Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula and Welcome to Season 05 Episode 70 of Breakfast Bites by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news on a cloudy, but bright Tuesday morning 13 June 2023.

Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

We start today with Tennis and in particular, paying tribute to Novak Djokovic, who today stands alone at the pinnacle of Men's tennis, after defeating Casper Ruud to win his 23rd grand slam title at the French Open on Sunday.

Spanish maestro, Rafael Nadal has 22 titles and the cool Swiss Roger Federer has retired with 20, followed by the American Pete Sampras on 14.

Djokovic claimed his first Major tennis title at the Australian Open in 2008. The Serbian is also the first man ever to win at least three slam titles at all the major tournaments — a measure of his all-round greatness.

In rugby league: The Eels electrified the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium alright 36-12.

Meanwhile, the Maroons Coach Billy Slater has named his team for ORIGIN II at Suncorp next week, with Jeremiah Nanai, Moeaki Fotuaika and Xavier Coates slotting in to the starting 17 to replace the injured Jai Arrow, Tom Gilbert and Selwyn Cobbo.

And Brad Fittler’s NSW Blues team announcement will drop at 11am today with some big changes: Tevita Pangai Junior has lost his spot and Nicho Hynes axed completely, while two genuine bolters make their Blues debuts - Eels star Mitchell Moses replaces Nathan Cleary and Rabbitohs veteran Damien Cook returns for the injured Apisai Koroisau.

In rugby: The same four teams that made the Super Rugby Pacific semis 2022 have repeated the feat this year, with the Crusaders hosting the Blues and the Chiefs hosting the Brumbies. Outside of that, the Fijian Drua making the Top 8 in only their second season has to be the standout.

In Football: UEFA has been heavily criticized for staging a major event – their Champions League grand final, in such a poorly-equipped stadium, more than 20Km away from the centre of host city, Istanbul.

Fans described the event as a “dangerous mess”, which descended into chaos and put their safety at risk.

Among a series of serious issues faced at Istanbul’s highly criticised Ataturk Stadium for Manchester City’s victory over Inter were:
· Fans forced to travel on shuttles for up to three hours to the game, then abandon transport to climb over scrubland and “building site” surroundings to make kick-off
· Only two concession stands for an entire end of fans, creating waits for bottled water for up to two hours
· Fewer than 20 toilets serving 20,000 people in the fan zones
· And a total lack of guidance and minimal travel options post-game, which left fans traversing a mile of slip road to hail gridlocked taxis, which charged up to €200 to get back to town

So Churchill Park in Lautoka isn’t so bad after all.

In SportsBiz: The price of relegation from the Premier League is high — for Leeds United, it’s about US$400Million.

That figure is the difference in the reported valuations of the Club now that 49ers Enterprises — the ownership group of the San Francisco 49ers — has officially agreed to purchase 100% of the team.

Leeds majority owner Andrea Radrizzani has accepted a deal that values the club at US$209M, according to The Athletic.

Had Leeds remained in the Premier League, that number could have been as high as US$625M.

In boxing: Amanda Nunes defended her UFC Bantamweight title on Sunday, before announcing her retirement in classy fashion - placing her gloves in the middle of the octagon next to her two belts.

The 35-year-old finishes her professional career with a 23-5 record, the most UFC wins in women’s history and she will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

“My Mum has been asking to do this for so long, she can’t take it any more. I have got a child and I got to spend more time with my family in Brazil.

“Thank you very much to everyone for making this all happen. I am the only champion Brazil has right now.

“Double champion forever baby,” Nunes signed out.

Go Girl Go!

For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea – please hit the like and subscribe buttons below if you want to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites.

Mahalo, vina’a and tank you all too mass for all your love and support.

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