Guardiola has moved Manchester City out of United shadow

Three English Premier League titles in four seasons has without a shadow of doubt put Manchester City and its current manager Pep Guardiola is the top bracket of world football.

The journey that began with the 2018 Premiership crown was defended the following season with a record stockpile of a hundred points. This was also the first time that City had ever defended a title since 1880 when they were founded as St Mark's. The 2019 season saw Manchester City complete an unprecedented treble of domestic English men's titles adding the League Cup and FA Cup to the Premiership triumph.

The more famous Manchester United, founded two years earlier in 1878 as Newton Heath Lancashire Yorkshire Railway (LYR), have enjoyed better fame and fortune and led to a burgeoning ranks of fans all round the globe.

Living in the shadow of their better known cross-town rivals the Sky Blues, as the team is fondly known thanks to their jersey colours since 1894 when they were also re-christened  Manchester City from Ardwick, the name given to club in 1897, have had a rather bumpy ride until their 2014 move to the current facility at Etihad Stadium.

Early successes were more or less forgotten with the 1920 fire that destroyed most of the main stand at Hyde Park, forcing City to move to Maine Road, which remained their home through rather troubled times as ownership changed hands several times coupled with global political upheavals.

But once the present owners, Abu Dhabi United, were in place things really began to look up and Guardiola's 2016 arrival from Bayern Munich provided the icing on the cake.

Successful both as player and manager at Barcelona, Guardiola left Nou Camp in search of fresh challenges but his stint with the German giants was short-lived as he was head-hunted by Manchester City, setting tongues wagging about the unheard of high price for a manager. But the replacement for Chilean Manuel Pellegrini soon had heads turning as City emerged as serious Premiership title contenders immediately and did make it their own in 2018.

The present Premiership title has come with three league games still to be played. Plus City and Guardiola have the May 29 meeting with London rivals Chelsea for the top club prize in Europe, the UEFA Champions League. There are serious doubts about the original venue, Istanbul, for the game and it may all end up being played at London's Wembley Stadium after all.

Whatever the ground that gets the UEFA nod, Guardiola has the extra time on hands to get ready for the European summit clash ... and also possibly wrap up the small matter of signing Argentina and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi on free transfer.

It was yet another Guardiola master-stroke to lure 33-year-old Messi out of Nou Camp, his only home in Europe during his professional football career that kickoff in 2004. But finding the Spanish giants' asking price for the Argentine a bit too high, City and Guardiola, who had already enjoyed a fair degree of success at Nou Camp with Messi, chose to wait out another season.

Since Messi has not extended his Barcelona contract he leaves Nou Camp on free transfer and, even though there should be a beeline of clubs from all over Europe ready to break their banks for his signature, there hardly seems any interest in someone who without much doubt is one of best in the business.

With Messi strengthening to the squad, Guardiola can hope to continue his title-winning streak at City as his young guns have already proved more than capable of holding their own in what could be the toughest football league in the world.

But then Guardiola has never been one to shy away from challenges, whether it was leaving Barcelona for Bayern Munich or waiting it out to land Messi for free!

Sky Blues are certainly looking good at the top!

IOC & Japan in war of attrition with eye on next summer Olympics

As days and weeks pass by, it has become increasingly clear that the 2020 summer Olympics will be given a miss! 

A majority of Japanese citizens have voiced their opposition to hosting the Games in the capital city of Tokyo despite all the attendant losses that it may entail. Emphasis is on preservation of human life, pretty much along expected lines from a nation that rose from the utter devastation and nuclear bombing of World War II to become one of the foremost industrial economies of the world.

And it is this economic clout that has the International Olympic Committee dragging its feet in taking a final call on the Tokyo Games, even though it is a foregone conclusion that the city would be compensated in the form of hosting rights for the 2032 summer Games if Japan so desires.

IOC can hardly afford to upset Japan's national Olympic committee given the financial muscle that companies with roots in the country wield world-wide. The Lausanne-based honchos that run the Olympic movement have felt it prudent to leave the final decision to the host nation, even though IOC president Thomas Bach himself had to postpone his scheduled mid-May visit to Tokyo due the pandemic by a whole month.

A decision would be welcome since Olympic sports are wary of being caught on the wrong foot and continue to press ahead with the qualification process. Similarly, sports persons that have made the grade or hope to do so soon, are not letting up on their training despite the lurking suspicion that it could all be in vain.

The hosting rights for the next two summer Olympics, 2024 Paris and 2028 Los Angeles, are already done and dusted. Hence Tokyo must wait until the 2032 Olympiad, something that the Japanese NOC is loathe to do. It is reported to be instead asking for the entire Olympic programme to be pushed back by four years, given the uncertain times, so that it can put to use at least some, if not all, the infrastructure it has created for 2020.

Therein lies the catch!

IOC feels it would be unfair on Paris and Los Angeles but Tokyo feel it was hardly their fault for not being able to host the Games as scheduled. Indeed one postponement was granted but it is almost certain that 2021 appears to be hardly an improvement on its predecessor.

So Japan feels that it needs to be compensated while IOC is reluctant to rock the boat. 

It remains to be seen who takes the FINAL call ... 

If Japan announces the cancellation then they would hardly have a case for recompense, adequate or not, while an IOC guillotine will hand the bargaining lever to Tokyo.

After all, it's several billion dollars at stake and neither side is ready nor can afford to blink!