigi De Magistris and Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis confirmed Thursday the city stadium would be renamed San Paolo-Diego Armando Maradona.

Maradona, forged a strong bond with the Italian club and its supporters during his seven-year spell between 1984 and 1991 when he won their only two Serie A titles - in 1987 and 1990 - along with the Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup.

First bad news for ski jumpers in the Corona season 2020/2021: After the World Cup opening in Wisla, Austria's head coach Andreas Widhölzl and two athletes have tested positive for Covid-19, as the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) officially confirmed on Wednesday morning. Widhölzl and record World Cup winner Schlierenzauer currently show slight symptoms.

All three persons have been quarantined. All other athletes of the Austrian team, who were still competing in Wisla last weekend, will also be in self-quarantine, and the ÖSV will instead be competing with a B-team in northern Finland.

Florian Liegl, group trainer of the second training group, as well as the two assistant coaches Björn Koch and Alexander Diess have nominated Manuel Fettner, David Haagen, Timon-Pascal Kahofer, Clemens Leitner, Markus Schiffner and Marco Wörgötter for this.

The soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona died on Wednesday morning at the house in the San Andres neighborhood, in the city of Tigre, where he lived for some days after having been operated on the head. Maradona has died at the age of 60 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, helped Argentina win the World Cup in 1986, the pinnacle of an illustrious career.