An A+ call.

National rugby unions will be allowed to decide between the classic version of their anthem played at the World Cup or a new one sung by...

Paul Tierney will take charge of the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United. The 42-year-old referee has been appointed to oversee the Wembley decider from the middle for the first time. Raised in Wigan and based in Lancashire, Tierney will take charge of the first Manchester derby FA Cup final meeting. “It’s a real honour for me and the rest of the team, and we’re all thrilled to have been appointed for this game,” Tierney, who will be assisted by Neil Davies and Scott Ledger, said. “To referee the FA Cup Final is one of those things that you strive to do and it’s always been one of my targets but it still takes a bit of time to sink in. “It’s a great fixture to be refereeing too and although there is the common assumption that because I’m from Wigan I must support one of them, I was actually born in Belfast and only moved to Wigan when I was eleven and it’s actually going to be the first time that I’ve refereed a Manchester derby so I’m looking forward to it. “I’ve since been fortunate to referee there and be involved in more games and it’s something that always sticks with you. “Obviously, this game is going to top the lot on a personal level, so I’m looking forward to it and hopefully the final will be a great game.” David Coote has been appointed as the lead VAR for the encounter, with Simon Long his assistant. The final will be held at Wembley on Saturday 3 June.

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Sri Lanka’s top order continued to struggle against Pakistan’s quicks as Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi made early inroads to reduce the hosts to 79 for four at lunch on the first day of the second test at Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo

Alabama football has a potential quarterback issue looming for the 2023 season, but one lineman laid out how the Tide will avoid that problem.From 2016-18, the Alabama Crimson Tide had a top 10 rushing offense with Damien Harris and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts in the fold.While Notre...

The event may still be two months away, but things are certainly heating up for YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul’s fights against Tommy Fury and Dillon Danis respectively – to the extent Fury’s father John Fury flipped tables and brought Tuesday's (August 22) press conference to a dramatic halt. Things were already tense in the build-up, as Paul took to Instagram Live to claim Danis “lodged himself in his [hotel] room” and is “not showing up” for their filmed face-to-face, before Danis finally arrived 40 minutes late. And Danis couldn’t help but clap back on Twitter in relation to the delay, joking he “had a surprise in the hotel room for my birthday”, sharing yet another picture of Paul’s fiancée Nina Agdal. However, the real drama started when Danis walked on-stage with the same Toy Story alien hat worn by Paul in his infamous 2017 video from Japan’s Aokigahara forest in which he filmed a person who had died by suicide, and then launched Prime bottles into the audience. Paul, meanwhile, had his own surprise props, beginning with a poster appearing to show Danis in an altercation together with text saying “real fighter”, and ending with a birthday cake depicting a bloodied Danis knocked out on the floor. “Dillon Danis, the ‘real fighter’ who got choked out by a boxer in a club,” Paul said, while holding up the poster. Danis immediately retorted: “Your girl got f***ed by 75 other guys before you married her, shut the f*** up.” Elsewhere, Tommy Fury insisted “YouTube boxing will be done” if he wins, while KSI – real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji – claimed “people are going to look at me differently” if he is victorious, joking that he is “the one that can see John Cena”. Though it was Fury’s father John, who was sat on stage with his son, who arguably stole the show, when he escalated things considerably. As the fighters trash talked each other, he intervened and said: “Can we stop this s***e? This is getting me down. “Let’s talk some proper stuff. People’s come here today to hear fighting talk, let’s hear it. “It’s not kindergarten stuff, it’s serious business – men’s gonna get put to sleep in a few weeks’ time, so let’s talk about how it’s gonna happen!” As he got increasingly agitated about wanting to get the “ball rolling”, Fury fumed: “Get the cake and shove it up you’re a***hole, before I do it.” Then, as he complained about the “antics” between the fighters, he was seen punching a table before flipping them over. As chaos ensued, Paul got the head of Danis from his cake and lobbed it at his opponent. The conference was then brought to a sudden pause, with a break in proceedings before the event resumed for a face-off between KSI and Fury – one which saw KSI push Fury away from him. No face-off took place between Danis and Paul. The boxing match involving all four fighters takes place in Manchester on 14 October. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Jordan Henderson has apologised to the LGBTQ+ community after the former Liverpool captain’s move to Saudi Arabia. The England international, who joined Steve Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq this summer in a £12m move, has been a vocal supporter of the community and campaigns to support its inclusion in the sport. Henderson, who has been a leading voice in the Rainbow Laces campaign and has worn a rainbow armband when captaining Liverpool, caused controversy this summer with his move to Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal. “I can understand the frustration [from the LGBTQ+ community],” Henderson told The Athletic. “I can understand the anger. I get it. All I can say around that is that I’m sorry that they feel like that. My intention was never, ever to hurt anyone. My intention has always been to help causes and communities where I felt like they have asked for my help . Henderson was one of three Liverpool players to move to the Saudi Pro League, with Fabinho signing for Al-Ittihad and Roberto Firmino linking up with Al-Ahli as a free agent. The 33-year-old, who is yet to score for Al-Ettifaq, has helped Gerrard’s side to a positive start, currently sitting fifth in the table after five games. Henderson was cautious when pushed about future involvement in the Rainbow Laces campaign, highlighting the prospect that it could “disrespect the religion and culture in Saudi Arabia”. Henderson also insisted his move to the Saudi Pro League will have a positive impact, but stopped short of predicting any meaningful change. “I think people know what my views and values were before I left and still do now. And I think having someone with those views and values in Saudi Arabia is only a positive thing. I can’t promise anything, but what I can do is sit here and say I have my values and beliefs,” Henderson added. “I’m comfortable knowing exactly what I am and exactly what I stand for. But I get and I can accept not everyone’s going to get that. So that’s why I can only apologise to those people if they feel like that.” Read More Football rumours: Al-Ittihad set to make record £215m bid for Mohamed Salah What Mohamed Salah’s dressing room speech says about Liverpool future Liverpool reinvented as midfield shuffle hints at Jurgen Klopp’s past

Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and 11 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 112-99 win against the Philadelphia 76ers, who were playing without MVP center Joel Embiid

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