Times Crossword 28,299 across down Yesterday’s solution 28,298
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access charge. SP: Spoke 0333 202 3390.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8910 1112 1314 15 161718 19 20 212223 24 2526 2728 29SCAN METABOL ITE
H E U O I N R
GETTYSBURG PLEA
A P T L D E T
SPARTA ONEORTWO
L O R U A H
GAFF DISPLEASED
B I E R E
SOFTSK I LLS BAL I
U R A U O B
PRIEDIEU BARSAC
A S S T E E R
PALE HEREDI TARY
E A N E I U O
ROYALASCOT MOWN1 Officer caught wearing little
jumper that’s ornate (6)
4 Feature inspiring answer saying
something cutting (8)
10 Ceremony with a grim style
adopted by The King? (9)
11 Ally involved in machinations (5)
12 Criticises half-hearted search for
taxi to return (7)
13 Wager’s banked after tax for
woman (7)
14 Inadequate chances to seize area in
retreat (5)
15 How Spooner may serve macho
male thug smuggling drug (5,3)
18 Tally of money ending in many
killings? (8)
20 Squirrel away from tip of Chile pine
(5)
23 Cockney’s present wish soon given
poetic form (7)
25 Falls in a river over to the west (7)
26 Maybe ensure no shooting from
football team without right back (5)
27 Passed with top grade, after clear
knowledge (9)
28 What could be sigh or dry, rough
cough? (3,5)
29 Decorous or forward? I need to
think about that (6)1 Sharper novel contains English
word again (8)
2 Makeshift retirement arrangement
affected teacher (4,3)
3 Tough approach to solve a clue like
this (9)
5 Lady’s with Fancy Dan, hiding in
bush? They’re lovers (4,3,7)
6 Preserved from civilisation once (5)
7 Asian pressing suit has to fail (7)
8 Sailor healthier after whiskey (6)
9 Where one sees patient official can
tidy up (10,4)
16 Parisian in to sing is one with
charms (9)
17 A rentier’s high fee paid up front (8)
19 Media reporting that leader’s
abandoned excess (7)
21 Raise standing entering
competition (5,2)
22 Hosting queen, fetch up rug (6)
24 Dash round repeatedly with speed
(5)y(7HB7E2*OTSKNP( |||+$!=
Newspapers
support recycling
The recycled paper content of
UK newspapers in 2020 was 67%Stuart Fraser
Tennis Correspondent, Paris
Wimbledon is exploring the possibility
of legal action against the men’s and
women’s tennis tours as the row over
the removal of world ranking points
from the event intensified yesterday.
Sources have told The Times that dis-
cussions have already taken place with
lawyers surrounding a potential breach
in the long-standing agreement with
the governing bodies — the Associa-
tion of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and
the Women’s Tennis Association
(WTA) — that allows the All England
Club to offer points for match wins at
the championships.
It is understood that the other grand-
slam tournaments — the Australian
Open, French Open and US Open —
are considering offering their support
as part of a joint action.
This would be an escalation of a
dispute that has overshadowed the first
few days of the French Open. Since the
ATP and the WTA announced on
Friday that they were stripping Wim-
bledon of ranking points in retaliation
for the ban on Russian and Belarusian
competitors at this year’s champion-
ships, a large number of players have
voiced their anger at tour chiefs over a
lack of consultation.
Talks are set to take place this week
when Ian Hewitt, the All England Club
chairman, and Sally Bolton, the chief
executive, arrive at Roland Garros for a
prearranged visit. Some players are
harbouring hopes of a compromise that
Welcome to Manchester
Only days after Manchester City won the title, their new £400,000-per-week
striker Erling Haaland arrives to finalise his move to the club. Report, page 63Sp ort
Can Loris Karius ever recover
from that fateful 2018 final?
Pages 62-63Champions League
2GM Wednesday May 25 2022 | the timesThomas Tuchel, the Chelsea head
coach, will be given as much as
£200 million to spend on players this
summer by the club’s new owners.
Last night the Premier League ap-
proved the £4.25 billion takeover by the
Todd Boehly-led consortium, although
it remains subject to the approval of the
governments of the UK and Portugal,
as well as the European Union, because
of Roman Abramovich’s Portuguese
citizenship.
But the consortium, which is funded
principally by California-based Clear-
lake Capital, committed to £1.75 billion
in investment as part of its bid and
sources have told The Times that there
is a desire to give Tuchel its full support
as he tries to close the gap between
Chelsea and Manchester City and Liv-
erpool next season. Chelsea finished 19
points adrift of City, the champions, but
Tuchel, who guided his side to Euro-
pean Cup glory last season, will be
backed by the new owners to rebuild a
squad that has been destabilised by the
sale of the club these past three months.
With the club unable to renegotiate
contracts with players because of the
sanctions imposed by the government,
Tuchel already faces losing Antonio
Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen from
the heart of his defence. They are set to
join Real Madrid and Barcelona
respectively this summer. There are
likely to be more departures, as well as
the offer of new contracts to Mason
Mount and Reece James, but Tuchel
will have an opportunity to invest in
new signings in the transfer window.
Last night the Premier League issued
a statement confirming that Boehly, an
American billionaire and the co-owner
of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and other
members of the consortium had passed
the owners’ and directors’ test.
“The Premier League Board has
Continued on page 65EAMONN AND JAMES CLARKEWimbledon
ranking row
legal threat
may allow for 50 per cent of ranking
points to be retained from Wimbledon
2021 for another 12 months. As it stands,
players will lose 100 per cent of the total
they earned last year because it is not
possible to defend them this year.
Karolina Pliskova, last year’s runner-
up, is one of those who will be most
affected. The former world No 1 from
the Czech Republic will lose 1,300
points and could drop down ten places
from her position of No 8.
“It’s completely the wrong decision
— not even the one from Wimbledon,
more the one from the WTA,” Pliskova
said. “It’s super tough, unfair and bad.”
Benoît Paire was particularly critical
of the action taken by the tours. The
outspoken world No 78 from France
questioned who the ATP is actually
benefiting by stripping Wimbledon of
points, referring to the possibility of the
Russian Daniil Medvedev becoming
world No 1 after Wimbledon as “ab-
surd”. This is because Novak Djokovic
cannot defend the 2,000 points he
earned last year for winning the title.
“It’s a pity because players do not un-
derstand this decision,” Paire said. “99
per cent of players want to have points
and to play the tournament as it was
before, so I want to know if the ATP
wants to defend [the] players or Russia.
“I will go there to get my prize money,
as I would for an exhibition tourna-
ment. But the question is, ‘Why didn’t
they talk with the players?’ If it’s a war
between the ATP and Wimbledon, it’s
not nice for us, because we want to play
Continued on page 66Scrapping points ‘breaches tour arrangement’
New owners
back Tuchel
with £200m
Matt Lawton, Martyn Ziegler,
Tom RoddyEngland manager concerned
over spate of fan violence
Henry Winter, page 61Southgate warning