title: Masters Tournament

text: In 2013, Augusta National partnered with the USGA and the PGA of America to establish "Drive, Chip and Putt", a youth golf skills competition which was first held in 2014. The event was established as part of an effort to help promote the sport of golf among youth; the winners of local qualifiers in different age groups advance to the national finals, which have been held at Augusta National on the Sunday immediately preceding the Masters. The driving and chipping portions of the event are held on the course's practice range, and the putting portion has been played on the 18th hole.


title: Masters Tournament

text: On April 4, 2018, prior to the 2018 tournament, new Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced that the club would host the Augusta National Women's Amateur beginning in 2019. The first two rounds will be held at the Champion's Retreat club in Evans, Georgia, with the final two rounds hosted by Augusta National (the final round will take place on the Saturday directly preceding the tournament). Ridley stated that holding such an event at Augusta National would have the "greatest impact" on women's golf. Although concerns were raised that the event would conflict with the LPGA Tour's ANA Inspiration (which has invited top amateur players to compete), Ridley stated that he had discussed the event with commissioner Mike Whan, and stated that he agreed on the notion that any move to bolster the prominence of women's golf would be a "win" for the LPGA over time. The winner of the Augusta National Women's Amateur is exempt from two women's golf majors.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The Par-3 contest was first introduced in 1960, and was won that year by Snead. Since then it has traditionally been played on the Wednesday before the tournament starts. The par 3 course was built in 1958. It is a nine-hole course, with a par of 27, and measures in length.


title: Masters Tournament

text: There have been 94 holes-in-one in the history of the contest, with a record nine occurring in 2016. Camilo Villegas became the first player to card two holes-in-one in the same round during the 2015 Par 3 Contest. No par 3 contest winner has also won the Masters in the same year. There have been several repeat winners, including Pádraig Harrington, Sandy Lyle, Sam Snead, and Tom Watson. The former two won in successive years.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In this event, golfers may use their children as caddies, which helps to create a family-friendly atmosphere. In 2008, the event was televised for the first time by ESPN.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The winner of the par 3 competition, which is played the day before the tournament begins, wins a crystal bowl.


title: Masters Tournament

text: As with the other majors, winning the Masters gives a golfer several privileges which make his career more secure. Masters champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship) for the next five years (except for amateur winners, unless they turn pro within the five-year period), and earn a lifetime invitation to the Masters. They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for five years.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Because the tournament was established by an amateur champion, Bobby Jones, the Masters has a tradition of honoring amateur golf. It invites winners of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the world. Also, the current U.S. Amateur champion always plays in the same group as the defending Masters champion for the first two days of the tournament.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Amateurs in the field are welcome to stay in the "Crow's Nest" atop the Augusta National clubhouse during the tournament. The Crow's Nest is with lodging space for five during the competition.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Since 1963, the custom in most years has been to start the tournament with an honorary opening tee shot at the first hole, typically by one or more legendary players. For a number of years before 1963, Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod had been the first pair to tee off, both being able to play as past major championship winners. However, in 1963 the eligibility rules were changed and they were no longer able to compete. The idea of honorary starters was introduced with Hutchison and McLeod being the first two. This twosome led off every tournament from 1963 until 1973 when poor health prevented Hutchison from swinging a club. McLeod continued on until his death in 1976. Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen started in 1981 and were then joined by Sam Snead in 1984. This trio continued until 1999 when Sarazen died, while Nelson stopped in 2001. Snead hit his final opening tee shot in 2002, a little over a month before he died.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In 2007, Arnold Palmer took over as the honorary starter. Palmer also had the honor in 2008 and 2009. At the 2010 and 2011 Masters Tournaments, Jack Nicklaus joined Palmer as an honorary co-starter for the event. In 2012, Gary Player joined them. Palmer announced in March 2016 that a lingering shoulder issue would prevent him from partaking in the 2016 tee shot. Palmer was still in attendance for the ceremony.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Following Palmer's death in 2016, the 2017 ceremony featured tributes; his green jacket was draped over an empty white chair, while everyone in attendance wore "Arnie's Army" badges.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In 2021 Lee Elder joined Nicklaus and Player as an honorary starter. He was invited to join them as he was the first African-American to take part in the Masters in 1975. Despite bad health preventing Elder from hitting a shot, he was still present and received a standing ovation from the crowd.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The Champions' Dinner is held each year on the Tuesday evening preceding Thursday's first round. The dinner was first held in 1952, hosted by defending champion Ben Hogan, to honor the past champions of the tournament. At that time 15 tournaments had been played, and the number of past champions was 11. Officially known as the "Masters Club", it includes only past winners of the Masters, although selected members of the Augusta National Golf Club have been included as honorary members, usually the chairman.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The defending champion, as host, selects the menu for the dinner. Frequently, Masters champions have served cuisine from their home regions prepared by the Masters chef. Notable examples have included haggis, served by Scotsman Sandy Lyle in 1989, and bobotie, a South African dish, served at the behest of 2008 champion Trevor Immelman. Other examples include German Bernhard Langer's 1986 Wiener schnitzel, Britain's Nick Faldo's fish and chips, Canadian Mike Weir's elk and wild boar, and Vijay Singh's seafood tom kah and chicken panang curry. The 2011 dinner of Phil Mickelson was a Spanish-themed menu in hopes that Seve Ballesteros would attend, but he was too sick to attend and died weeks later.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In 1998, Tiger Woods served cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries and milkshakes. Woods was the youngest winner, and when asked about his food choices, he responded with "They said you could pick anything you want... Hey, it’s part of being young, that’s what I eat." Fuzzy Zoeller, the 1979 champion, created a media storm when he suggested that Woods refrain from serving collard greens and fried chicken, dishes commonly associated with African-American culture.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Until 1983, all players in the Masters were required to use the services of an Augusta National Club caddie, who by club tradition was always an African-American man. Club co-founder Clifford Roberts is reputed to have said, "As long as I'm alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black." Since 1983—six years after Roberts's death in 1977—players have been allowed the option of bringing their own caddie to the tournament.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The Masters requires caddies to wear a uniform consisting of a white jumpsuit, a green Masters cap, and white tennis shoes. The surname, and sometimes first initial, of each player is found on the back of his caddie's uniform. The defending champion always receives caddie number "1": other golfers get their caddie numbers from the order in which they register for the tournament. The other majors and some PGA Tour events formerly had a similar policy concerning caddies well into the 1970s; the U.S. Open first allowed players to use their own caddies in 1976.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The Masters is the first major championship of the year. Since 1948, its final round has been scheduled for the second Sunday of April, with several exceptions. It ended on the first Sunday four times (1952, 1957, 1958, 1959) and the 1979 and 1984 tournaments ended on April 15, the month's third Sunday. The first edition in 1934 was held in late March and the next ten were in early April, with only the 1942 event scheduled to end on the second Sunday. The 2020 event, postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, was held from November 12 to 15, thus being the last major of the year.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Similar to the other majors, the tournament consists of four rounds at 18 holes each, Thursday through Sunday (when there are no delays). The Masters has a relatively small field of contenders when compared with other golf tournaments, so the competitors play in groups of three for the first two rounds (36 holes) and the field is not split to start on the 1st and 10th tees unless weather shortens the available playing time. The tournament is unique in that it is the only major tournament conducted by a private club rather than a national golf organization like the PGA.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Originally, the Masters was the only tournament to use two-man pairings during the first two rounds. It was also the only event to re-pair based on the leaderboard before Friday's round, as most tournaments only do this on the weekend. This practice ended in the early 2000s when the Masters switched to the more standard three-man groups and the groups are now kept intact on Friday, with players sharing the same playing partners in both of the first two rounds.


title: Masters Tournament

text: After 36 holes of play, a cut-off score is calculated to reduce the size of the field for the weekend rounds. In 2020, to "make the cut", players must be in the top 50 places (ties counting). Before 1957, there was no 36-hole cut and all of the invitees played four rounds, if desired. From 1957 to 1961, the top 40 scores (including ties) made the cut. From 1962 to 2012, it was the top 44 (and ties) or within 10 strokes of the lead. From 2013 to 2019, it was the top 50 (and ties) or within 10 strokes of the lead.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Following the cut, an additional 36 holes are played over the final two days. Should the fourth round fail to produce a winner, all players tied for the lead enter a sudden-death playoff. Play begins on the 18th hole, followed by the adjacent 10th, repeating until one player remains. Adopted in 1976, the sudden-death playoff was originally formatted to start on the first hole, but was not needed for the first three years. It was changed for 1979 to the inward (final) nine holes, starting at the tenth tee, where the television coverage began. First employed that same year, the Masters' first sudden-death playoff, won by Fuzzy Zoeller, ended on the 11th green. The current arrangement, beginning at the 18th tee, was amended for 2004 and first used the following year. Through 2017, the eleven sudden-death playoffs have yet to advance past the second extra hole. Earlier playoffs were 18 holes on the following day, except for the first in 1935, which was 36 holes (Gene Sarazen defeated Craig Wood); the last 18-hole playoff was in 1970 when Billy Casper defeated Gene Littler, and none of the full-round playoffs went to additional holes.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The golf course was formerly a plant nursery and each hole is named after the tree or shrub with which it has become associated.<br>


title: Masters Tournament

text: As with many other courses, Augusta National's championship setup was lengthened in recent years. In 2001, the course measured and was extended to for 2002, and again in 2006 to ; longer than the 2001 course. The changes attracted many critics, including the most successful players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed that the "shorter hitters are going to struggle." Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed, stating, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course." After a practice round, Gary Player defended the changes, saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I've played it... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit (in his prime)".


title: Masters Tournament

text: The first hole was shortened by for the 2009 Masters Tournament. For the 2019 Masters Tournament, the fifth hole was lengthened by from 455 yards to 495 yards, with two new gaping bunkers on the left side of the fairway. The current length of the course is .


title: Masters Tournament

text: Originally, the grass on the putting greens was wide-bladed Bermuda. The greens lost speed, especially during the late 1970s, after the introduction of a healthier strain of narrow-bladed Bermuda, which thrived and grew thicker. In 1978, the greens on the par 3 course were reconstructed with bentgrass, a narrow-bladed species that could be mowed shorter, eliminating grain. After this test run, the greens on the main course were replaced with bentgrass in time for the 1981 Masters. The bentgrass resulted in significantly faster putting surfaces, which has required a reduction in some of the contours of the greens over time.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Just before the 1975 tournament, the common beige sand in the bunkers was replaced with the now-signature white feldspar. It is a quartz derivative of the mining of feldspar and is shipped in from North Carolina.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The Masters has the smallest field of the major championships, with 90–100 players. Unlike other majors, there are no alternates or qualifying tournaments. It is an invitational event, with invitations largely issued on an automatic basis to players who meet published criteria. The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are all invited.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Past champions are always eligible, but since 2002 the Augusta National Golf Club has discouraged them from continuing to participate at an advanced age. Some will later become honorary starters.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Most of the top current players will meet the criteria of multiple categories for invitation. The Masters Committee, at its discretion, can also invite any golfer not otherwise qualified, although in practice these invitations are currently reserved for international players.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Changes for the 2014 tournament include invitations now being awarded to the autumn events in the PGA Tour, which now begin the wraparound season, tightening of qualifications (top 12 plus ties from the Masters, top 4 from the U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship), and the top 30 on the PGA Tour now referencing the season-ending points before the Tour Championship, not the former annual money list. The 2015 Masters added the winner of the newly established Latin America Amateur Championship, which effectively replaced the exemption for the U.S. Amateur Public Links, which ended after the 2014 tournament. (The final Public Links champion played in the 2015 Masters.)


title: Masters Tournament

text: The first winner of the Masters Tournament was Horton Smith in 1934, and he repeated in 1936. The player with the most Masters victories is Jack Nicklaus, who won six times between 1963 and 1986. Tiger Woods has five wins, followed by Arnold Palmer with four, and Jimmy Demaret, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson have three titles to their name. Player was the tournament's first overseas winner with his first victory in 1961. Two-time champions include Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, José María Olazábal, and Bubba Watson.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In 1952 the Masters began presenting an award, known as the Silver Cup, to the lowest-scoring amateur to make the cut. In 1954 they began presenting an amateur silver medal to the low amateur runner-up. There have been seven players to win low amateur and then go on to win the Masters as a professional. These players are Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Sergio García, and Hideki Matsuyama.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Jack Nicklaus has won the most Masters (six) and was old when he won in 1986, making him the oldest winner of the Masters. Nicklaus is the record holder for the most top tens, with 22, and the most cuts made, with 37. The youngest winner of the Masters is Tiger Woods, who was old when he won in 1997. In that year Woods also broke the records for the widest winning margin (12 strokes), and the lowest winning score, with 270 (−18). Jordan Spieth tied his score record in 2015, and Dustin Johnson broke it in 2020.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In 2013, Guan Tianlang became the youngest player ever to compete in the Masters, at age on the opening day of the tournament; the following day, he became the youngest ever to make the cut at the Masters or any men's major championship.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Gary Player holds the record for most appearances, with 52. Player also holds the record for the number of consecutive cuts made, with 23 between 1959 and 1982 (Player did not compete in 1973 as he was recovering from recent surgery). He shares this record with Fred Couples, who made his consecutive cuts between 1983 and 2007, not competing in 1987 and 1994.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Nick Price and Greg Norman share the course record of 63, with their rounds coming in 1986 and 1996 respectively.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The highest winning score of 289 (+1) has occurred three times: Sam Snead in 1954, Jack Burke Jr. in 1956, and Zach Johnson in 2007. Anthony Kim holds the record for most birdies in a round with 11 in 2009 during his second round.


title: Masters Tournament

text: There have been only four double eagles carded in the history of the Masters; the latest was by a contender in the fourth round in 2012. In the penultimate pairing with eventual champion Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen's downhill 4 iron from the fairway made the left side of the green at the par-5 second hole, called "Pink Dogwood", rolled downhill, and in. The other two rare occurrences of this feat after Sarazen's double eagle on the fabled course's "Fire Thorn" hole in 1935: Bruce Devlin made double eagle from out with a 4-wood at the eighth hole ("Yellow Jasmine") in the first round in 1967, while Jeff Maggert hit a 3-iron at the 13th hole ("Azalea") in the fourth round in 1994.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Three players share the record for most runner-up finishes with four – Ben Hogan (1942, 1946, 1954, 1955), Tom Weiskopf (1969, 1972, 1974, 1975), and Jack Nicklaus (1964, 1971, 1977, 1981). Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only golfers to have won the Masters in three separate decades.


title: Masters Tournament

text: CBS has televised the Masters in the United States every year since 1956, when it used six cameras and covered only the final four holes. Tournament coverage of the first eight holes did not begin until 1993 because of resistance from the tournament organizers, but by 2006, more than 50 cameras were used. Chairman Jack Stephens felt that the back nine was always more "compelling", increased coverage would increase the need for sponsorship spending, and that broadcasting the front nine of the course on television would cut down on attendance and television viewership for the tournament. USA Network added first- and second-round coverage in 1982. In 2008, ESPN replaced USA as broadcaster of early-round coverage. These broadcasts use the CBS Sports production staff and commentators, but with ESPN personality Scott Van Pelt (succeeding Mike Tirico, who replaced Bill Macatee's similar role under USA Network) as studio host, as well as Curtis Strange as studio analyst. CBS carries two 15-minute highlight programs in late night covering the first and second rounds, which airs after their affiliates' late night local newscasts.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In 2005, CBS broadcast the tournament with high-definition fixed and handheld wired cameras, as well as standard-definition wireless handheld cameras. In 2006, a webstream called "Amen Corner Live" began providing coverage of all players passing through holes 11, 12, and 13 through all four rounds. This was the first full tournament multi-hole webcast from a major championship. In 2007, CBS added "Masters Extra," an extra hour of full-field bonus coverage daily on the internet, preceding the television broadcasts. In 2008, CBS added full coverage of holes 15 and 16 live on the web. In 2011, "Masters Extra" was dropped after officials gave ESPN an extra hour each day on Thursday and Friday. In 2016, the Amen Corner feed was broadcast in 4K ultra high definition exclusively on DirecTV—as one of the first live U.S. sports telecasts in the format. A second channel of 4K coverage covering holes 15 and 16 was added in 2017, and this coverage was produced with high-dynamic-range (HDR) color in 2018.


title: Masters Tournament

text: While Augusta National Golf Club has consistently chosen CBS as its U.S. broadcast partner, it has done so in successive one-year contracts. Former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson stated that their relationship had gotten to the point where the contracts could be negotiated in just hours. Due to the lack of long-term contractual security, as well as the club's limited dependence on broadcast rights fees (owing to its affluent membership), it is widely held that CBS allows Augusta National greater control over the content of the broadcast, or at least performs some form of self-censorship, in order to maintain future rights. The club, however, has insisted it does not make any demands with respect to the content of the broadcast. Despite this, announcers who have been deemed not to have acted with the decorum expected by the club have been removed, notably Jack Whitaker and Gary McCord, and there also tends to be a lack of discussion of any controversy involving Augusta National, such as the 2003 Martha Burk protests.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The coverage itself carries a more formal style than other golf telecasts; announcers refer to the gallery as "patrons" rather than as "spectators" or "fans". "Gallery" itself is also used. The club also disallows promotions for other network programs, or other forms of sponsored features. Significant restrictions have been placed on the tournament's broadcast hours compared to other major championships. Only in the 21st century did the tournament allow CBS to air 18-hole coverage of the leaders, a standard at the other three majors. Since 1982, CBS has used "Augusta" by Dave Loggins as the event telecast's distinctive theme music. Loggins originally came up with the song during his first trip to the Augusta course in 1981.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The club mandates minimal commercial interruption, currently limited to four minutes per hour (as opposed to the usual 12 or more); this is subsidized by selling exclusive sponsorship packages to two or three companies – currently these "global sponsors" are AT&T, IBM, and Mercedes-Benz. AT&T (then SBC) and IBM have sponsored the tournament since 2005, joined at first by ExxonMobil, which in 2014 was replaced as a global sponsor by Mercedes-Benz. In 2002, in the wake of calls to boycott tournament sponsors over the Martha Burk controversy, club chairman Hootie Johnson suspended all television sponsorship of the 2003 tournament. He argued that it was "unfair" to have the Masters' sponsors become involved with the controversy by means of association with the tournament, as their sponsorship is of the Masters and not Augusta National itself. CBS agreed to split production costs for the tournament with the club to make up for the lack of sponsorship. After the arrangement continued into 2004, the tournament reinstated sponsorships for 2005, with the new partners of ExxonMobil, IBM, and SBC.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The club also sells separate sponsorship packages, which do not provide rights to air commercials on the U.S. telecasts, to two "international partners"; in 2014, those companies were Rolex and UPS (the latter of which replaced Mercedes-Benz upon that company's elevation to "global sponsor" status).


title: Masters Tournament

text: Westwood One (previously Dial Global and CBS Radio) has provided live radio play-by-play coverage in the United States since 1956. This coverage can also be heard on the official Masters website. The network provides short two- or three-minute updates throughout the tournament, as well as longer three- and four-hour segments towards the end of the day.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The BBC had broadcast the Masters in the UK since 1986, and it also provides live radio commentary on the closing stages on Radio Five Live. With the 2007 launch of BBC HD, UK viewers were able to watch the championship in that format. BBC Sport held the exclusive TV and radio rights through to 2010. The BBC's coverage airs without commercials because it is financed by a licence fee. From the 2011 Masters, Sky Sports began broadcasting all four days, as well as the par 3 contest in HD and, for the first time ever, in 3D. The BBC continued to air live coverage of the weekend rounds in parallel with Sky until 2019, when it was announced that Sky will hold exclusive rights to live coverage of all four rounds beginning 2020. The BBC will only hold rights to delayed highlights. With its loss of live rights to the Open Championship to Sky in 2016, it marks the first time since 1955 that the BBC no longer holds any rights to live professional golf.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In Ireland, Setanta Ireland previously showed all four rounds, and now since 2017 Eir Sport broadcast all four rounds live having previously broadcast the opening two rounds with RTÉ broadcasting the weekend coverage. After Eir Sport's closure in 2021, Sky Sports will broadcast the event exclusively in Ireland for the first time, like in the UK.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In Canada, broadcast rights to the Masters are held by Bell Media, with coverage divided between TSN (cable), which carries live simulcasts and primetime encores of CBS and ESPN coverage for all four rounds, CTV (broadcast), which simulcasts CBS's coverage of the weekend rounds, and RDS, which carries French-language coverage. Prior to 2013, Canadian broadcast rights were held by a marketing company, Graham Sanborn Media, which in turn bought time on the Global Television Network, TSN, and RDS (except for 2012 when French-language coverage aired on TVA and TVA Sports) to air the broadcasts, also selling all of the advertising for the Canadian broadcasts. This was an unusual arrangement in Canadian sports broadcasting, as in most cases broadcasters acquire their rights directly from the event organizers or through partnerships with international rightsholders, such as ESPN International (ESPN owns a minority stake in TSN). In 2013, Global and TSN began selling advertising directly, and co-produced supplemental programs covering the tournament (while still carrying U.S. coverage for the tournament itself).


title: Masters Tournament

text: On December 15, 2015, TSN parent company Bell Media announced that it had acquired exclusive Canadian rights to the tournament beginning 2016 under a multi-year deal. Broadcast television coverage moved to co-owned broadcast network CTV, while TSN uses its expanded five-channel service to carry supplemental feeds (including the Amen Corner feed and early coverage of each round) that were previously exclusive to digital platforms.


title: Masters Tournament

text: In 53 countries, including much of Latin America, broadcast rights for the entire tournament are held by the ESPN International networks.


title: Masters Tournament

text: Although tickets for the Masters are not expensive, they are very difficult to come by. Even the practice rounds can be difficult to get into. Applications for practice round tickets have to be made nearly a year in advance and the successful applicants are chosen by random ballot. Tickets to the actual tournament are sold only to members of a patrons list, which is closed. A waiting list for the patrons list was opened in 1972 and closed in 1978. It was reopened in 2000 and subsequently closed once again. In 2008, the Masters also began allowing children (between the ages of 8 and 16) to enter on tournament days free if they are accompanied by the patron who is the owner of his or her badge.


title: Masters Tournament

text: The difficulty in acquiring Masters badges has made the tournament one of the largest events on the secondary ticket market. A majority of the badges for the Masters are delivered to the same group of patrons, fans, and members each year, and these perennial ticket holders sometimes decide to sell their badges through large ticket marketplaces.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he started his professional career playing for Ajax, with whom he won four trophies and was awarded the Johan Cruyff Trophy in 2004. He was sold to Real Madrid for €27 million in 2007, winning La Liga in his first season with the club, and transferred to Inter Milan for €15 million in 2009. At Inter, he won Serie A, the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, and two Coppa Italia. In 2010, Sneijder was named UEFA midfielder of the season, and one of the three best midfielders in the world by FIFA. After being sold to Galatasaray for €7.5 million in 2013, he helped the club win the Süper Lig in his first season, following with the capture of the Turkish Super Cup, after a 1–0 win against rivals Fenerbahçe. After an unsuccessful stint with Nice, he concluded his footballing career at Qatar Stars League team Al Gharafa.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Having previously represented various youth squads for the Netherlands, he was a regular player for the Dutch national team, making his debut in April 2003 at the age of 18, and representing his country at the 2006, 2010 (where the Netherlands were defeated 1–0 in the final) and 2014 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 2004, 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Football Championships. Individually, he was awarded the 2010 Bronze Boot, the 2010 Silver Ball, and included in the team of the tournament for Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, as well as named man of the match for six out of eleven games played by the "Oranje" at these two tournaments. With 134 caps, he is the most capped Dutch player of all time. He announced his international retirement in March 2018. Because of his status as most capped player he was granted a farewell match played against Peru on 6 September 2018.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Wesley Sneijder was born on 9 June 1984 in Utrecht into a football family: his father and his older brother Jeffrey were both football players. His younger brother Rodney is currently also a professional football player.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder moved to Ajax's famous youth academy at age seven after beginning as a youth player with local Utrecht club DOS. Following his older brother's footsteps, he signed for Ajax, initially on trial but subsequently impressed enough to be signed on a permanent basis. He first made the bench as an unused substitute for Ajax in a 2–0 win at SBV Excelsior on 22 December 2002 when manager Ronald Koeman, troubled by an injury-filled squad, called him up, advised by Danny Blind, the then-coach of the Ajax youth squad. On 2 February 2003, Sneijder made his official Ajax debut against Willem II in a 6–0 win. He quickly established himself in the first team, starting in the Champions League quarter-final match against A.C. Milan on 23 April 2003.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 5 March 2003, Sneijder scored his first goal for Ajax in a 4–1 win over FC Groningen in the KNVB Cup. On 13 April, he scored his first Eredivisie goal against NAC Breda in a 3–0 win. He scored three further league goals in wins against Roda JC, RKC Waalwijk and De Graafschap. The following season, he scored nine league goals as Ajax won the 2003–04 Eredivisie title. Sneijder's performances saw him awarded the Johan Cruijff Prijs for the season's best young player in the Netherlands.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 14 September 2005, he scored his first Champions League goal in a group match against AC Sparta Praha. Ajax qualified for the knockout stage, with Sneijder scoring again in a 4–2 win over FC Thun.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 7 May 2006, Sneijder was in the starting line-up for Ajax in the KNVB Cup final, setting up Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's opening goal in a 2–1 win over PSV at the De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: During the 2006–07 season, Sneijder scored 18 goals in the Eredivisie and 20 goals overall. On 6 May 2007, Sneijder played for Ajax in the final of the KNVB Cup as the team defeated AZ on a penalty shootout.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 12 August 2007, Ajax agreed to sell Sneijder to Real Madrid for €27 million, according to the club's website, making him the second most expensive Dutch football player.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder was the second of three Dutchmen to sign for Real Madrid during the 2007–08 season, joining Royston Drenthe and Arjen Robben. He also was given the number 23, which had been previously worn by David Beckham for four seasons at Real. In his first La Liga match for Real, he scored the winner in the Madrid Derby against Atlético Madrid. On the second matchday, he scored two goals against Villarreal CF, one coming from a direct free-kick. Sneijder capped a fine first season in Spain by hitting a stunning free-kick in the last game of the season against Levante UD at the Santiago Bernabéu, taking his goal tally to nine in the La Liga season, a season which also saw Real retain their league title.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 3 August 2008, Sneijder was stretchered off in a pre-season friendly at the Emirates Stadium, against Arsenal with a suspected cruciate ligament injury after a collision with Abou Diaby. Sneijder had an MRI which confirmed the extent of the injury to be not as bad as first feared. It was expected that he would be out for at least three months. He managed, however, to recover in time and was included in the starting XI for the Champions League clash against Juventus in Turin.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 2 September 2008, "AS" reported that after Robinho's departure to Manchester City for €42 million, Sneijder would now be Real Madrid's new number 10. One day later, Real Madrid confirmed on their website that Sneijder would wear 10. His previous number, 23, was taken over by his fellow Dutchman and former Ajax teammate Rafael van der Vaart, whose preferred number is 23.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 27 August 2009, Sneijder was bought by Inter Milan from Real Madrid for a reported fee of €15 million. He was given the number 10 shirt and made his debut a day after he signed the contract, making an immediate impact by being on the winning side in the Milan Derby (4–0) against Milan. On 3 October 2009, he scored his first goal in the 92nd minute against Udinese in a 2–1 win. His second goal was scored on 24 October 2009 against Catania, directly from a free kick, and he scored his first Champions League goal for Inter in a dramatic 2–1 group stage win against Dynamo Kyiv in the 89th minute. His next goal was also scored off a hard-swerving free kick in a Coppa Italia game against Livorno.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 9 January 2010, he scored two stunning free kicks against Siena in the game which Inter won 4–3. On 24 January, he received a straight red card in the Milan derby. On 6 April, Sneijder scored a free kick against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League quarter-final in the sixth minute, to give Inter a 2–0 aggregate win. On 20 April, he scored Inter's equalising goal during their Champions League semi-final first leg against defending champions Barcelona. He leveled the game by firing in right-footed from a Diego Milito pass. Inter went on to win the game 3–1 and the tie 3–2 on aggregate. Sneijder was given the nickname "The Sniper" by the media for his ability to deliver perfect passes and score from impressive distances.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 22 May, Inter won the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich by a score of 2–0. Both goals were scored by Diego Milito, with Sneijder supplying the assist for the first goal. The Champions League was Inter's third trophy of the 2009–10 season after winning the Coppa Italia and Serie A titles.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder commenced the 2010–11 season on 21 August 2010 by winning the 2010 Supercoppa Italiana with a 3–1 win over Roma. Five days later, he was named by UEFA as the best club midfielder of the 2009–10 Champions League. The day after, at Monaco's Stade Louis II, Inter lost to UEFA Europa League winners Atlético Madrid in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup with Sneijder playing 79 minutes.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: He scored his first goal of the season in a 2–2 draw against Twente in the Champions League on 14 September, and followed that up with another goal in Inter's second game against Werder Bremen in a 4–0 win at the San Siro on 29 September. On 26 October, Sneijder was shortlisted for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or award, eventually finishing 4th which Barcelona's Lionel Messi won. Only two days later, Sneijder signed a five-year contract extension with Inter, tying him to the club until 2015. President Massimo Moratti expressed his delight for the new deal, stating for the club's official website: "Sneijder became a key player for Inter last season and will be this year and for many years to come."


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Inter finished second in Group A of the Champions League and were drawn against Bayern Munich (whom they had beaten in the previous season's final) in the round of 16. In the first leg, Sneijder and Inter were uninspired and lost 1–0 to a late Mario Gómez goal at the San Siro. On 15 March 2011, Sneijder helped Inter turn it around, scoring in the 63rd-minute leading to a 3–2 win (3–3 on aggregate, Inter progressing on away goals) at the Allianz Arena, booking a place in the quarter-final against Germany's Schalke 04. The first leg of that quarter-final ended 5–2 to Schalke. Sneijder also played in the second leg of the tie but could not prevent his team from losing 2–1 and 7–3 on aggregate.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder begun his third season in Inter colours in strong fashion, netting the opener with a free kick in the 2011 Supercoppa Italiana match against Milan. The match however ended in a 2–1 win for "Rossoneri". In September, he injured his left thigh during the 3–1 away loss to newcomers Novara.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: The Dutchman returned in action one month later, playing 66 minutes against Chievo and assisting Thiago Motta's header for a 1–0 win at home, the first of the season. His first championship goal came in the very next game where he scored the opener in an eventual 1–1 draw at Atalanta.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder suffered another injury later in November 2011 when he damaged his right knee's rectus femoris muscle during the warm-up before the start of the match against Cagliari. He was replaced by the youngster Philippe Coutinho who scored in the match. The injury forced Sneijder to miss the rest of 2011, returning in the field on 15 January as a late substitute for goalscorer Diego Milito in the derby victory over Milan.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder made his 100th Inter appearance on 26 February by playing the first half of a 1–0 defeat to Napoli. He then scored a brace against Udinese at Stadio Friuli to lead his team to a 3–1 win, also marking his first goals since October 2011. Sneijder concluded his third season as Inter playing by making only 20 league appearances, with the injuries making a big impact. The team finished sixth, conceding 55 goals, just five goals short of equalling their all-time worst concession in a single Serie A campaign. In Coppa Italia, he played two times as Inter were eliminated by Napoli, while in Champions League appeared five times in a round of 16 exit by Marseille.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder's season begun on 2 August by playing against Hajduk Split in the first leg of 2012–13 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. He scored the team's first goal of the season which contributed in a comfortable 3–0 away win. He was on the score-sheet again twenty-four days later in the season opener against Pescara (3–0).


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder suffered another misfortune on 26 September as he was taken off after 26 minutes in the league game against Chievo. It turned out to be his last appearance for the team as he and the club didn't find a mutual agreement for the new contract. Despite recovering from the injury, Sneijder wasn't called up in the squad, with president Massimo Moratti describing it as a "technical decision" of the coach. The club offered him a contract running until 2016 with a wage of €6 million plus bonuses to €4 million which Sneijder, who earned around €14,7 million, turned down.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder left the club officially on 20 January in favour of signing with Turkey's Galatasaray, concluding his Inter spell with 116 games and 22 goals, also winning six trophies.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: After reportedly falling out of favour with Inter due to contract renewal issues, Sneijder agreed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Turkish giants Galatasaray on 20 January 2013 for a fee of €7.5 million. Thousands of Galatasaray fans welcomed the Dutch international at the Istanbul Atatürk Airport as soon as Sneijder's exact arrival time was announced by the club on their official website. Sneijder signed the official contract on 21 January at the Türk Telekom Arena, home of Galatasaray. During the press conference, regarding the questions about Gala legend Gheorghe Hagi, Sneijder said, "He was a legend, and I want to become a legend." Later, he appeared on the club's official TV station Galatasaray TV, where he answered several questions about his transfer to Galatasaray and personal life. He also sent out a message addressing the Galatasaray fans: "Thank you for the support. I'm really proud, and I will make you guys even more proud. I'm happy to be here, and I can't wait to play my first game for you guys."


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 27 January, Sneijder made his debut, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win against rivals Beşiktaş. Sneijder received a warm reception when he replaced Umut Bulut. He scored his first goal on 25 February in a 4–2 home win against Orduspor, where he produced a finesse shot from the edge of the box, turning the game back on for the home side as Galatasaray were down by two goals.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 9 April 2013, Sneijder scored Galatasaray's second goal in a 3–2 win over his former club Real Madrid in the quarter-final stage of the Champions League.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 5 May 2013, Galatasaray beat Sivasspor 2–1 to win the 2012–13 Süper Lig, this gave Sneijder a league title in a fourth different country.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: After using the number 14 shirt in his debut season with Galatasaray, Sneijder was given the number 10 shirt previously worn by Felipe Melo for the 2013–14 Süper Lig season following a squad number reshuffle.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 1 December 2013, when Galatasaray drew with Kasımpaşa Spor Kulübü, Galatasaray manager Roberto Mancini, in response to the question "where is Sneijder?" asked by reporters during a post-match interview answered, "Sneijder has left and I do not know where he has gone," while Galatasaray's official website had earlier informed the media on the reason for Sneijder's absence.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 11 December 2013, Sneijder scored a late winning goal against Juventus in a 1–0 UEFA Champions League win to qualify Galatasaray for the knockout phase. On 2 February 2014, Sneijder scored a hat-trick in Süper Lig encounter against Bursaspor in a 6–0 win.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 6 April 2014, he scored his first derby goal against rivals Fenerbahçe, in a 1–0 home win. On 7 May 2014, Sneijder played a major part in the Turkish Cup final against Eskişehirspor, scoring the only goal of the game in the 70th minute and receiving the Man of the Match award for his performance.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder scored ten goals throughout the season during the 2014–15 Süper Lig campaign. By almost single-handedly winning many games for his team, he has been the man in the spotlight for Galatasaray in securing the league title. On 25 May, Sneijder celebrated the championship alongside Gala fans at the front yard of his residence after Başakşehir drew with Fenerbahçe, which brought Galatasaray the triumph. During the official title ceremony, Sneijder sang the famous Gala chant "Don't cry Fener" into the microphone in front of 52000 Gala fans.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Since his arrival, Sneijder has become the most efficient agent for the Lions regarding the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rivalry. He has scored three goals against Fenerbahçe in league matches in a year, which is more than enough for Galatasaray society to name a player a club legend. In the home game against Fenerbahçe, which was played on matchday 6, Sneijder sent out two long-range rockets in the 88th and 90th minutes, where Galatasaray claimed the victory against their bitter rivals. Overall, he has scored six long-range goals and three free kicks in league and cup games. In his 100th game for Galatasaray, he also scored the only goal against Gençlerbirliği on matchday 32, which helped the Lions stay at the top of the league table for the time being.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: In the 2014–15 Turkish Cup, he also helped his team reach the final by providing three goals and three assists. Galatasaray won the final 3–2 against Bursaspor which was held in Bursa Atatürk Stadium on 3 June. Sneijder assisted the first goal off of striker Burak Yılmaz's hat-trick.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: During Galatasaray's 2014–15 UEFA Champions League campaign, where they were knocked out at the group stage, Sneijder scored one goal–a late free kick against Arsenal at home–and made one assist. Sneijder was made vice captain of Galatasaray.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder began the season scoring the only goal for his team in the 35th Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu, where Galatasaray visited Real Madrid on 18 August. The game ended with a 2–1 victory for Real Madrid.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On matchday 3 of the 2015–16 Süper Lig in which Galatasaray visited Konyaspor, Sneijder scored two goals in the second half and led his team to a 1–4 away win, despite his side being down to ten men after Lionel Carole's 67th-minute red card, receiving prior to Sneijder's double.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 3 October, Sneijder signed a three-year contract extension with Galatasaray. He immediately received a €1.3 million signing bonus, and his basic salaries in the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons would be €3.2 million, plus various bonuses.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 14 July 2017, Sneijder and Galatasaray terminated his contract resulting in him becoming a free agent. Sneijder was reported to have released himself from the contract by buying himself out of the remaining period for €4.5 million


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 7 August 2017, Sneijder joined Ligue 1 side Nice on a free transfer. During his five-month stay at the club, he made 8 appearances and provided one assist to a Mario Balotelli goal in a UEFA Europa League match against Lazio.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: After getting released by Nice, Sneijder joined Qatari club Al-Gharafa. He made his debut on 12 January 2018, captaining the team and giving an assist in the league 2–1 win over Al Ahli Doha at the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: On 12 August 2019, Sneijder announced his decision to retire from football, and begin working for FC Utrecht.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder made his debut for the Netherlands under-21 side against the Czech Republic on 28 March 2003. His first game with the senior Dutch side was against Portugal on 30 April that same year when he became the eighth-youngest player to play for the Netherlands in the first team's history. On 9 June 2017, he became the nation's most capped player of all-time when he made his 131st appearance in a 5–0 win over Luxembourg, surpassing the record which had previously held by Edwin van der Sar for 4002 days.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder reached the UEFA Euro 2004 semi-finals with the Netherlands. He began the competition mainly on the bench, and was subbed into two group stage matches: his team's first match against Germany and their third match against Latvia. He had also contributed two goals in the qualifying tournament.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder started all four games for the Netherlands at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He received one of the record 16 yellow cards doled out during the infamous Round of 16 clash with Portugal (titled the "Battle of Nuremberg") after pushing the Portuguese midfielder Petit to the ground during a brawl between Portuguese and Dutch players; Portugal went on to win 1–0.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: In the build-up to Euro 2008, Sneijder scored a free kick in a friendly against Wales on 31 May, making it his second strike from a direct free kick in a row. The game ended 2–0 with a goal from fellow Real Madrid teammate Arjen Robben.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder marked his 24th birthday in style by scoring one of the goals of the tournament; the second goal in the 31st minute of the Euro 2008 match against the World Cup champions, Italy. Following Giovanni van Bronckhorst's goal-line clearance and subsequent run into the Italian half, Sneijder received a headed ball from Dirk Kuyt and volleyed it with an acrobatic strike past Gianluigi Buffon. This brought the score to 2–0 after Ruud van Nistelrooy's opener five minutes prior. The match finished with a 3–0 victory to the Dutch after a third goal was scored by van Bronkhorst after another run by him, following a crucial save from Edwin van der Sar. Sneijder's goal contributed to the Netherlands' first victory over Italy in 30 years, which was the biggest defeat Italy had suffered since Sweden beat them by the same margin in 1983. Many fans and pundits agreed that this goal was one of the best of the tournament. On 13 June, he scored another goal for the "Oranje" in the Euro 2008 group stage match against France: in the 92nd minute, from outside the box, Sneijder struck the ball into the corner of the net, bouncing off the crossbar on its way in. The match finished 4–1 for the Netherlands. Although the Dutch lost to the Russians in the quarter-final, Sneijder was named in the Team of the Tournament for his strong performances.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder was in the starting line-up for their first match in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark. He scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Japan. In the first two matches of the group stage at the FIFA World Cup, he was selected as the man of the match in both. In the Netherlands' round of 16 match against Slovakia, Sneijder scored in a 2–1 victory. He also provided what was at first thought to be an assist for the first goal against Brazil in the quarter-finals, but was later credited with the goal. He then scored the first header of his career direct from a corner and consigned Brazil to a 2–1 defeat, bringing his goal total in the tournament to four. Sneijder was again named man of the match on FIFA's website.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: In the semi-final against Uruguay, Sneijder scored in the 70th minute, taking his total in the competition to five, raising him at the time to first place in terms of goals scored, along with Spain's David Villa. The Netherlands won the match 3–2 and progressed to the final. Sneijder was yet again named on FIFA's website as the Budweiser man of the match according to the public online vote. In the World Cup Final, the Dutch lost to Spain 1–0 after extra time, conceding the only goal of the match after 116 minutes to Andrés Iniesta.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: For Euro 2012, the Netherlands were in Group B, also known as the "group of death," alongside Portugal, Germany, and Denmark. Sneijder was deployed as an attacking midfielder as the Netherlands lost 1–0 and 2–1 to Denmark and Germany, respectively. Against Portugal, they lost again 2–1, with Sneijder playing on the left wing to see the Netherlands have an early exit from Euro 2012.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: In August 2012, after the retirement of Mark van Bommel, Sneijder was named as captain of the Netherlands. Less than a year later, however, he was replaced with Robin van Persie by coach Louis van Gaal.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder was named in the Netherlands' squad for the 2014 World Cup and made his 100th international appearance in the team's opening match, a 5–1 demolition of world champions Spain on 13 June. In the round of 16, Sneijder scored an 88th-minute equaliser, as the Netherlands recovered from a 0–1 deficit to overcome Mexico 2–1 in Fortaleza.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: In the quarter-final, Sneijder scored the Netherlands' third penalty kick in a 4–3 penalty shootout defeat of Costa Rica. The semi-final match against Argentina was also decided by a shootout, with Sneijder one of two Netherlands players to have his kick saved by goalkeeper Sergio Romero in a 4–2 defeat. Sneijder was originally part of the Dutch starting line-up in the bronze game against Brazil, but he was replaced by Jonathan de Guzmán after an injury during the pre-match warm-up prevented him from playing.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder appeared in all of the 10 matches of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and in six of the 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign, which both ended in failure for the Netherlands. He announced his retirement from international football on 4 March 2018, holding a record 133 appearances for the national team. He made his 134th and final international appearance in a friendly match against Peru, at the Johan Cruyff Arena, on 6 September 2018; the match ended in a 2–1 home victory for the Dutch.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: A creative and versatile midfielder, Sneijder has been recognised as one of the classic playmakers of the 2010s. From his impeccable placement and confirmed ability to score from free kicks, Sneijder earned the reputation as a dead-ball specialist. Because of his short stature, he is quick and strong on the ball, and his passing range is enhanced by his ambidexterity; he is also renowned for his powerful striking ability from long range, with either foot. In addition to his vision and ability to create chances for teammates, Sneijder has also been noted for his intelligence and great technical ability. Although he began his career in his preferred role as an attacking midfielder behind the forwards, he is capable of playing in several midfield positions and has also been deployed on the wings or on occasion even up front as a second striker or main striker; in recent seasons, he has usually played in the centre, as a deep-lying playmaker, due to his ability to dictate the tempo of his team's play in midfield with his passing, although he has stated that he does not favour this position. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he was also deployed in a new role which was later described as a false-10 or central winger, due to Sneijder's tendency to drift from the centre into a wide position when in possession of the ball. Despite his talent he has also drawn criticism at times for his limited defensive work-rate as well as his lack of pace, and has also been known to be prone to injury.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder has been married to Dutch-Spanish actress and presenter Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen since July 2010, although the couple are no longer together; he has two sons one of them from his first marriage. Inspired by his wife and by Inter teammate Javier Zanetti, Sneijder converted to Roman Catholicism and was baptized in Milan.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: Sneijder has two brothers: Jeffrey, a former footballer, and Rodney, a former Eredivisie player who now plays for DHSC, an amateur club from Utrecht. In May 2008, it was reported that Sneijder had blocked a summer transfer of Rodney to his own club at the time, Real Madrid. Wesley Sneijder said, "Real Madrid wanted him and Rodney was very happy about that. But when I heard [of it], I stopped the discussions. I am not in favour of juniors increasingly going to top clubs. I've told him that he first must make a breakthrough at Ajax."


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: During an interview in a radio station in Thessaloniki, Sneijder's brother Rodney confirmed that he and Wesley Sneijder (along with their other brother Jeffrey) have part-Greek descent, since their paternal grandmother was a Greek woman born in Kavala who moved to Utrecht before World War II.


title: Wesley Sneijder

text: In October 2008, Dutch magazine "Voetbal International" conducted a poll to decide who was the best Dutch free kick taker. Sneijder received an overwhelming 70% of the votes, while Robin van Persie came second with 21% and striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was third with 3% of the vote. He was voted as the best player of the 2009–10 season by Goal.com.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: He starred in the film "The Day of the Jackal" (1973), playing the part of a professional assassin, known only as the "Jackal", who is hired to assassinate the French president Charles de Gaulle in the summer of 1963. Fox is also known for his roles in "Battle of Britain" (1969), "The Go-Between" (1971), for which he won a BAFTA award, and "The Bounty" (1984). He also collaborated with director Richard Attenborough, appearing in his films "Oh! What a Lovely War" (1969), "A Bridge Too Far" (1977) and "Gandhi" (1982).


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: He portrayed Edward VIII in the British television drama series "Edward & Mrs. Simpson" (1978) and appeared in the historical series "Taboo" (2017). In addition to film and television work, Fox has received acclaim as a stage actor.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: Fox was born the first of three sons on 13 April 1937 in Chelsea, London, the son of Robin Fox, a theatrical agent, and Angela Muriel Darita Worthington, an actress and writer. He is the father of actors Emilia Fox and Freddie Fox, the elder brother of actor James Fox and film producer Robert Fox, and an uncle of actor Laurence Fox. His paternal great-grandfather was industrialist and inventor Samson Fox, and his paternal grandmother was Hilda Hanbury, sister of stage performer Lily Hanbury. His maternal grandfather was dramatist Frederick Lonsdale, and his maternal grandmother was the daughter of football player and stockbroker Charles Morice. Fox was educated at Harrow School and completed his National Service in the Loyals, having failed to gain a commission in the Coldstream Guards.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: Fox made his theatrical debut in 1958, and his first film appearance was as an extra in "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (1962). He also had a non-speaking part as a waiter in "This Sporting Life" (1963). Throughout the 1960s he worked mostly on stage, including a turn as "Hamlet". In the late 1960s and early 1970s he established himself with roles in major British films, including "Oh! What a Lovely War" (1969), "Battle of Britain" (1969) and "The Go-Between" (1971). In "The Go-Between", he played the part of Lord Hugh Trimingham, for which he won a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor. His acting ability also brought him to the attention of director Fred Zinnemann, who was looking for an actor who was not well-known and could be believable as the assassin in the film "The Day of the Jackal" (1973). Fox won the role, beating other contenders such as Roger Moore and Michael Caine.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: From then on he was much sought after, appearing in such films as "A Bridge Too Far" (1977) as Lieutenant General Horrocks, a role he has cited as a personal favourite, and for which he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the British Academy Film Awards. He also starred in "Force 10 from Navarone" (1978), with Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: He portrayed King Edward VIII in the television drama "Edward & Mrs. Simpson" (1978). In the film "Gandhi" (1982), Fox portrayed Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, who was responsible for the Amritsar massacre in India. He then appeared as M in the unofficial Bond film "Never Say Never Again" (1983), a remake of "Thunderball" (1965). He also appeared in "The Bounty" (1984) and "Wild Geese II" (1985), both opposite Laurence Olivier, and in "The Importance of Being Earnest" (2002), "Nicholas Nickleby" (2002), and "Stage Beauty" (2004).


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: Fox has consolidated his reputation with regular appearances on stage in London's West End. He was seen in "Four Quartets", a set of four poems by T. S. Eliot, accompanied by the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Christine Croshaw. In 2010, Fox performed a one-man show, "An Evening with Anthony Trollope", directed by Richard Digby Day. In 2013, he replaced Robert Hardy in the role of Winston Churchill in the premiere of "The Audience", after Hardy had to withdraw for health reasons. In 2018, he appeared with his son Freddie Fox in an adaption of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband".


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: For his role as Viscount Trimingham in "The Go-Between" (1971), he won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the following year's British Academy Film Awards.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the British Academy Film Awards a second time for his role as Lieutenant General Horrocks in "A Bridge Too Far" (1977).


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: Fox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to Drama in the 2003 New Year Honours.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: From 1958 until their 1961 divorce, Fox was married to actress Tracy Reed with whom he has a daughter, Lucy Arabella (born 1960), who became the Viscountess Gormanston upon her marriage to Nicholas Preston, Viscount Gormanston. In 1971, he began a relationship with actress Joanna David; they married in July 2004. They have two children together, actors Emilia (born 1974) and Frederick "Freddie" (born 1989).


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: He has two grandchildren through his daughters: Harry Grenfell from Lucy's marriage to David Grenfell, and Rose Gilley from Emilia's relationship with actor Jeremy Gilley.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: Fox spoke at the conference for the Referendum Party ahead of the 1997 general election and was a friend of its leader James Goldsmith. He has also been a patron of the UK Independence Party.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: In 2002, Fox joined the Countryside March to support hunting rights in the UK. He supported the restoration of the Royal Hall, Harrogate, funded by his great-grandfather Samson Fox.


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: In 2010, Fox gave his support to a local campaign to prevent a supermarket being built close to his home in Dorset, citing the impact it would have upon small and independent businesses in the area. He chronicled the events in an article for "The Daily Telegraph".


title: Edward Fox (actor)

text: Fox also endorsed the successful "Leave" vote campaign ahead of the referendum to leave the European Union.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely credited with having ended the high levels of inflation seen in the United States throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. He previously served as the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1975 to 1979.


title: Paul Volcker

text: President Jimmy Carter nominated him to succeed G. William Miller as Fed chairman and President Ronald Reagan renominated him once. Volcker did not seek a third term at the Fed and was succeeded by Alan Greenspan. After his retirement from the Board, he chaired the Economic Recovery Advisory Board under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 during the subprime mortgage crisis.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker was born in Cape May, New Jersey, the son of Alma Louise (née Klippel, 1892–1990) and Paul Adolph Volcker (1889–1960). All his grandparents were of German origin. Volcker grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, where his father was the township's first municipal manager. Paul Sr. thrived in the role for 20 years as he improved the burgeoning town's economic stability and the local government's effectiveness. Paul Jr. had four older sisters: Ruth (1916–1991), Louise (1918–1966), Elinor (1922–1923) and Virginia Streitfeld (1924–2011). As a child, he attended his mother's Lutheran church, while his father went to an Episcopal church. Volcker graduated from Teaneck High School in 1945, where he participated in several student groups and impressed his peers and teachers with his knowledge of politics.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker attended Princeton University as an undergraduate student and graduated with highest honors from the School of Public and International Affairs (now the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs) in 1949. In his senior thesis, titled "The Problems of Federal Reserve Policy since World War II", Volcker criticized the Federal Reserve's post-WWII policies for failing to curb inflationary pressures, writing, "a swollen money supply presented a grave inflationary threat to the economy. There was a need to bring this money supply under control if the disastrous effects of a sharp price rise were to be avoided." Following a summer as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he moved to Harvard University to earn an M.A. in political economy from its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Graduate School of Public Administration. He worked a second summer as a New York Fed research assistant before graduating in 1951. After Harvard, Volcker attended the London School of Economics from 1951 to 1952 as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Fellow under Rotary's Ambassadorial Scholarships program.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 1952 Volcker joined the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a full-time economist. He left that position in 1957 to become a financial economist with the Chase Manhattan Bank. In 1962, Robert Roosa, who had been his mentor at the Federal Reserve, hired him at the Treasury Department as director of financial analysis. In 1963, he became deputy under secretary for monetary affairs. He returned to Chase Manhattan Bank as vice president and director of planning in 1965.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Appointed by the Nixon Administration, Volcker served under secretary of the Treasury for international monetary affairs from 1969 to 1974. He played an important role in President Richard Nixon's decision to suspend gold convertibility of the dollar on August 15, 1971, which resulted in the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Volcker considered the suspension of gold convertibility "the single most important event of his career." Because of his position as under secretary, Volcker served as a board member for OPIC and Fannie Mae. Across the policies he worked on, he acted as a moderating influence on policy, advocating the pursuit of an international solution to monetary problems and acting as a negotiator with other nations' policymakers. After leaving the U.S. Treasury, he spent a year as a senior fellow at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School (his alma mater). In 1975, he became President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and he retained that role until he became Federal Reserve Chairman in August 1979.


title: Paul Volcker

text: After G. William Miller's confirmation as Secretary of the Treasury, President Jimmy Carter's confirmation of Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Frederick H. Schultz's role as Acting Chairman sent markets panicking. Carter resultingly sought a reassuring, qualified nominee who would confront inflation head-on, and nominated Paul Volcker to serve as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on July 25, 1979. He was confirmed by the


title: Paul Volcker

text: U.S. Senate on August 2, 1979, and took office on August 6, 1979. President Ronald Reagan renominated Volcker to a second term in 1983.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Inflation emerged as an economic and political challenge in the United States during the 1970s. The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve board, led by Volcker, were widely credited with curbing the rate of inflation and expectations that inflation would continue. US inflation, which peaked at 14.8 percent in March 1980, fell below 3 percent by 1983. The Federal Reserve board led by Volcker raised the federal funds rate, which had averaged 11.2% in 1979, to a peak of 20% in June 1981. The prime rate rose to 21.5% in 1981 as well, which helped lead to the 1980–1982 recession, in which the national unemployment rate rose to over 10%. Volcker's Federal Reserve board elicited the strongest political attacks and most widespread protests in the history of the Federal Reserve (unlike any protests experienced since 1922), due to the effects of high interest rates on the construction, farming, and industrial sectors, culminating in indebted farmers driving their tractors onto C Street NW in Washington, D.C. and blockading the Eccles Building. US monetary policy eased in 1982, helping lead to a resumption of economic growth.


title: Paul Volcker

text: The US current account was in permanent deficit by the 1990s. Volcker himself tried to remedy the situation by the Plaza Accord in 1986, which called for Germany and Japan to revalue relative to the US dollar.


title: Paul Volcker

text: The combination of the Fed's tight money policies and the expansive fiscal policy of the Reagan Administration (large tax cuts and a major increase in military spending) produced large federal budget deficits and significant macroeconomic imbalances in the U.S. economy. The combination of growing federal debt and high interest rates led to a substantial rise in federal net interest costs. The sharp rise of interest costs and large deficits led Congress to take some steps towards fiscal constraint.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Paul Volcker, the previous Fed Chairman known for keeping inflation under control, was fired because the Reagan administration didn't believe he was an adequate de-regulator.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Congressman Ron Paul, well known as a harsh critic of the Federal Reserve, offered qualified praise of Volcker:


title: Paul Volcker

text: Being in Congress in the late 1970s and early 1980s and serving on the House Banking Committee, I met and got to question several Federal Reserve chairmen: Arthur Burns, G. William Miller, and Paul Volcker. Of the three, I had the most interaction with Volcker. He was more personable and smarter than the others, including the more recent board chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 1983, Volcker received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 2011, Volcker and George P. Shultz authored an article in the Wall Street Journal voicing their opinion that the War on Drugs had failed. They did not advocate for the legalization of drugs, but rather for a reexamination of the costs of drug prohibition in the United States.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 2015, Volcker donated his public service papers to Princeton University's Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library.


title: Paul Volcker

text: After leaving the Federal Reserve in 1987, he became chairman of the prominent New York investment banking firm, Wolfensohn & Co., a corporate advisory and investment firm run by James D. Wolfensohn (who later became President of the World Bank).


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 1993 he chaired the Group of 30 Report on the Derivatives market entitled "Derivatives: Practices and Principles" with several appendices and a survey on how practices may have changed since the original 1993 report. The Group of 30 is a "consultative group on international economic and monetary affairs." Volcker was their Chairman "emeritus."


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 1996, he took up the chair of the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons (Volcker Commission) to look into the dormant accounts of Jewish victims of the Holocaust lying in Swiss banks. This included a "massive accounting of Swiss bank records." In the midst of a contentious process (the committee was formed by three Jewish representatives and three representatives of Swiss banks), he was able to bring about an agreement among the parties for a settlement of $1.25 billion.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 2000 he accepted the Chairmanship of the IFRS Trustees, the not-for-profit funding arm of the International Accounting Standards Board (later the IFRS Foundation). The IFRS Foundation is a private sector enterprise based in London which seeks to develop a single global accounting model, subject to adoption country by country under their rules of law.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In April 2004, the United Nations assigned Volcker to research possible corruption in the Iraqi Oil for Food program. In the report summarizing its research, Volcker criticized Kojo Annan, son of then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection SA, Kojo's employer, for trying to conceal their relationship. He concluded in his March 2005, report that "there is no evidence that the selection of Cotecna, in 1998, was subject to improper influence of the Secretary General in the bidding or selection process." While Volcker did not implicate the Secretary General in the selection process, however, he did cast serious doubt on Kofi Annan, whose "management performance ... fell short of the standards that the United Nations Organization should strive to maintain." Volcker was a director of the United Nations Association of the United States of America between 2000 and 2004, prior to his being appointed to the Independent Inquiry by Kofi Annan.


title: Paul Volcker

text: As of October 2006, he was the chairman of the board of trustees of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty, and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He had a long association with the Rockefeller family, not only with his positions at Chase Bank and the Trilateral Commission, but also through membership of the trust committee of Rockefeller Group, Inc., which he joined in 1987. That entity managed, at one time, the Rockefeller Center on behalf of the numerous members of the Rockefeller family. He was a chairman and an honorary trustee of International House, the cultural exchange residence and program center in New York City. He was a founding member of the Trilateral Commission and a long-time member of the Bilderberg Group.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In January 2008, he endorsed Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election.


title: Paul Volcker

text: On April 8, 2008, he was the featured speaker at The Economic Club of New York. Volcker discussed "what appears to be in substance a direct transfer of mortgage and mortgage-backed securities of questionable pedigree from an investment bank to the Federal Reserve," and offered his detailed analysis and evaluation of interrelationships among the U.S. capital markets, Federal Reserve policies, and the economy as whole.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Paul Volcker appeared in the Charles Ferguson's movie "Inside Job". He was interviewed about current Wall Street CEO pay, claiming it is "excessive."


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker was an economic advisor to President Barack Obama, heading the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Volcker had also been Obama's first pick as United States Secretary of the Treasury, but he was considered too old. During the financial crisis, Volcker was extremely critical of banks, saying that their response to the financial crisis was inadequate, and that more regulation of banks is called for. Specifically, Volcker called for a break-up of the nation's largest banks, prohibiting deposit-taking institutions from engaging in riskier activities such as proprietary trading, private equity, and hedge fund investments (see Volcker Rule). Volcker left the board when its charter expired on February 6, 2011, without being included in discussions on how the board would be reconstituted.


title: Paul Volcker

text: On January 21, 2010, President Barack Obama proposed bank regulations which he dubbed "The Volcker Rule," in reference to Volcker's aggressive pursuit of these regulations. Volcker appeared with the president at the announcement. The proposed rules would prevent commercial banks from owning and investing in hedge funds and private equity, and limit the trading they do for their own accounts. According to SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar, "[t]he success or failure of the Volcker Rule will depend on the manner in which banking entities comply with the letter and spirit of the rule, and on the willingness of regulators to enforce it."


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker was known to defy the stereotype of a Wall Street insider. A profile in "The Week" for February 5, 2010, stated that Volcker does not agree with the conventional wisdom that "financial innovation" is necessary for a healthy economy. In fact, he likes to say, "the only useful banking innovation was the invention of the ATM."


title: Paul Volcker

text: On April 6, 2010, at the New-York Historical Society's Global Economic Panel, Volcker commented that the United States should consider adding a national sales tax similar to the Value Added Tax (VAT) imposed in European countries, stating "If, at the end of the day, we need to raise taxes, we should raise taxes."


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker served as an honorary co-chairman for the World Justice Project. The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multi-disciplinary effort to strengthen the rule of law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 2013, Volcker founded the nonprofit organization the Volcker Alliance to address the challenge of effective execution of public policies and to rebuild public trust in government. The nonpartisan Alliance works toward that objective by partnering with other organizations—academic, business, governmental, and public interest—to strengthen professional education for public service, conduct needed research on government performance, and improve the efficiency and accountability of governmental organization at the federal, state, and local levels.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker served on the board of directors of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The nonpartisan organization is "committed to educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact."


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker married Barbara Bahnson, the daughter of a physician, on September 11, 1954. They had two children, Janice, a nurse and a Georgetown University graduate, and James, a research assistant and a New York University graduate who was born with cerebral palsy. They also had four grandchildren. His younger sister died young, and two of his three older sisters, Louise and Ruth, never married. His other older sister, Virginia, was married to and divorced from Harold Streitfeld; they have five children.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker was an avid fly-fisherman, who recounted in 1987, "The greatest strategic error of my adult life was to take my wife to Maine on our honeymoon on a fly-fishing trip."


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker was known as "Tall Paul" for his height of , standing exactly a foot (30 cm) taller than his first wife, Barbara, when they first met. She died on June 14, 1998, having suffered from lifelong diabetes, as well as rheumatoid arthritis.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Over Thanksgiving, 2009, he became engaged to Anke Dening, a long-time assistant. They married in February 2010.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker died in New York City on December 8, 2019, at age 92. He had reportedly been treated for prostate cancer since being diagnosed the year prior.


title: Paul Volcker

text: Volcker received honorary degrees from several educational institutions, including: Baytown Christian Academy, Hamilton College (1980), University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, New York University, University of Delaware, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Bryant College, Adelphi University, Lamar University, Bates College (1989), Fairfield University (1994), York University (2001), Williams College (2003), Northwestern University (2004), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2005), Brown University (2006), Georgetown University (2007), Syracuse University (2008), Queen's University (2009), Amherst College (2011), and at the University of Toronto (2015).


title: Paul Volcker

text: Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where Volker served on the Advisory Board from 2001 until his death, established the "Paul Volcker Chair" in Behavioral economics in 2011.


title: Paul Volcker

text: In 2015, Paul Volcker had a rock band named after him. A political rock band named Volcker from Portland, Oregon, formed in early 2015, and released an eponymous album on January 27, 2016. The group planned to release their second album, "Gorge on Fire". The band was featured on BBC Radio 4's "Economics with Subtitles" on August 28, 2016.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences. It is administered via injection into a vein. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, remdesivir was approved or authorized for emergency use to treat COVID‑19 in numerous countries.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir was originally developed to treat hepatitis C, and was subsequently investigated for Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus infections before being studied as a post-infection treatment for COVID‑19.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir is a prodrug that is intended to allow intracellular delivery of GS-441524 monophosphate and subsequent biotransformation into GS-441524 triphosphate, a ribonucleotide analogue inhibitor of viral RNA polymerase.


title: Remdesivir

text: The most common side effect in healthy volunteers is raised blood levels of liver enzymes. The most common side effect in people with COVID‑19 is nausea. Side effects may include liver inflammation and an infusion-related reaction with nausea, low blood pressure, and sweating.


title: Remdesivir

text: In the European Union, remdesivir is indicated for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) in adults and adolescents (aged twelve years and older with body weight at least ) with pneumonia requiring supplemental oxygen and for adults who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe COVID-19.


title: Remdesivir

text: In the United States, remdesivir is indicated for use in adults and adolescents (aged twelve years and older with body weight at least ) for the treatment of COVID‑19 requiring hospitalization. In January 2022, the FDA expanded the indication for remdesivir to include its use in non-hospitalized adults and adolescents with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are not hospitalized and have mild-to-moderate COVID‑19, and are at high risk for progression to severe COVID‑19, including hospitalization or death. In April 2022, the approval was expanded to include children 28 days of age and older weighing at least with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing.


title: Remdesivir

text: In November 2020, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the combination of baricitinib with remdesivir, for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID‑19 in hospitalized people two years of age or older requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).


title: Remdesivir

text: In Australia, it is approved for those aged four weeks of age and older with a body weight at least with pneumonia requiring supplemental oxygen or those aged four weeks of age and older with body weight at least who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19.


title: Remdesivir

text: The most common adverse effects in people treated with remdesivir were respiratory failure and blood biomarkers of organ impairment, including low albumin, low potassium, low count of red blood cells, low count of thrombocytes, and elevated bilirubin (jaundice). Other reported adverse effects include gastrointestinal distress, elevated transaminase levels in the blood (liver enzymes), infusion site reactions, and electrocardiogram abnormalities. Remdesivir may cause infusion-related reactions, including low blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, sweating or shivering.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir is a protide (prodrug of nucleotide) able to diffuse into cells, where it is converted to GS-441524 monophosphate via the actions of esterases (CES1 and CTSA) and a phosphoamidase (HINT1); this in turn is further phosphorylated to its active metabolite triphosphate by nucleoside-phosphate kinases. This pathway of bioactivation is meant to occur intracellularly, but a substantial amount of remdesivir is prematurely hydrolyzed in plasma, with GS-441524 being the major metabolite in plasma, and the only metabolite remaining two hours after dosing.


title: Remdesivir

text: As an adenosine nucleoside triphosphate analog (GS-443902), the active metabolite of remdesivir interferes with the action of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and evades proofreading by viral exoribonuclease (ExoN), causing a decrease in viral RNA production. In some viruses, such as the respiratory syncytial virus, it causes the RNA-dependent RNA polymerases to pause, but its predominant effect (as in Ebola) is to induce an irreversible chain termination. Unlike with many other chain terminators, this is not mediated by preventing addition of the immediately subsequent nucleotide, but is instead delayed, occurring after five additional bases have been added to the growing RNA chain. For the RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase of MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2, arrest of RNA synthesis occurs after incorporation of three additional nucleotides. Hence, remdesivir is classified as a direct-acting antiviral agent that works as a delayed chain terminator.


title: Remdesivir

text: In non-human primates, the plasma half-life of the prodrug is 20 minutes, with the main metabolite being the nucleoside, GS-441524. Two hours post injection, the main metabolite GS-441524 is present at micromolar concentrations, whilst intact Remdesivir is no longer detectable. Because of this rapid extracellular conversion to the nucleoside GS-441524, some researchers have questioned whether the active nucleotide triphosphate is truly derived from Remdesivir pro-drug removal or whether it occurs by GS-441524 phosphorylation, and whether direct administration of GS-441524 would constitute a cheaper and easier to administer COVID‑19 drug compared to Remdesivir. The activated nucleotide triphosphate form has sustained intracellular levels in PBMC and presumably in other cells as well.


title: Remdesivir

text: Mutations in the mouse hepatitis virus RNA replicase that cause partial resistance to remdesivir were identified in 2018. These mutations make the viruses less effective in nature, and the researchers believe they will likely not persist where the drug is not being used.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir is at least partially metabolized by the cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP2C8, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4. Blood plasma concentrations of remdesivir are expected to decrease if it is administered together with cytochrome P450 inducers such as rifampicin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone, and St John's wort.


title: Remdesivir

text: Using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine with remdesivir may reduce the antiviral activity of remdesivir. Coadministration of remdesivir and chloroquine phosphate or hydroxychloroquine sulfate is not recommended based on "in vitro" data demonstrating an antagonistic effect of chloroquine on the intracellular metabolic activation and antiviral activity of remdesivir.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir can be synthesized in multiple steps from ribose derivatives. The figure to the right is one of the synthesis routes of remdesivir invented by Chun and coauthors from Gilead Sciences. In this method, intermediate a is firstly prepared from L-alanine and phenyl phosphorodichloridate in presence of triethylamine and dichloromethane; triple benzyl-protected ribose is oxidized by dimethyl sulfoxide with acetic anhydride and give the lactone intermediate b; pyrrolo[2,1-f] [1,2,4]triazin-4-amine is brominated, and the amine group is protected by excess trimethylsilyl chloride. n-Butyllithium undergoes a halogen-lithium exchange reaction with the bromide at to yield the intermediate c. The intermediate b is then added to a solution containing intermediate c dropwise. After quenching the reaction in a weakly acidic aqueous solution, a mixture of 1:1 anomers was obtained. It was then reacted with an excess of trimethylsilyl cyanide in dichloromethane at for 10 minutes. Trimethylsilyl triflate was added and reacts for one additional hour, and the mixture was quenched in an aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate. A nitrile intermediate was obtained. The protective group, benzyl, was then removed with boron trichloride in dichloromethane at . The excess of boron trichloride was quenched in a mixture of potassium carbonate and methanol. A benzyl-free intermediate was obtained. The isomers were then separated via reversed-phase HPLC. The optically pure compound and intermediate a are reacted with trimethyl phosphate and methylimidazole to obtain a diastereomer mixture of remdesivir. In the end, optically pure remdesivir can be obtained through chiral resolution methods.


title: Remdesivir

text: An "in vitro" study of remdesivir assessing antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 was performed. Cells were pre-treated with the different doses of remdesivir for 1 hour, and the virus (MOI of 0.05) was subsequently added to allow infection for 2 hours. The results found that remdesivir functioned well as an inhibitor of the infection. The study was published as a letter to the editor, and as such did not undergo peer review.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir requires "70 raw materials, reagents, and catalysts" to make, and approximately "25 chemical steps." Some of the ingredients are extremely dangerous to humans, especially trimethylsilyl cyanide. The original end-to-end manufacturing process required 9 to 12 months to go from raw materials at contract manufacturers to finished product, but after restarting production in January 2020, Gilead Sciences was able to find ways to reduce the production time to six months.


title: Remdesivir

text: In January 2020, Gilead began working on restarting remdesivir production in glass-lined steel chemical reactors at its manufacturing plant in Edmonton, Alberta. On 2 February 2020, the company flew its entire stock of remdesivir, 100 kilograms in powder form (left over from Ebola research), to its filling plant in La Verne, California to start filling vials. The Edmonton plant finished its first new batch of remdesivir in April 2020. Around the same time, fresh raw materials began to arrive from contract manufacturers reactivated by Gilead in January.


title: Remdesivir

text: Another challenge is getting remdesivir into patients despite the drug's "poor predicted solubility and poor stability." In June 2020, Ligand Pharmaceuticals revealed that Gilead has been managing those issues by mixing Ligand's proprietary excipient Captisol (based on University of Kansas research into cyclodextrin) with remdesivir at a 30:1 ratio. Since that implies an enormous amount of Captisol is needed to stabilize and deliver remdesivir (on top of amounts needed for several other drugs for which the excipient is already in regular use), Ligand announced that it is trying to boost Captisol annual manufacturing capacity to as much as 500 metric tons.


title: Remdesivir

text: On 12 May 2020, Gilead announced that it had granted non-exclusive voluntary licenses to five generic drug companies in India and Pakistan to manufacture remdesivir for distribution to 127 countries. The agreements were structured so that the licensees can set their own prices and will not have to pay royalties to Gilead until the WHO declares an end to the COVID‑19 emergency or another medicine or vaccine is approved for COVID‑19, whichever comes first. On 23 June 2020, India granted emergency marketing approval of generic remdesivir manufactured by two Gilead licensees, Cipla and Hetero Drugs.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir is approved, or authorized for emergency use, to treat COVID‑19 in many countries. Remdesivir has been authorized for emergency use in India, Singapore, and approved for use in Japan, the European Union, the United States, and Australia for people with severe symptoms.


title: Remdesivir

text: Remdesivir is the first treatment for COVID‑19 to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The approval by the FDA does not include the entire population that had been authorized to use remdesivir under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) originally issued on 1 May 2020. In order to ensure continued access to the pediatric population previously covered under the EUA, the FDA revised the EUA for remdesivir to authorize the drug's use for treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID‑19 in hospitalized pediatric patients weighing to less than or hospitalized pediatric patients less than twelve years of age weighing at least . Clinical trials assessing the safety and efficacy of remdesivir in this pediatric patient population are ongoing.


title: Remdesivir

text: In July 2020, remdesivir was provisionally approved for use in Australia for use in adults and adolescents with severe COVID‑19 symptoms who have been hospitalized. Australia claims to have a sufficient supply of remdesivir in its national stockpile.


title: Remdesivir

text: As of 11 April 2020, access in Canada was available only through clinical trials. Health Canada approved requests to treat twelve people with remdesivir under the department's special-access program (SAP). Additional doses of remdesivir are not available through the SAP except for pregnant women or children with confirmed COVID‑19 and severe illness.


title: Remdesivir

text: On 19 June 2020, Health Canada received an application from Gilead for the use of remdesivir for treating COVID‑19. On 27 July 2020, Health Canada conditionally approved the application.


title: Remdesivir

text: On 22 September 2020, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand announced that Canada had entered into a deal to obtain up to 150,000 vials of remdesivir from Gilead starting in October. As of 8 October, remdesivir was still not widely available in Alberta, because Alberta Health Services was undertaking a "formulary review" to be completed by mid-November.


title: Remdesivir

text: On 17 March 2020, the drug was provisionally approved for use for COVID‑19 patients in a serious condition as a result of the outbreak in the Czech Republic.


title: Remdesivir

text: In February 2016, orphan designation (EU/3/16/1615) was granted by the European Commission to Gilead Sciences International Ltd, United Kingdom, for remdesivir for the treatment of Ebola virus disease.


title: Remdesivir

text: In April 2020, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) provided recommendations on compassionate use of remdesivir for COVID‑19 in the EU.


title: Remdesivir

text: In May 2020, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA recommended expanding the compassionate use of remdesivir to those not on mechanical ventilation. In addition to those undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation, the compassionate use recommendations cover the treatment of hospitalized individuals requiring supplemental oxygen, non-invasive ventilation, high-flow oxygen devices or ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). The updated recommendations were based on preliminary results from the NIAID-ACTT study, which suggested a beneficial effect of remdesivir in the treatment of hospitalized individuals with severe COVID‑19. In addition, a treatment duration of five days was introduced alongside the longer ten-day course, based on preliminary results from another study (GS-US-540-5773) suggesting that for those not requiring mechanical ventilation or ECMO, the treatment course may be shortened from ten to five days without any loss of efficacy. Individuals who receive a five-day treatment course but do not show clinical improvement will be eligible to continue receiving remdesivir for an additional five days.