Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said January signing Bruno Fernandes has brought an "X-Factor" to his side.

Fernandes joined from Sporting CP in a deal which could be worth up to €80 million and showed his quality with a goal and assist as well as contribution to the other goal in United's 3-0 victory over Watford on Sunday.

- ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now!
- VAR in the Premier League: Ultimate guide
- When can Liverpool win the Premier League?
- When does the transfer window re-open?

As well as Fernandes, another United player singled out for praise was forward Anthony Martial, who has scored in each of the past three matches.

"We feel we've added some X-Factor quality with Bruno," Solskjaer told a news conference ahead of their Europa League round-of-32 clash at home to Club Brugge on Thursday.

"His [Fernandes] imagination and his overview picture, is a couple of seconds ahead of many players. It is one of his strengths he knows what he wants to do.

"He can change his mind in a split-second. That composure has been important. Anthony [Martial] coming back -- he was out for a couple of months -- means he's getting used to the No.9 position."

The Europa League provides one of two avenues back into the Champions League for United, with other being a top-four finish in the Premier League, but Solskjaer has said he does not want to prioritise one over the other.

"We need to take one game at a time," he added. "Both are possibles but in a cup competition you never know -- hopefully we take as many points as we can in the league, but the cup you can't predict, can't rely on winning it.

"The squad has coped really well with the amount of games, the attitude and character is improving, now we are getting some freshness back."

United drew 1-1 in their first leg in Brugge as they look to win the competition for the second time.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- Alan Pulido is wearing a designer watch, a backward baseball cap, his fringe poking out from one side, and a hoodie, despite the afternoon Arizona heat. Seated outside a Mexico-inspired "Taqueria Centro" snack bar in a plush resort during the final days of MLS preseason, the first question of our conversation comes from Pulido, not ESPN.

The soft-spoken striker, who signed this season with Sporting Kansas City as a designated player, wants to know if the story will be published in Mexico.

Over the course of our lengthy conversation, it's easy to see why Pulido, open and often brutally honest, has a complicated relationship with his home country. He is a household name in Mexico, someone who has endured extreme highs and lows and is followed by more than two million on social media (a bigger reach than that of the vast majority of Major League Soccer clubs). He's also patriotic. He emphasizes that he wants to represent his country, family and hometown of Ciudad Victoria through the goals he will score for Sporting KC, and he'd desperately like a shot at returning to the national team, even if he has not spoken to El Tri head coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino.

It's just that he has had such a tumultuous career and life in Mexico that the relative tranquility of Kansas City became an attractive proposition.

Pulido hasn't returned to Ciudad Victoria in the state of Tamaulipas -- the U.S. State Department advises citizens not to travel there due to "crime and kidnapping" -- since he himself was kidnapped in May 2016. It's a city the Citizens' Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice named the fourth-most dangerous city in the world last year, with 86.01 homicides per 100,000 residents.

Visiting home after his season in Greece with Olympiakos had ended, Pulido left a party around 11:30 p.m. on a Saturday night, according to local media outlets, and several trucks were said to have surrounded the athlete before armed men wearing masks took him by force, allowing his then-girlfriend to leave.

While the kidnappers were negotiating a ransom with his family, Pulido was left alone with one guard. The player took his chance, wrestling away the guard's gun and cellphone, which allowed him to communicate his location to authorities after he knocked the guard unconscious, according to the Associated Press. Within minutes, police arrived to rescue Pulido a little more than 24 hours after his capture.

Pulido looked shaken when he faced media after the ordeal, and he has not talked about it in detail since, but he did tell ESPN that "it's difficult to always live in fear," adding that the incident will "always be with me."

Since the kidnapping, when Pulido visits family members, he meets them in Monterrey, his wife's hometown, with his family making the four-hour drive from Ciudad Victoria. "I don't like to talk about those things because they are very delicate, but it teaches you a bad lesson. They are bad memories that I don't want to go through again and don't wish on anyone," he said. "It was a difficult moment in my life."

- Experience MLS like a die-hard fan
- When does the 2020 MLS season begin?
- Stream MLS games LIVE on ESPN+

"It makes you sad to see it, and it's not just in my city but in all of Mexico," Pulido said of the violence that has affected his country. "The reality is that I never imagined the violence would get to this level, with kids and women [affected]. Honestly, those types of stories embarrass the country."

The kidnapping made international headlines, but in Mexico, Pulido has been a regular feature in the news. In 2017, he crashed his sports car after a night out when he was coming back from injury. There was also the moment in May when pundits criticized him for turning up to preseason medical examinations in a gleaming black Ferrari.

Where possible, Pulido keeps his answers focused on the challenge at Sporting KC, instead of answering for his past. He's motivated heading into the MLS season -- SKC open the season against Vancouver on 2/29, 10.30 p.m. ET, ESPN+ -- by the chance to help his new club's playoff push after a poor 2019. But starting a family in the relative calm of the United States after recently getting married was also an important factor in his decision to play in MLS.

The Pulido family has deep roots in Ciudad Victoria. Alan's father, Armando, played in goal for the city's professional club, Correcaminos, and earned the nickname "Pulpo" Pulido ("The Octopus") for his penalty saves. Alan's mother worked as a teacher and his older brother, Armando, has had a soccer career that has taken him from Tigres UANL and Tijuana to Greece (at the same time as Alan), then back to Mexico for stints at Queretaro and Correcaminos.

"We didn't have many things growing up, but we also didn't lack much," Alan Pulido said. "We lived OK. My parents always worked. I had what I needed -- not too much, not too little. It makes me happy now to have what I have and everything I've done and how I've worked [to get where I am]."

It was through Armando that Alan Pulido started to support his first club, Tigres, lured in by the skills of Argentine attacking midfielder Walter Gaitan. Pulido worked his way to Tigres via the Tamaulipas state team, and after making his Liga MX debut under Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti in 2010, he became a player tipped for a big future. At age 22, Pulido earned a national team call-up in January 2014 and scored a hat-trick on debut against South Korea. He was named part of Mexico's squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, though he didn't get any playing time.

Upon returning from that tournament, Pulido faced a long, drawn-out and bitter legal battle with Tigres as he tried to leave the club and fulfill his dream of playing in Europe.

He believed that his contract was coming to an end and he could move after the World Cup on a free transfer, but Tigres were adamant that a renewal had been signed. Pulido dug in his heels to force a move to Levadiakos in Greece, obtaining a provisional transfer pass from FIFA and claiming that Tigres forged his signature, but in September 2015, the case was decided in Tigres' favor by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"I never thought that they would do that to someone who gave everything for the team," Pulido said. "It is very sad."

He remains unrepentant even though he was excluded from the national team while the dispute made its way through the courts.

"They belittle players [in Mexico], and so I took the decision [to leave]. I think it was right because in the end, I defended my rights," Pulido said. "I played in Greece, in Europe, in the best competitions in the world, the Europa League, the Champions League. Nobody can take that away from me."

"I took the decisions I had to take," he said. "It was time to talk about it, to show that players can't be trampled on by a club, that our word does count and counts a lot and that thanks to us, there is this show called football."

Pulido played his final game for Tigres on April 27, 2014, but he received only a temporary transfer pass from FIFA in time to make his debut for Levadiakos in March 2015. From there, Pulido moved to Olympiakos in the summer of 2015, and he went on to win the Greek league in 2015-16. But with his playing time limited with Olympiakos, Pulido was signed by Chivas in August 2016, in what was reported as one of the most expensive incoming transfer deals in Liga MX history.

Pulido's career was revitalized under Matias Almeyda at Chivas. Together, they won the CONCACAF Champions League title, the Copa MX and a Liga MX trophy, with Pulido netting a golazo in the second leg of the 2017 Clausura final -- against, you guessed it, Tigres. Almeyda, now a head coach in MLS with San Jose -- Pulido and SKC travel to take on the Earthquakes on March 21 -- left a lasting impact on Pulido.

"Matias [Almeyda] is a very different coach than others I've had," Pulido said. "He's a person who is open to having a dialogue with all the players and not just those that are the important ones or those that have been there longest or are the captains. He gives the same special attention to all of them. He creates a really big family."

Pulido comes into MLS in the best goal-scoring form of his career -- he won the Liga MX 2019 Apertura scoring title -- but he's aware that the transition to life under Sporting KC head coach Peter Vermes will be a test. It sounds trivial, but Pulido laughs about the hip-hop music played in the locker room being different than what he was used to at Chivas. He grew up in Ciudad Victoria listening to a mix of norteno, banda, reggaeton, huapango and cumbia, and though he likes a bit of everything, he joked that "there's no banda, no Mexican music" at Sporting KC. As an aside, Pulido is probably the only player in MLS history to have a rap tune written about his exploits, though he is at pains to make clear that he didn't commission the song, written by his friend "El Cuatro Divango," that went viral in Mexico.

Of course, it isn't just the music that is different at Sporting KC. On a technical level, MLS clubs tend to water the pitches before games, something that isn't done in Liga MX, and the ball used in MLS this season feels lighter to Pulido than he is used to.

There's also his new living situation. Pulido has chosen to live in the Kansas City suburbs, rather than downtown. He can converse in English on a basic level and has Spanish-speaking teammates to help him if he doesn't understand, but the on-field interaction with his new colleagues was close to nonexistent during preseason games, even if Pulido was happy to press and harry in line with Vermes' playing philosophy. For KC, Pulido will operate as a central striker in a similar way to what he was doing at Chivas but with license to drop back and get on the ball in deeper positions in certain games.

"I have that type of double job," he said. "I can play up top, but I'm also a player who likes to move around, carry the ball, move it forward. In some games, if we are dominating, Peter [Vermes] will likely want me to stay up front to be close to the penalty area, but if in some games it is very tight, I might have the opportunity to drop back to play more with the midfielders and create chances."

Pulido sees similarities in the way Almeyda and Vermes demand that their players maintain high work rates. But as multifaceted as Pulido is in terms of pressing and dropping back, he understands that he was brought to Sporting KC for his goals. One interesting side issue this season could be a friendly rivalry developing among Mexicans -- all of whom have roots at Chivas -- in MLS, as Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela, Pulido and, possibly, Rodolfo Pizarro seek to top the scoring charts this season.

"Of course, I'd love [to score more goals than Vela, Hernandez and other Mexicans in MLS]," Pulido said. "In the end, we are friends. We've shared a locker room, played together in the national team, but obviously, there is that uncertainty about who will score more goals."

The evening before his interview with ESPN, Pulido came on as a substitute as a largely experimental Sporting KC side fell 2-1 to USL side Phoenix Rising. After the game, around 40 fans, many wearing the red, white and blue of Pulido's former Liga MX club Chivas, hung around in the cooling evening and tested the patience of stadium operations staff by waiting for Pulido to exit.

With the 2020 MLS season about to kick off, Pulido aims to build the same connection with the Children's Mercy Park faithful that he has with those Chivas fans who will be waiting for him after games and outside hotels all over the United States this season.

"Hopefully, I can leave a similar legacy here at Sporting Kansas City," he said. "Hopefully things go really well so that further down the line, [Sporting KC fans] may value me in the same way."

February 27: Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators in Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

Our XI: Jason Roy, Luke Ronchi, Dawid Malan, Colin Munro, Ahmed Shehzad, Azam Khan, Shadab Khan, Amad Butt, Tymal Mills, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Musa

Captain: Luke Ronchi

Ronchi has been a consistent performer in the tournament over the years. He scored 319 runs in 12 games last season at a strike rate of 155.60 and has continued to impress this season. He has scored 98 runs in the three innings this season at a strike rate of 158.

Vice Captain: Dawid Malan

Malan started off the PSL 2020 by scoring a fluent 64 against the Gladiators, so expect him to do well again against them. In the next three innings, he has made a total of 57 runs, which also included an unbeaten 35 against Multan Sultans.

Hot Picks

Jason Roy

After a duck in the first game, Roy lit up the PSL with an unbeaten 57-ball 73 against Peshawar Zalmi. Roy's T20 sides have won the game 60% of the time whenever he makes a 50-plus score

Colin Munro

Another star player who is yet to fire this season. He has had scores of 0, 50 and 2 in the 3 games he has played, but a good score isn't far away. Punt on Munro to score some runs in this game, especially against Gladiators' quicks.

Mohammad Hasnain

The leading wicket-taker of the season so far has got to make your side. He has picked up seven wickets so far at an excellent strike rate of 10.2.

Value Picks

Azam Khan

Azam Khan has been a surprise package this season. He has starred in the Gladiators' two wins this season, scoring 59 and 46 in those games.

Tymal Mills

Mills has picked up three wickets in two games at an economy of 6.88. The over he bowled to Babar Azam in the game against the Kings proved his mettle as a bowler who has a bunch of variations.

Muhammad Musa

Musa has been consistent with the ball, picking up five wickets in the three matches he has played so far this season. He also starred with the bat in Islamabad's previous game, scoring 17 off 11 balls to win it for them.

Points to note

This will be the first-ever PSL game in Multan, so pick in-form and experienced Pakistan players in your side.

Darren Sammy called heads and it landed tails resulting in Multan Sultans captain Shan Masood electing to field first. According to Masood, the dew factor contributed to his decision in the first match played in Multan for the 2020 PSL.

Both teams are fielding unchanged XIs. A win for either side will pull them into a three-way tie for first place on four points atop the PSL points table alongside Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United.

Peshawar Zalmi: 1 Tom Banton, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Haider Ali, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Liam Dawson, 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Rahat Ali, 11 Mohammad Amir Khan.

Multan Sultans: 1 Shan Masood (capt), 2 James Vince, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Rilee Rossouw, 5 Zeeshan Ashraf (wk), 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Mohammad Ilyas, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Mohammad Irfan.

It was a fitting finish. Bismah Maroof skipped down the pitch at her opposite number, Stafaine Taylor, and drove a boundary through off the side to seal a clinical chase from Pakistan. They have had to bide their time to join the tournament as the last team to play a match, but their entry was one of the most complete performances so far.

Some context shows how significant the result was. This was their first T20I in Australia for five-and-a-half years; they lost their one official World Cup warm-up match that survived the weather in Brisbane by five runs to Bangladesh; they had only won two of their previous 12 T20Is against West Indies (although this win did make it two in a row after a victory a year ago in Karachi). Was this upset? The history would suggest so.

ALSO READ: Baig, Javeria star as Pakistan beat West Indies

Pakistan have never moved out of the first round of T20 World Cup. Pre-tournament, when assessments were made about where sides stand, they were generally bracketed in the third tier - those aiming for, perhaps, a solitary win and a sign of progression. This performance suggested that they may be able to offer more than that. Pakistan are now one of four sides with two points in Group B and have Thailand to play. England and South Africa will pose tougher challenges, but they are on notice.

"We needed this win to move ahead," Maroof said. "I think looking ahead versus England, this win has given us some momentum and belief. The way this tournament has gone, it's quite wide open and any team can beat the other."

It all started with the first ball. Diana Baig won an lbw appeal against Hayley Matthews which pitched at least six inches outside leg stump (from a right-arm over bowler to a right-handed batter) but Matthews took too long to decide whether to review. There were some mystified looks in the West Indies dugout when she returned.

"Everything went wrong from the first ball of the game with Hayley getting out," allrounder Chinelle Henry said, aptly summing up West Indies' evening.

The wicket unsettled West Indies and Pakistan took advantage. Baig's opening spell was 3-0-6-2 as she also claimed the scalp of Lee-Ann Kirby when she carved a catch into the off side. Javeria Khan, who was named player of the match for her momentum-seizing 35 off 28 balls, believed the award should have been Baig's. "I am really surprised that I got this award. I think more than me, Diana [Baig] deserves it because she gave us the start which we never expected and I think she deserved it," she said at the presentation.

Deandra Dottin was clearly still struggling from the effects of the shoulder surgery that made her briefly ponder quitting the game - she can't throw in the outfield, relaying everything to a team-mate, and has yet to bowl - and laboured to 1 off 10 balls before picking out long-on in Nida Dar's first over. Then, as West Indies were staging a recovery through Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle, Maroof showed the value of getting a DRS call correct when Campbelle was initially given not out when she missed a reverse sweep.

There was a contrast to the energy in the two teams throughout. West Indies had scrapped together a total that could have challenged Pakistan with early wickets, but they were poor from the start in the field and by the time Khan and Muneeba Ali had added 58 for the first wicket, the game was Pakistan's to lose. The fact that never came close to happening emphasises how well controlled the chase was. There was a calmness about the batting, and a crispness to the strokeplay, that has not always been associated with Pakistan batting - one shot, a scything hit by Khan off Henry, stood out.

"We've struggled at times in the past, but we focused to stay calm and stay in the middle…and I think credit to Nida, as well, how she played and finished the game," Maroof said. "I think how the openers played set the tone for us, and we just needed to get the run rate going. We want to play aggressive cricket and get the bad balls to the boundaries."

When Maroof struck the winning boundary and ran up the pitch there was a little punch of the air. A job very well done. "Pakistan, Zindabad!" came the chant from a couple of small pockets of Pakistan supporters at Manuka Oval. Could this be their breakout tournament?

Five Serie A matches, including Juventus' home clash with title rivals Inter Milan, will be played behind closed doors this weekend following an outbreak of coronavirus in northern Italy.

There were four games cancelled for the same reason the previous weekend as preventative measures were put in place.

- Coronavirus: Inter Europa Lge clash behind closed doors
- Watch live Serie A football on ESPN+

As well as Juve-Inter, Udinese's home match with Fiorentina, Milan vs. Genoa and Sassuolo against Brescia will all be played behind closed doors.

Matches taking place in the south of the country, including Lazio-Bologna, Napoli-Torino, Lecce-Atalanta and Cagliari-Roma, will all be played with fans inside the ground.

No decision has been made over Monday night's contest between Sampdoria and Verona, which takes place in the northern city of Genoa.

Last weekend saw Verona-Cagliari, Atalanta-Sassuolo, Torino-Parma and Inter-Sampdoria all cancelled, with no decision on when they will be rescheduled for.

It could prove a problematic situation for title-challengers Inter, who are still in the Europa League and Coppa Italia, with suggestions their match Sampdoria could now take place at the end of the season.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has announced her retirement.

"Tennis -- I'm saying goodbye," she wrote in an essay that appeared Wednesday in Vogue and Vanity Fair.

Sharapova turned pro in 2001 at age 14. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008 and the French Open in 2012 and 2014.

The 32-year-old Russian reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2012, but she has dropped to No. 373. She lost in the first round of this year's Australian Open to Croatia's Donna Vekic in straight sets. She played only two matches this season and lost both.

"Throughout my career, Is it worth it? was never even a question -- in the end, it always was," she wrote. "My mental fortitude has always been my strongest weapon. Even if my opponent was physically stronger, more confident -- even just plain better -- I could, and did, persevere.

Sharapova received a two-year suspension from the International Tennis Federation in 2016 for testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. The suspension was reduced to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after Sharapova appealed. The CAS said there was "no significant fault" by her.

"In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me, and it will feel really good to have it back," Sharapova said in a statement after her successful appeal.

Since that suspension, Sharapova managed to reach only one major quarterfinal.

Shoulder injuries hampered her career, and she had multiple surgeries.

Sharapova compiled a 645-171 singles record that included 36 titles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Running shoe company signs three-year deal with parkrun in the UK and Ireland

The growth and impact of parkrun shows little sign of slowing down and this week it enjoyed a further boost with Brooks agreeing to a three-year partnership deal.

Both organisations believe that the ‘run happy’ spirit of Brooks fits in nicely with the ethos of parkrun and its weekly free series of running events.

The new relationship between the two organisations will see Brooks holding activation zones at a select number of parkrun events from this month where runners can test out shoes in the parkrun followed by a discussion with a running coach about their running style and potential best shoe choice.

Brooks are also keen that they can also help the runner tell their own story during these interactions.

“People come into parkrun for a lot of different reasons and the stories behind that are personal and powerful and a great source of inspiration not only for that person but for others,” says Matt Dodge from Brooks.

Nick Pearson, chief executive of parkrun, adds: “We’ve been really in love with the ‘run happy’ message that sits with the Brooks brand and is represented by their activity. More and more it feels like it’s an increasingly good cultural fit.”

NEW YORK -- For the past six years, affluent African-American families from around the United States have converged on Martha's Vineyard for a festival called the O.B. Boogie. Friends reconnect, and children play on the beach in front of corporate logos as sponsors ranging from BMW to Essence to Comcast eagerly cater to this audience.

Last summer's O.B. Boogie, held on a rainy afternoon and attended by roughly 900 people, had only one professional sports league as a sponsor, and it was an unlikely one, given the demographics: the National Hockey League.

The NHL partnered with Franklin Sports to present street hockey demonstrations and give away gear. Willie O'Ree, the player who broke the NHL's color barrier in 1958, took pictures and signed autographs. African-American parents watched their children pick up hockey sticks for the first time and play under a large tent as rain fell during the afternoon.

"I think there's this perception that because our sport is a very white sport, it's not welcoming. And I'm not sure that's necessarily correct," said Kim Davis, NHL executive vice president for social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs.

"The level of engagement that created was astounding. We got some kids that are now inspired, signing up for learn-to-play programs. Those people are going back to their communities across the country and talking about hockey in a very different way."

This has been the primary mission for Davis since she joined the NHL in December 2017: changing the conversation about hockey and diversity and changing the conversation about hockey within diverse communities.

As marketing challenges go, it's a considerable one: Davis said there are fewer than 30 black players in the NHL, of the 954 skaters and goaltenders who have appeared in the league so far in the 2019-20 season. The diversity in the coaching community and team hockey operations departments lags far behind even that small percentage of representation.

But Davis is meeting this challenge in ways the NHL hadn't considered before, such as bringing street hockey to an African-American beach party or presenting the NHL's plan to make the sport more inclusive to 3,000 attendees at the National Association of Black Journalists conference last summer in Florida.

"Just the fact we were there ... it was like, 'We didn't even know you were interested in our community, let alone coming and talking about the things that you are doing.' It built a new kind of excitement and changed the conversation," Davis said.

Her work in the past two years has won the admiration of many NHL players of color.

"She's awesome. What she's trying to implement in the NHL as far as trying to bring more diversity to the league and create awareness, especially to black hockey players and black youth, it's great," said Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks.

"She has her views of where the game is going. And she's not someone that's going to be pushed around. That's what I like about her. She's a very strong woman, and it gives players like myself comfort knowing that she's in the position that she's in."

Especially when she's willing to take on critics of the NHL's diversity -- critics such as Evander Kane.

Davis arrived in the NHL after a two-decade career at JPMorgan Chase in which she served as managing director of GLOBAL CSR and president of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. The small, Connecticut-based bank where she started was acquired by Chase in 1991, and she was one of only two employees who survived the absorption. In 1995, she became the first African-American promoted to a senior vice president position at Chase.

"Kim's professional experience uniquely qualifies her to ensure that our league is continuing to improve lives and strengthen and build vibrant communities through hockey as well as provide a safe, positive and inclusive environment for anyone associated with our league," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said when Davis was hired.

It was a very different time when she started on her career path. "When you're in that position in any industry, you have to have a certain level of courage and fearlessness to be successful," she said. "There are always going to be stereotypes, always things that people say and do. I could spend hours with you telling you about the experiences I had in the course of my career."

Davis applies the lessons she learned from that journey to her work in the NHL.

"What I'd like to see our players do is to not ignore the harsh realities of racism -- because they're real -- but to rise above them, to think about the leadership that they can demonstrate for the next generation," she said. "That's not always easy, but it's necessary."

That's why Davis understood where Evander Kane was coming from when he criticized the NHL in ESPN The Magazine's 2019 Body Issue. He said the league didn't have the right approach to growing the game with diverse audiences. Kane also said the league's prominent black players are "wary about stepping outside and doing something that might disrupt the norm" when it comes to standing in solidarity on social issues.

"I think there are perceptions and realities from every angle of that prism. I don't think there's anything the league has done, or demonstrated, that would suggest that there wouldn't be an opportunity for players of color to show social bravery," Davis said. "But the experiences of racism would be something that would make you feel that way."

Davis wanted to have a dialogue with Kane on these matters. She met him for the first time at a humanitarian awards town hall, at which Kane spoke candidly about the league while on a panel. "Some of what he was saying was spot-on, and some of what he was saying wasn't fact-based," she said.

So Davis stood up and introduced herself at the event -- to correct the record and to connect with Kane. She sent him emails over the summer about the work the NHL was doing "as a way to hopefully inspire him to channel that energy into a partnership," she said. "I hope that him seeing the facts with what we're beginning to accomplish, the points we're putting on the board, will inspire him to [action]."

In November, Kane and Davis appeared together at an event that brought pickup hockey to Westlake Middle School in Oakland, California. Kane said his friendship with Davis continues to grow.

"We've had a lot of candid conversations over the last couple of years. She gets it. She's someone that does everything she can to understand both sides of issues and use them to her advantage to get stuff done," he said.

But to accomplish what she hopes for the NHL, Davis said she needs to deputize players such as Kane as prominent voices on diversity and ones who can point out inequities.

"More and more, we're hearing the voices of those players, and they're seeing the league become more engaged in those multicultural issues. And I do think they're going to be stronger voices," she said.

"What we do have to do a better job of is educating and inspiring our players of color so that they become more integrated as ambassadors. Because when I talk to people in the market, and I ask how many black or brown players we have in the league, I get a number somewhere between one and five. So when I say there are 27 active, people are astounded."

To that end, representation among the player pool is vital, but it isn't something the NHL is going to change overnight.

"While representation is important, people are smart, and they understand that it's a generational issue and a [player] pipeline issue and that it takes more than a decade to get that going," Davis said. "But there are other ways to create expression and aspiration within communities."

Take, for example, the Black Girl Hockey Club.

The NHL's signature campaign on diversity is called "Hockey Is For Everyone." It's an initiative that has brought NHL players to LGBTQ parades and has everything from Black History Month to Spanish Heritage Month on the league's promotional calendar. Davis said the Hispanic audience is the NHL's fastest growing segment.

Although the campaign has put a spotlight on diversity, Davis sees it transforming into something greater. "As we began to reimagine what our outreach should look like, we decided to expand that campaign to not be, as I like to refer to it, as the flavor of the month but to integrate that campaign into how we approach our marketing and outreach. Make it much more holistic," she said.

In other words, don't just follow the calendar. If there's a place to grow the game among diverse audiences, go to that place, and support it.

For example, in summer 2018, Renee Hess reached out to Davis with an idea. She and other female hockey fans of color were kicking around the notion of a meetup in Washington, D.C., under the banner "Black Girl Hockey Club." Davis responded by asking what the NHL could do to help grow the club and what an ideal meetup would look like.

"Instead of sitting in her office and watching from afar, she met us on the streets, walked with us on our tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American [History and] Culture, hung out with our group pregame and talked with the kids and their moms about hockey," Hess said. "That is her personality. Kim Davis not only shows up but she shows out. She's come to a number of our events to meet attendees and support our mission."

This seemed like common sense to Davis.

"Women are 40% of our fan base. That's a big deal. I don't think it's just about women playing the sport. It's about the front office. It's about officiating. That we know this is important to women: that representation, at every level," Davis said. "Women of color are the fastest growing demographic in this country and the most highly educated. That's a segment we can give even more focus to."

The Black Girl Hockey Club has now visited many NHL arenas, from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh to New Jersey, and it was recently featured on NBC's "Hockey Week Across America" coverage.

"I think we learned a lot from organizations like the Black Girl Hockey Club," Davis said. "When we started partnering with them a year ago, the founder said that these girls were all avid fans that felt like they couldn't go and show the expression of their culture in a stadium. I think there were probably some preconceived notions on both sides of that equation there. They didn't know that they could. But when they were invited to a Caps game, they were so welcome. Now they're on, like, a nine-city tour."

Hess appreciated the early support.

"I truly believe that Kim Davis is facilitating a culture change at the NHL from the inside out," she said. "Her hiring reiterates what I will continue to say is the most important factor when it comes to authentic cultural engagement: Hire women of color and LGBTQ and differently abled folks if those are the communities you want to reach. Representation matters. Minority hockey fans are here to stay, and we want more people like Kim Davis, who uses her place within hockey culture to make space for organizations like the Black Girl Hockey Club."

The NHL, in turn, appreciates Hess. Part of Davis' task is to connect diverse audiences with the league. That includes program such as the "Lunch and Learn" events held last year in Washington and Philadelphia. "We engaged thought leaders in the Hispanic and African-American communities in those markets, and we listened," she said. "We asked those leaders, many from the not-for-profit community and politics and grassroots organizers, to tell us what we can do to make the sport feel more authentic."

In November, the NHL put Davis and Hess on a conference call with all 31 teams plus Seattle to discuss authentic engagement with the black community. That included everything from hiring practices to rush programs with historically black colleges and universities to praise for events such as the Vancouver Canucks' Diwali Night and the AHL San Antonio Rampage's 2019 Dia de los Muertos celebration.

"The NHL still has a long way to go in terms of consistency in enforcing their Declaration of Principles, but so does the hockey culture in general. Diversity and inclusion initiatives cannot and should not be a one-and-done marketing strategy. This work is never done. Equality and equity are lifelong struggles," Hess said.

"Having Kim, a black woman who has fought against stereotypes her entire life, working in the C-suite of what is arguably the whitest sport of the top five makes fans like me feel seen. The fact that Kim consistently works to make space for other black women in hockey makes me want to do the same, and that is what Black Girl Hockey Club is all about."

Davis said she understands that the fans' experience at games is "a microcosm of our society," for better or worse.

"We know that we have opportunities for improvement in our society, in particular given the climate today. So you're going to find different experiences in different settings," she said. "I think what we have to continue to do is that when [we] see behavior that's inconsistent with our values, we have to have the bravery to take a stand."

That includes when a coach is accused of using a racial slur against a player.

Akim Aliu took a stand in November. After allegations of mental abuse were levied against former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock following his dismissal, Aliu accused "his protégé" of "dropping the N-bomb several times towards me in the dressing room." He later elaborated in a TSN interview about incidents involving that "protégé," otherwise known as then-Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters. Those accusations led to other players speaking out about Peters' physical abuse while he coached the Carolina Hurricanes, which the team confirmed as having occurred.

Peters resigned as Calgary coach on Nov. 29, 2019, and Davis' role in the NHL became much more vital.

On Dec. 9, 2019, Bettman announced that the NHL would create a "multidisciplinary council to suggest initiatives, monitor progress and coordinate efforts with all levels of hockey" that would also "make resources available to help any organization that might reach out for assistance" on issues of diversity and inclusion. Davis was appointed director of that council.

She said the Peters controversy "accelerated our timeline" for a "three-to-five-year strategic plan" around culture and inclusion.

"There's often some kind of defining moment for an organization that causes that organization to both accelerate its efforts but also to become a rallying call for that organization," she said. "So I see that as positive."

Davis identified three categories of focus for her council.

"[First] is a generational history of individuals who have sort of gone through a certain kind of treatment feeling like, 'Well, I endured it, so the next generation has to endure it.' Until you break that cycle, that continues," she said.

"Then there is the completely unacceptable issues around racial slurs, homophobic slurs and any kind of [abusive] language. The third box is creating an environment where people -- players and people within our sport -- feel a level of trust such that they believe they can now step forward and speak the truth. Speaking truth to power is hard."

When Bettman announced the new council at the Board of Governors meeting in Pebble Beach, California, Davis held a small media conference with reporters. It was there that she was asked the question that all of these campaigns, councils and conversations seem to inevitably lead to:

Does hockey have a racism problem?

Davis paused to consider her answer.

"To say that the culture of hockey is racist is inappropriate and inaccurate," she said. "I believe society has a racism problem. To categorize this as a 'hockey problem' minimizes our ability to use this moment in our sport to understand that we are a microcosm of society."

Societal change doesn't happen rapidly. There can be incremental progress, small victories and truths spoken. But ultimately, what Kim Davis hopes to witness is a generational shift in diversity and inclusion. That includes everyone from millennials to Gen-Z to whatever label would apply to a young African-American child picking up her first hockey stick at a Martha's Vineyard picnic.

"When talking about them, you can't dismiss the fact that 'minority' is a misnomer," she said. "These generations are the most diverse that we've ever seen in the history of our country. And that's the case in Canada as well, with new Canadians. It's not just the ethnic and the racial diversity issues. It's that these generations think of multiculturalism as a way of thinking and a way of being. They're thinking about the integration in social media and food and fashion. So as a league, it causes us to think very differently.

"This change is going to be evolutionary, not revolutionary."

Former USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann has launched a scathing attack on Hertha Berlin's leadership in a revealing leaked diary of his ill-fated 76-day tenure at the Bundesliga club.

Published by German outlet Sport Bild on Wednesday, Klinsmann accused the club of a "culture of lying" and said its leadership were incompetent.

- ESPN+ gets Bundesliga rights starting in 2020

Klinsmann's management has confirmed the authenticity of the document to German news agencies DPA and SID. They added they do not know who leaked the diary.

Earlier this month, Klinsmann resigned from his role, leaving Hertha shocked by his decision.

In the leaked 22-page diary, written during his time in Berlin, Klinsmann said: "The leadership must immediately be sacked. Should this not happen, all the good signings will turn into average players because there is one basic rule in football: You are only as good as the environment you play in."

The document alleges that issues at the club began once Klinsmann was appointed to the supervisory board and before being named interim coach.

On Nov. 25 the document said: "Klinsmann calls Ralf Rangnick, who has twice shown at Hoffenheim and Leipzig that he can do such jobs successfully. Rangnick makes it clear that he believes the project in Berlin is exciting but he would never join with [sporting executive] Michael Preetz."

On Nov. 29, just days after his appointment as head coach, Klinsmann wrote: "The planning for the winter preparation for the second half of the season for which Michael Preetz is responsible is a catastrophe.

"The club is in a relegation battle but they are planning like they are an international top club with numerous top players."

In response to the claims, Hertha released a statement to members, claiming the ex-Bayern Munich boss "deceived" the club. They allege he is attempting to "justify his resignation with absurd allegations."

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Preetz said: "We took note of our former coach's allegations with deep concern.

"The club takes damage through things like that. We reserve the right to take legal action."

Klinsmann depicts president Werner Gegenbauer as an "ill-tempered" person who does not stick to his word and claimed director Preetz's relationship with the team was shaped by a "culture of lying which destroyed the mutual trust with the players."

He added that Preetz's reign, which started in 2009 has led to "catastrophic failings in the sporting department."

"The club would have been directly relegated to the second tier without the change in the dugout in November," the diary concludes following Klinsmann's resignation.

"They were just not prepared for this situation. Years and years of catastrophic failings from Michael Preetz in all things related to the sporting sector. Catastrophic squad planning by Michael Preetz.

"There is a culture of lying which destroyed the mutual trust between Michael Preetz and the players."

In further jibes at the club's media department and medical staff, Klinsmann said that sponsorship deals with Amazon and TESLA were tied to his name as well as a further €150 million cash injection by investor Lars Windhorst.

Hertha spent around €80m on new players in the January transfer window -- more than any other club in Europe -- but with 11 matches left to be played in the 2019-20 season, they remain in a battle against relegation.

Interim coach Alexander Nouri remains in charge ahead of Friday's trip to Dusseldorf, who are six points behind Hertha in the relegation playoff place.

Klinsmann, 55, was appointed by Hertha on Nov. 26, 2019, and won just three of his 10 matches in charge, losing four and drawing three.