Newcastle United have confirmed a new front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Sela, a Saudi Arabian events and experiences organisation. The St. James’ Park club describe the arrangement as a “multi-year partnership”, and while no details over the financial arrangements were given by the club, several reports have placed the deal in the £25 million per year bracket. A previous arrangement with Fun88 has been cut short, claim reports, and while no financial details have been made public over the exact value of that arrangement, the initial agreement was worth around £6.5m per year. An extension and potential renegotiation has occurred since that partnership started in 2017. Fun88 have been retained as an “official Asian betting partner”, the club say. The new shirt sponsor, however, is likely to be seen as a major test of the new Premier League related-party deals and market value rules. Sela’s website states the company is owened by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), who are the primary owners of Newcastle United. The club’s chief executive Darren Eales said Sela were chosen following a “highly competitive commercial process”. Premier League clubs agreed in April to remove all betting companies from front-of-shirt sponsorships, though that is a delayed approach which does not kick in until the 2025/26 season. Separate to betting companies in isolation, new top flight rules state “Associated Party Transactions” - such as sponsorship deals - have to be submitted for a “Fair Market Value Assessment”. The Independent reported recently that senior executives in the English game had questioned “whether the regulations adequately cover the situation”, given the layers overlapping the two organisations between the Newcastle and Sela deal. The Saudi company was founded by Dr Rakan Al-Harthy, who is also named as a director of Qiddiya, an entertainment project similarly owned by PIF. Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan also sits on the Qiddiya board, which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - who is also the PIF chairman. While Newcastle’s new deal certainly represents an enormous uptick compared to their previous one, it yet lags behind some Premier League rivals. Chelsea’s deal with Three, which expires this summer, was reportedly worth £40m per year, Liverpool’s contract with Standard Chartered in the region of £50m a year and Man City’s Etihad package is worth £67m a season. A statement from Newcastle CCO Peter Silverstone regarding the sponsorship deal read: “Sela joins us on our exciting journey back into the Uefa Champions League, enabling us to reach and engage with an even greater global audience together. We are proud to put their brand at the front and centre of our next stage of growth as an elite global Premier League club. “Our partnership will provide a key gateway to growing our fanbase globally, and specifically in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, while showcasing Sela’s activities and iconic destinations and properties, as they look to diversify their business activities in the UK and beyond. Sela has an incredible track record in delivering experiences across recreational sectors, and particularly in marketing sporting assets and properties including the Spanish Super Cup and Italian Super Cup. “We believe they will market our club and brand accordingly, boosting our aim to be the most supported Premier League club in Saudi Arabia - a country with a young, digitally-savvy population that is hugely passionate about football.” Read More Ange Postecoglou promises excitement at Tottenham Georgia Adams eager to keep Charlotte Edwards Cup in familiar home on Finals Day Rumours: Arsenal want early Rice deal and Newcastle target relegated trio

Chelsea pay tribute to Eden Hazard after his retirement.

Croatia are aiming for its first tournament trophy as it plays Spain in the final of the Nations League in Rotterdam. Croatia finished third in the World Cup last year and runners-up in 2018, and winning the Nations League would cap 37-year-old Luka Modric’s international career in what would be the Real Madrid midfielder’s 166th game for his country. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente can win a trophy in only his fourth game since taking over in December following Spain’s World Cup round-of-16 exit to Morocco under Luis Enrique. Spain’s last tournament win came at the 2012 European Championship. Earlier, host nation the Netherlands played Italy in the third-place game in Enschede. Here is everything you need to know. When is the final? Croatia vs Spain kicks off at 7.45pm BST in Rotterdam, Netherlands. TV channel and live stream The Nations League final will be broadcast live in the UK on Channel 4. Viewers can also stream the match live via the Channel 4 website and app. Who finished third? Italy claimed the consolation bronze medals at the Nations League finals, and added to a disappointing week for hosts the Netherlands, as they edged the Dutch 3-2 in Sunday’s third place playoff tie at the Twente Stadium. Federico Dimarco thrashed the ball home at the far post in the sixth minute and Davide Frattesi doubled the score from in front of goal in the 20th minute to give Italy a comfortable halftime lead. But the Dutch launched a concerted second half comeback, making three attacking changes at the break, laying siege to Italy’s goal and seeing Steven Bergwijn pull a goal back in the 68th minute. Federico Chiesa restored the two goal advantage at the end of a 73rd minute counterattack but there was an exciting conclusion as Georginio Wijnaldum got a second for the Dutch in the 89th. But even though nine minutes of stoppage time was added on, Italy held out under home pressure for victory. Read More Italy finish third in Nations League after beating the Netherlands Joselu fires Spain to Nations League final with late winner against Italy Gareth Southgate facing ‘complicated’ decision on Man City stars for Malta game Gareth Southgate undecided on whether to select Man City stars against Malta Focus on Republic of Ireland’s opponents Greece and the threat they may pose Home support can be Malta’s 12th man against England – ex-player David Carabott

Sri Lanka was in contention for the World Test Championship final until March

Humans are being replaced by machines with alarming pace, even in the creative fields and the sports journalism industry is no exception as automated gamers have become fairly regular. Some of them are actually halfway decent and if you wanted to take a glass-half-full approach you could say that it's kind of cool that more people participating in lower-level athletics will get some sort of written record of what went down on the playing field. Yet even the most bullish AI proponents would admit that the technology isn't quite there, to the point where there's absolutely no doubt that the prose was put together by someone without a soul or emotions or even some basic level of familiarity with the way humans interact.

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