Manchester United have confirmed Mason Mount will be out of action until after the international break due to injury.

The United States will host FIFA’s new, expanded Club World Cup in 2025, football’s global governing body has announced. FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed the 32-team tournament on the eve of the 2022 World Cup final. It is set to feature 12 European clubs, including the last three Champions League winners Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City. The USA will co-host the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. The dates for the new tournament have not yet been confirmed, but it is expected to fill the summertime slot left open by the now-defunct Confederations Cup. The European Club Association has backed the plans but the World Leagues Forum expressed concern over the “unilateral” decision of FIFA to place the new event in the calendar. “The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football, and with the required infrastructure in place together with a massive local interest, the United States is the ideal host to kick off this new, global tournament,” said Infantino. The formal launch of the bidding process for the 2030 World Cup has been delayed, with the bidding regulations now not being presented for approval until the next FIFA Council meeting in September or October. The appointment of the hosts by the FIFA Congress has also now been delayed until the final quarter of next year. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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Michael O’Neill has told Shea Charles he must learn from his dismissal after Northern Ireland suffered yet another 1-0 defeat in Euro 2024 qualifying, this time at home to Slovenia. The 19-year-old Charles has been one of the bright spots for Northern Ireland in a hugely frustrating qualifying campaign, among the young players who have grabbed the chance to establish themselves in the side amid an injury nightmare. But his international copybook got its first blemish as he collected two yellow cards to be sent off just before the hour mark at Windsor Park, meaning his run of starting every game so far in this campaign will end when Northern Ireland head to Finland next month. The Southampton midfielder was booked for dissent just a few minutes into the match, protesting against the dubious decision to award Slovenia the free-kick from which Adam Cerin won the game, and then saw red when he caught Andraz Sporar late in the 58th minute. Northern Ireland had been frustrated by several decisions from referee Istvan Kovacs on the night but O’Neill said that was something they had to be able to handle. “This is a learning curve for young players,” he said. “(Slovenia) are a much more experienced international team than we are. You can see that in the way they managed the situation and played the referee a little bit. “The emotion in the stadium obviously transferred to the players a little bit, everyone gets a bit frustrated with some of the decisions…If you’re booked for dissent, that’s poor. You put yourself under pressure so we have to learn from that.” “We’ve probably seen a little combination of inexperience in a number of players and also just the nature of the emotion in the game when you’re chasing the game against a team that are a little bit more experienced and that can spill over a little bit. “But I think that on the night we were pretty disappointed with the performance of the referee.” This was Northern Ireland’s fifth 1-0 defeat of a campaign in which they have faced endless injury problems, with O’Neill forced to use two more fresh faces – Eoin Toal and Brad Lyons – on the night to take the number who have played in the eight qualifiers so far to 31. O’Neill could rightly argue that this performance was a step forward from last month’s 4-2 defeat to Slovenia in Ljubljana considering the way a makeshift defence was able to stifle Benjamin Sesko – who went down easily to win the decisive free-kick off Jamal Lewis – and Sporar. But ultimately it was another defeat, a sixth out of eight with only two wins over minnows San Marino to break up the run. “I think there is always frustration when you lose the game – and a little bit of disappointment as well,” he said. “I think the players deserved more out of it than what they got. We have had a frustrating campaign, a very challenging campaign and tonight’s game was probably a reflection of that once again.” Captain Jonny Evans ended the night limping heavily after taking a late blow to his foot, having already been down in the first half to receive treatment. “He’s obviously hobbling a little bit in there,” O’Neill said of the Manchester United defender. “I think the same foot was stamped on three times so he’s limping pretty badly but I think he’ll be fine. “It will be one of those where when he wakes up in the morning he’ll be pretty sore but there’s no real damage as far as I know.” Read More Steve Clarke says Scotland have ‘lots to improve’ after defeat to France Republic of Ireland heading in the right direction – striker Callum Robinson Scotland come back to earth as France recover from early fright Shea Charles dismissed as Northern Ireland lose at home to Slovenia Jordan Henderson has ‘no regrets’ over Saudi Arabia move despite being booed Rassie Erasmus expects England to have ‘some beef’ with South Africa

Swedish tennis player Mikael Ymer has been banned for 18 months for missing three out-of-competition doping tests in a 12-month period

Farhad Moshiri has agreed a deal to sell Everton to American investment firm 777 Partners. The British-Iranian businessman, who owns 94.1 per cent of the shares, will sell his entire stake to 777, who have also invested in Sevilla, Hertha Berlin, Genoa, Vasco da Gama, Standard Liege, Red Star and Melbourne Victory. It will bring an end to Moshiri’s disastrous reign in charge at Goodison Park in which Everton have spent around £700m on players in seven years, only just avoided relegation in the last two seasons and are winless in the Premier League now. Moshiri, who has seemed short of funds since his long-time business partner, Alisher Usmanov, was sanctioned after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had been searching for investors to help fund Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which will cost £500m and is due to open in 2024. He was in talks with American firm MSP Sports Capital and real estate tycoon Maciek Kaminski, but his initial plan was to sell a minority share. Moshiri plans to write to the club’s minority shareholders to seek their support for the deal, which Everton are confident will be ratified by the Premier League and should be completed in the calendar year. Moshiri said: “The nature of ownership and financing of top football clubs has changed immeasurably since I first invested in Everton over seven years ago. The days of an owner/benefactor are seemingly out of reach for most, and the biggest clubs are now typically owned by well-resourced PE [private equity] firms, specialist sports investors or state-backed companies and funds. “I have been open about the need to bring in new investment and complete the financing for our iconic new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, on the banks of the Mersey, which I have predominantly financed to date. I have spoken to a number of parties and considered some strong potential opportunities. “However, it is through my lengthy discussions with 777 that I believe they are the best partners to take our great club forward, with all the benefits of their multi-club investment model. As a result of this agreement, we have an experienced and well-connected investor in football clubs who will help maximise the commercial opportunities, and we have secured the complete financing for our new stadium, which will be the critical element in the future success of Everton.” Josh Wander, founder and managing partner of 777 Partners, said: “We are truly humbled by the opportunity to become part of the Everton family as custodians of the club, and consider it a privilege to be able to build on its proud heritage and values. “Our primary objective is to work with fans and stakeholders to develop the sporting and commercial infrastructure for the men’s and women’s teams that will deliver results for future generations of Everton supporters. As part of this, we are committed to partnering with the local community over the long-term, working on important projects such as the development of Bramley-Moore Dock as a world-class stadium venue, allowing thousands more Evertonians to attend our home matches and contribute to the economic and cultural regeneration of Merseyside.” Read More Are Everton the first crisis club of the season? Demarai Gray gets his wish as he leaves Everton for Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq Everton boss Sean Dyche responds to Demarai Gray’s ‘respect’ comment Football rumours: Martin Odegaard tight lipped about Arsenal contract extension US investment firm 777 Partners considering Everton majority purchase – reports Football rumours: Jadon Sancho looking to leave Manchester United

The Dallas Mavericks shamelessly tanked their way out of the play-in tournament despite rostering Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Now, it's time to seek redemption in thenewseason.Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals in 2021. Recent NBA history has been satura...

The Champions League risks becoming a travelling circus if matches are taken outside Europe, according to the boss of one of the continent’s leading clubs. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hinted in April that a Champions League final could be played in the United States in the future, while sources close to the European Club Association have also spoken favourably about playing a revamped Super Cup in the US in the years ahead. However, the chief executive of Bayern Munich, Jan-Christian Dreesen, gave the idea short shrift at the ECA’s General Assembly in Berlin on Thursday. “For sure we have to develop our tournament, but on the other side my personal view is quite clear. We are not the Cirque du Soleil,” he said. “We have a European championship, and we have to play our matches in Europe.” Dreesen, one of the ECA vice-chairs, also insisted European football did not need to be “afraid” of the rising influence of the Saudi league, with its clubs having spent more than £700million on Europe-based players this summer. “I think we shouldn’t be worried about that,” he added. “We will have to see in the future if it’s sustainable and then we will handle it. And as Nasser (Al Khelaifi, ECA chairman) has said already, we have a fantastic competition, we have this tradition with the European clubs, so we don’t have to be afraid.” UEFA announced a new Memorandum of Understanding with the ECA on Wednesday which included an agreement on how money earned from European club competitions should be split. Solidarity payments to clubs not playing in European competitions will rise from four to seven per cent in the 2024-27 cycle, while there is also a combined 10 per cent uplift in the percentage of revenue set aside for participation and performance. The proportion allocated to clubs based on their historic coefficient and the size of their country’s television market pool will be reduced by the same amount. While the new distribution model has been widely welcomed, two bosses from mid-sized European clubs said the disparity in revenues between domestic leagues was the bigger issue affecting competitive balance across the continent. Celtic chief executive and ECA vice-chair Peter Lawwell said: “Celtic as the champions in Scotland receive just over £3m, if you are relegated from the EPL (English Premier League) you get £140m. “The main factor is the domestic competitions.” Dariusz Mioduski, the president of the management board at Polish club Legia Warsaw, added: “What has been done now with the (European) distribution….doesn’t fix the leagues. It will never fix the problem. “This is the challenge for Europe in the future to look at that because today what you have is an inherent issue in European football where clubs are limited in their revenues to the domestic markets but they have to compete across Europe for talent. “Unless you somehow fix that, or at least address it, the problem will be getting bigger and bigger and there is no way to fix it by sharing more and more money through European competitions, it has to be done through something else.” ECA chair Al Khelaifi was asked whether he expected the three clubs still outside the organisation following the 2021 Super League breakaway attempt – Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid – to have returned within a year’s time. Juventus have begun the process of leaving the Super League, but have not yet been readmitted to the ECA. “They (the three clubs) are most welcome back,” Al Khelaifi said. “(They were a group of) three, but now only two. So every six months there’s one less, which is good. They are going slowly, but in the right way.” Earlier in the day, Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano was elected as the Premier League’s sole representative on the ECA board. Lawwell and Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham were appointed to the separate ECA-UEFA Joint Venture board which manages commercial matters related to Europe’s club competitions. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Rory McIlroy: Late birdies glossed over a pretty average day at Irish Open France ready for ‘wonderful’ World Cup opener with New Zealand – Fabien Galthie Johnny Sexton to make Ireland return in World Cup opener with Romania

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Fresh images of Barcelona's controversial Nike away kit for the 2023/24 season have emerged online. Fans are annoyed that it will be predominantly white, the colours of rivals Real Madrid.