WSL a good investment
WILFRIED ZAHA faces a gruelling 6,000-mile round trip after Ivory Coast insisted on calling him up despite a hamstring injury.
The Crystal Palace winger, 26, was yesterday forced to fly out for the matches against Rwanda and Liberia.
That is despite him missing Saturday’s FA Cup defeat by Watford and being a doubt for the visit of Huddersfield on Saturday week.
Eagles boss Roy Hodgson was only told of the decision to force Zaha to fly on Monday.
He wanted his star man to rest but he now faces a 14-hour return flight to Ivory Coast.
Palace are powerless to stop him because his country have EMMA HAYES hailed Barclays’ new £10m-plus sponsorship deal as a watershed moment for women’s football.
The bank becomes the Women’s Super League’s first title sponsor, with the three-year deal starting next season.
Prize money of £500,000 will be on offer for the first time to the winners.
The FA yesterday hailed it as “the biggest-ever investment in UK women’s sport by a brand”.
And Chelsea boss Hayes reckons it will help the WSL become the best in the world.
Hayes (inset), speaking ahead of tonight’s Champions League quarter-final with Paris St-Germain at Kingsmeadow, said: “I’ve been saying this year would be the watershed moment when we would commercialise the game.
“This will be the best league in the world. This investment shows we’ve got the pulling power to bring the best here.
“The rest of Europe fear us and our clubs and America will wonder how they keep pace with that. The best players are not going to America. They are coming to England.”
The announcement followed Yeovil’s decision to cut off-field staff and consider going back to being part-time because of financial worries. PSG boast more than twice Chelsea’s budget, but Hayes said: “That doesn’t mean they’re twice as good as us. We don’t fear PSG.” SOPHIE JONES has quit football after being sacked by Sheffield United for racially abusing Tottenham’s Renee Hector. Jones, who denied the charge, was banned for five matches. She branded the panel that found her guilty a “kangaroo court”.