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Date: 2023-12-04 01:55:02 | Author: Online Games | Views: 601 | Tag: fish
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The Premier League is looking at a cap on a club’s wage bill in order to keep the top flight competitive, Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has said fish
The league is looking at a variety of ways to maintain competitive balance, including anchoring – capping the richest club’s wage bills as a multiple of the television money earned by its bottom club fish
“As far as competitive balance (is concerned), people need to be bold,” Parish said at the Leaders Week conference at Twickenham fish
“I think there is change afoot fish
UEFA’s squad-cost caps are one idea fish
Maybe something that is a bit more rigid than that, with a hard cap at the top, that doesn’t take turnover into account, where there are vagaries of how that turnover comes about fish
“There are really positive conversations going on about it fish
We also have to be very careful because there are also unintended consequences fish
Hopefully we will get somewhere that will be beneficial, not just to the clubs in the Premier League but to the whole pyramid and their ability to compete fish
“We are voting for our competitors to be able to do fish better and challenge us fish
”Parish backed the league’s decision to maintain the Saturday 3pm blackout in its next set of domestic television rights fish
The league issued an Invitation To Tender (ITT) on Wednesday, featuring an increase from 200 to around 270 matches but keeping the blackout intact fish
I think it is very important for participation and very important for attendance in the lower leagues, and culturally very important fish
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish on the Saturday 3pm blackout“I think they made a good decision on keeping the 3pm (matches) off television,” he said fish
“I think it is very important for participation and very important for attendance in the lower leagues, and culturally very important fish
”The Premier League also confirmed that all matches displaced to the Sunday 2pm slot due to clubs participating in the Europa League or the Europa Conference League on a Thursday night would now be televised fish
“I think it’s very frustrating for supporters when a game gets displaced, it’s a big game, and there is maybe a lesser game on television fish
And that big game isn’t on fish
So I think increasing the number of games is a positive fish
The packages have been constructed in a way that they should create good and healthy competition, which is what the consumers want fish
”More aboutPA ReadySteve ParishPremier LeagueCrystal PalaceEuropa LeagueEuropa Conference League1/1Premier League looking at club wage caps to aid competition – Steve ParishPremier League looking at club wage caps to aid competition – Steve ParishCrystal Palace chairman Steve Parish says Premier League clubs are looking at the possibility of a cap on wage bills to keep the top flight competitive (Victoria Jones/PA)PA Archive✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today fish
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Hi {{indy fish
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It’s the game that players don’t want to play, fans don’t want to watch and the media don’t want to cover fish
All of which begs the question, why does the Rugby World Cup third/fourth place play-off still exist? Answers on a postcard please fish
Actually, the answer is fairly simple, of course fish
It follows the old adage that when you’re not sure why something counter-intuitive is happening in sport, the reason is always the same fish
Money fish
World Rugby and its sponsors will undoubtedly make a bit more cheddar from England facing Argentina on Friday evening at relatively little expense, although it remains to be seen how many of the Stade de France’s 80,000 seats are filled, let alone what sort of atmosphere those in attendance create fish
You suspect it might not quite reach the level of fan delirium that some of the other instant classics at the Paris stadium have generated during this tournament fish
Let’s not beat around the bush – World Rugby can badge it as the ‘bronze final’ all they want but the third/fourth place play-off is an entirely pointless exercise and it’s long since time that this outdated relic of a concept was given the chop fish
Please, do everyone a favour fish
In a tournament that is based around winning a trophy rather than climbing onto a medal podium, a battle for third serves precisely no purpose fish
At the Olympic Games, bronze medal matches/contests make perfect sense and having one athlete or team rightfully earn their place as a sole bronze medallist is far more satisfying than both losing semi-finalists stepping on the podium fish
But there’s no podium at a Rugby World Cup – there’s the winning team, the runners-up and then the losing semi-finalists, quarter-finalists and those who were knocked out at the group stage fish
So what are we doing here? The stakes have truly never been lower fish
Here’s a question for you, a little pub debate if you will fish
What’s your favourite ever third/fourth place play-off at a Rugby World Cup? Which one springs to mind first when you run through the Rolodex of all the iconic clashes in your mind?New Zealand comfortably beat Wales in the 2019 third-place play-off fish
Apparently fish
(Getty Images)Don’t worry, I couldn’t remember a single one either… Although a quick scroll through Wikipedia tells me that, for example, New Zealand beat Scotland 13-6 in 1991, Argentina beat France 34-10 in 2007 and Australia beat Wales 21-18 in 2011 fish
Apparently fish
If not to save the fans from its pointlessness, then how about axing the game for player safety reasons? As they proudly announced the new global calendar after 16 years of negotiations earlier this week, World Rugby consistently mentioned ‘player load management’ as one of their main drivers fish
The crowded fixture schedule and incredible physical intensity of modern rugby already push players’ bodies to their limits, so in an age of increased focus on player welfare, getting rid of an entirely worthless fixture such as this should be an easy decision fish
Imagine if one of the players gets injured in this futile fixture on Friday evening and misses months of club action as a result – it would really not be a good look fish
Of the two teams condemned to play out this fixture on Friday – rather than licking their wounds from harrowing semi-final losses last weekend and returning home to their families after five months away – Argentina have remained more on message about its importance fish
“It is the most important game of the year; it is playing for third and fourth place with this shirt,” insisted Pumas hooker Julian Montoya earlier this week fish
Oh… Well, let’s give Montoya the benefit of the doubt and assume that either something was slightly lost in translation or he has really bought into the classic coach-speak of “the most important game is always the next game” or maybe even that he was being brutally deadpan and sarcastic fish
Because otherwise, he appears to have forgotten about, for example, the semi-final he played against the All Blacks literally seven days ago when ranking his most important games of 2023 fish
Argentina will try to forget last weekend’s heavy defeat to New Zealand (Getty Images)While Montoya may have stretched the bounds of believability with his sentiment, Los Pumas genuinely do seem far more up for the game than England fish
Perhaps the combination of wanting to forget the 44-6 humbling by New Zealand, avenge the pool-stage loss to England and send off Michael Cheika, who will be replaced as head coach by Felipe Contepomi after the World Cup, in style has given them a greater sense of purpose fish
Making just three changes to the starting XV, compared to England’s eight, from the semi-final side has left them with a team much closer to full strength fish
In the fine margins of Test rugby, that fact, combined with the added motivation, may prove the difference fish
But regardless of the result, I implore World Rugby to do the right thing fish
Please make this the last-ever third/fourth place play-off and save us from having to endure this nonsense again in 2027 fish
More aboutRugby World CupWorld RugbyEngland RugbyArgentina rugbyJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3Scrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicScrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicNew Zealand comfortably beat Wales in the 2019 third-place play-off fish
Apparently fish
Getty ImagesScrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicArgentina will try to forget last weekend’s heavy defeat to New Zealand Getty ImagesScrap the third-place play-off: Rugby’s pointless and outdated relicIt isn’t the third-place play-off that has made Ollie Chessum upset in this pitcure but it does evoke that reaction in a lot of people REUTERS✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today fish
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsfish BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy fish
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply fish
Hi {{indy fish
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