G'day sports fans,

Quote: “I start early, and I stay late, day after day, year after year. It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.” — Lionel Messi

In today's edition of Sport Journal:

🏉 Expansion plans

🇮🇳 IPL Chaos

⛳️ Valspar Open

🍳 Sport Breakfast

💉 Australia's Olympic athletes and officials will be given priority access to COVID-19 vaccines ahead of this year's Tokyo Games. (nine)

✈️ Indian Premier League cricketer Andrew Tye has said the coronavirus situation in India is "harrowing", and he is relieved to have flown home.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australian cricketers still based in India will not receive special treatment once repatriation flights between the two countries resume.

🎾 Wimbledon will abandon its traditional rest day on the middle Sunday of the tournament from 2022. (BBC)

🏎 Some of this season's Formula One races will feature frenetic 100km sprint events in place of normal qualifying. (abc)

🇦🇺 AFL

✈️ Dustin Martin is 'preparing to fly to New Zealand to be reunited with his deported dad' while on a forced concussion break - but there will be no special treatment if borders suddenly close

The Club sought advice from the AFL over whether he can visit his father in NZ.

🤕 Who's struggling, who's a test? Check out the players from your club who are a little sore (full injury list)

🦢 Jesse Hogan is set to be unleashed for his long-awaited debut for Greater Western Sydney on Saturday, as the key forward looks to resurrect his career at a third club. (AFL)

🏉 NRL

🏟 The NRL has reportedly floated a plan to split the competition into two conferences – not unlike models seen in American sports – which would see new teams added in Brisbane and New Zealand (16 to 18 teams).

The Sydney Morning Herald's Michael Chammas reports, the bold pitch is part of the game's expansion plans, with the issue of maximising TV broadcast revenue believed to be at the centre of the move.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and chairman Peter V'landys have reportedly met with several clubs over the past fortnight to outline the long-term vision for the game. (nine)

💪🏼 NRL head of football Graham Annesley says he would have sent off St George Illawarra's Jordan Perreira for his brutal shot on Roosters superstar James Tedesco during the ANZAC Day clash.

The Chooks fullback was left in a heap on the SCG turf when Perreira collected him with a high swinging arm late in the first half that caught Tedesco as he was falling.

Perreira has since opted to take an early guilty plea which will see him miss three weeks instead of a potential five-week ban should he had pleaded his case and failed at the NRL Judiciary. (nine)

🐔 All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara confirms 'genuine' interest in NRL move to Roosters (nine)

⚽️ Football

Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry have become the first players to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.

To be eligible, players must have been retired as of August 1, 2020.

🗼 Paris St-Germain have moved ahead of Manchester United over a potential deal to sign Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 36, from Juventus. (Tuttosport - in Italian)

🇩🇪 RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann will join Bayern Munich on a five-year contract at the end of this season, the German champions have announced.

🏟 Western United CEO Chris Pehlivanis says the second-year A-League club is focused on the long-game after his club set an unwanted record for the lowest attendance in A-League history. Just 990 fans turned up on Monday night - 13 less than the previous low-water mark between North Queensland Fury and Brisbane Roar in 2010-11.

🦘 Socceroos winger Mathew Leckie could be set for a surprise A-League return, with Melbourne City in pole position to land the Bundesliga-based star. (SBS)

⛳️ Golf

After an exciting week at the Zurich Classic, the PGA Tour heads back to Florida for the 2021 Valspar Championship.

The Valspar Championship will welcome a full 156 man field this week to one of the most challenging courses that PGA pros see on an annual basis, the Copperhead course at Innisbrook.

Both Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed return to action for the first time since the Masters this week, while two-time Valspar winner Paul Casey will be aiming for a historic three-peat this week after win’s in both 2019 and 2018.

World number one Dustin Johnson is also taking part this week in what look’s to be a pretty strong field. Bringing the total to 7 of the world's top 20.

😢 This video of Michael Visacki telling his dad he qualified for his first PGA Tour event is great. "I made it." (Twitter)

🌍 World of Sport

👨🏻‍⚕️ Kolkata Knight Riders paceman Pat Cummins has asked his fellow players to join him in contributing to help India's hospitals deal with the pandemic.

Cummins, 27, who is among a number of Australia's top players to remain in India, has pledged 50,000 Australian dollars to the PM Cares Fund, specifically to purchase oxygen supplies.

🏊🏼‍♂️ Australian swimming legend John Konrads, winner of the 1500m freestyle at the Rome Olympic Games, has died at the age of 78.

🐴 Kentucky Derby: Essential Quality is listed as a (3.0) favourite to win the 147th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs following Tuesday’s post position draw.

Essential Quality will run out of the No. 14 post at Saturday’s 20-horse race, which traditionally hasn’t been the successful starting point in the Derby. (article)

🦿 Paralympian runner Blake Leeper (born with no legs beneath the knee), has been prevented from competing at the Tokyo Olympics, because his two prosthetic legs have been ruled to give him an unfair advantage.

Leeper is "running unnaturally tall" with his prosthetic legs, the World Athletics mechanical aids review panel said.

🥃 Conor McGregor and his business partners founded Proper Twelve Whiskey less than 3 years ago.

Proximo Spirits has just acquired a majority stake, worth up to US$600 million.

👊🏻 MMA: Chris Weidman just shared X-Rays of his leg following Saturday night's gruesome injury.

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📺 Live sport 👇🏼

TODAY

⚽️ 05:00 - UEFA Champions Lge Semi-Final - Real Madrid v Chelsea (Optus Sport 1)

⚽️ 08:15 - Copa Libertadores - Flamengo v Union La Calera (BeIN Sports 2)

🏀 09:00 - NBA - Charlotte Hornets v Milwaukee Bucks (Sky Sports 2)

⚾️ 09:10 - MLB - New York Mets v Boston Red Sox (ESPN 2 or Sky Sports 3)

⚽️ 10:30 - Copa Libertadores - Palmeiras v Independiente del Valle (BeIN Sports 2)

⚽️ 10:30 - Copa Libertadores - Boca Juniors v Santos (BeIN Sports 3)

🏀 11:30 - NBA - Golden State Warriors v Dallas Mavericks (ESPN 1)

⚾️ 11:45 - MLB - San Francisco Giants v Colorado Rockies (Sky Sports 3)

⚽️ 19:05 - A-League - Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar (Fox Sports)

🎾 19:30 - ATP Estoril Open, Round 2, Day 3 (BeIN Sports 1)

🏀 19:30 - NBL - Melbourne United v New Zealand Breakers (ESPN 1 or SBS on Demand)

THURSDAY

⚽️ 05:00 - UEFA Champions Lge Semi-Final - Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester City (Optus Sport 1)

⚽️ 08:00 - Copa Libertadores - Defensa y Justicia v Club Universitario de Deportes (BeIN Sports 2)

⚾️ 08:40 - MLB - New York Mets v Boston Red Sox (ESPN 2)

⚾️ 09:05 - MLB - Baltimore Orioles v New York Yankees (Sky Sports 3)

🏀 09:30 - NBA - Washington Wizards v Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN 1)

⚽️ 10:00 - Copa Libertadores - River Plate v Atletico Junior (BeIN Sports 2)

⚽️ 10:00 - Copa Libertadores - Independiente Santa Fe v Fluminense FC (BeIN Sports 3)

🏒 11:30 - NHL - Vegas Golden Knights v Colorado Avalanche (ESPN 2)

⚾️ 11:40 - MLB - Arizona Diamondbacks v San Diego Padres (Sky Sports 3)

🏀 12:00 - NBA - Phoenix Suns v Los Angeles Clippers (ESPN 1)

🏌🏼‍♀️ 12:30 - LPGA Tour, Women's World Championship, Round 1 (FoxW)

⚽️ 16:00 - J1 League - Nagoya Grampus v Kawasaki Frontale (Optus Sport 1)

⚽️ 19:05 - A-League - Melbourne City v Newcastle Jets (Fox Sports)

🇦🇺 19:10 - VFL - North Melbourne VFL v Casey Demons (Fox Footy)

🎾 19:30 - ATP Estoril Open, Round 2, Day 4 (BeIN Sports 2)

🏀 19:30 - NBL - South East Melbourne Phoenix v Brisbane Bullets (ESPN 1 or SBS on Demand)

🏉 19:50 - NRL - Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs (Fox League or Nine)

🏏 20:00 - Indian Premier League - Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals (Fox Cricket)

⛳️ 23:00 - European Tour, Tenerife Open, Round 1 (Fox Sports)