Maja Stark and Wichanee Meechai have each shot 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke first-round lead at the LPGA Shanghai event in the tour’s return to China after the COVID-19 pandemic

United States forward Catarina Macario has signed a three-year contract with Chelsea, moving from Lyon

Albert Rusnák scored a first-half goal and Stefan Frei made one save in picking up his second clean sheet of the best-of-3 first-round MLS Cup series as the Seattle Sounders eliminated FC Dallas in the rubber match with a 1-0 victory

With Jim Harbaugh's tenure at Michigan possibly coming to an end, can any NFL team really take the PR hit to not only bring him into their building, but to have him take over the operation as their next head coach? There is a lot to unpack here.

More than 10 months after the Reyna family pressured U.S. Soccer Federation staff to give more playing time to Gio Reyna at the World Cup, the team has not yet adopted rules to prevent similar lobbying

Marcus Stoinis' unbeaten 89 and last over heroics by Mohsin Khan helped Lucknow Super Giants bolster their play-off hopes with a five-run win over Mumbai...

Major League Soccer's match day 12 did not disappoint.

England captain Harry Kane ended his record-breaking career with Tottenham on Saturday signing a four-year deal with...

Conor McGregor challenged YouTuber-turned-fighter KSI to a "bare-knuckle" fight following Anthony Joshua's latest victory against Robert Helenius. It all started when the Irishman got in the ring for post-fight interviews to praise Joshua's win on Saturday (August 12). "Greatness don't rush, Joshua took his time, he landed a big heavy shot, I'm just happy Helenius got up," McGregor said. "The fans should be grateful for the Finnish coming in, a last-minute replacement, no fear he gave a great performance, did himself proud and his team and I'm happy to see him get up. He continued: "Big congrats to AJ, big congrats to Eddie, big congrats Forged Irish Stout." In a bizarre turn of events, the 35-year-old took a swipe at KSI, saying: "I know your man KSI is in the crowd, yeah. He couldn’t box eggs if he worked in an egg boxing factory," he exclaimed. "So, if he wants to get in here, we’ll give him a fight - bare-knuckle if you want." However, it appeared as though the Prime owner had already left the O2 Arena, as he later tweeted: "Lmao just seen this. Jake Paul must be crying that I’ve got Connor on my dick already and I didn’t even have to fight an MMA fighter." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter KSI is currently training for his fight with Tommy Fury on October 14 at AO Arena in Manchester. It comes after Fury beat Jake Paul in Saudi Arabia earlier this year in February. Fury called the upcoming fight "easy money," adding: "All that is left for me to do is send this man to sleep. I'll do that inside four rounds." Meanwhile, KSI promised to "silence all the doubters that believe I have no chance" in what he believes to be "the toughest fight in the influencer boxing scene". 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.

Saturday’s Major League Baseball action features a ton of late afternoon starts for those on the East Coast, which gives us plenty of time to put some prop bets in for the action.I have a pair of starters I’m targeting for prop plays, as well as Cincinnati Reds rookie phenom Elly De ...

Harry Toffolo’s deteriorating mental health and belief that his football career was over were “very substantial mitigation” for him breaching Football Association betting rules, according to an independent regulatory commission. Toffolo was given a suspended five-month ban after admitting 375 breaches of FA betting rules and was also fined just under £21,000. The Nottingham Forest full-back placed the bets between 2014 and 2017. In written reasons published by the commission, it was stated Toffolo – who admitted the charge in full – placed 202 bets on matches in competitions in which his clubs were participating or had participated. There were also two spot bets placed by the player on events which involved himself as well as 15 identified to have been made against his own clubs. Of the 375 bets, he staked £1,323.92, averaging £3.53 per bet. His total return was £956.22 – a loss of £367.70. Toffolo placed a bet on himself to score in the 2015 League One play-off final at Wembley for Swindon, who lost 4-0 to Preston. The independent regulatory commission accepted Toffolo’s explanation of having placed that bet “in excitement”. The commission found Toffolo began placing bets on football, as well as other sports, when he was 18 and stopped at 21, with stakes “generally small”. He lost money overall, although he did profit from certain categories of bet. There was no suggestion Toffolo was involved in match fixing or benefited from “any particular inside information” and he was “driven principally, if not exclusively, by his own belief as to what the outcome of a particular match or event might be”. In the witness statements served on Toffolo’s behalf and also his own oral evidence, it was demonstrated the player “had a number of very difficult times in the period” when he was coming to terms with being told, during January 2014, he did not feature in the plans of then-Norwich manager Chris Hughton but could also not go out on loan to gain experience. The commission reported “as a result he perceived that his future at NCFC (in the U23 development squad) looked bleak” and it was around that time Toffolo began gambling, partly to “alleviate his low mood but principally because he wanted to ‘fit in’ with players who were claiming to be gambling regularly and successfully”. Following a loan move to Stoke, Toffolo said away from the pitch he “struggled with his mental health for a variety of reasons” which led him to gamble with increasing frequency. The player also talked about feelings of loneliness when staying in a hotel during a short-term stint at Rotherham and that he became depressed when sent out on loan to Preston until the end of the 2015-2016 season, when he considered his career in football “to be over”. The commission accepted there “appears to have been a link” between the state of Toffolo’s mental health and his gambling and noted when he joined Scunthorpe in August 2016 he “thrived far better”, with his family having also made the move. The frequency of his gambling decreased considerably and eventually stopped altogether. On the basis of the evidence, the commission concluded the bets placed by Toffolo during the relevant periods “were the result, at least in large part, of the significant mental health challenges” he endured over those periods. The commission found, with the support of his family and those around him and with external help from a sports psychologist, Toffolo made huge efforts to “turn things around”. “That he did so, and did so so successfully, is a credit to him and, we hope, might serve as inspiration to other participants who might find themselves struggling with mental health issues,” the commission’s statement added. On the sanctions, the commission stressed Toffolo’s breaches were “significant” and could not be described as “trivial despite the low stakes involved”. While there was “substantial mitigation”, the commission felt a sporting sanction was nonetheless “appropriate and proportionate in light of the serious nature of the breaches committed over a lengthy period of time”. It was acknowledged the suspended sanction could be viewed as “too lenient” but was concluded the “particular circumstances of this case justified the nature, duration and terms of the suspension”. Forest have declined to comment on the sanctions imposed on Toffolo. Manager Steve Cooper was among those to provide evidence to the commission, describing the defender as a ‘true professional’ and family man who has a positive impact on the dressing room and in the wider community. The sanctions on Toffolo follow the imposition of an eight-month ban on Brentford striker Ivan Toney in May for breaches of FA betting regulations. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Mauricio Pochettino wants Chelsea to be ‘naughty’ Gareth Anscombe reveals his relief at avoiding an unwanted World Cup double Klopp likes new Liverpool hoodie and lizards visit F1 – Friday’s sporting social

England continued their unbeaten run in European Championship qualification with a 2-0 win over Malta. The Three Lions opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Enrico Pepe put through his own goal. Many supporters inside Wembley Stadium would have imagined a few more goals but they were made to wait till the 75th minute before they saw another when Harry Kane netted from close range to seal victory. Elsewhere in Group C, Italy boosted their chances of making Euro 2024 with a 5-2 win over North Macedonia. Matteo Darmian opened the scoring for the Italians before Federico Chiesa gave them a healthy advantage thanks to his brace before the interval. But, Italy were made to sweat in the second half when Jani Atanasov scored twice to reduce the deficit to just one but Giacomo Raspadori’s strike nine minutes from time and Stephan El Shaarawy’s late fifth wrapped up the win. In Group E, Albania qualified despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Moldova. Albania hit the front in the 25th minute when Sokol Cikalleshi slotted home a penalty and their celebrations were put on ice when Vladislav Baboglo equalised for the home side, but the scores stayed level to send Albania through. Czech Republic held onto the second qualifying spot as they claimed a 1-1 draw with Poland in Warsaw. Poland looked like they would leapfrog their opponents into second when Jakub Piotrowski gave them a 1-0 lead but West Ham’s Tomas Soucek proved to be the hero – four minutes after the break – when he fired the ball home from close range to edge them further to qualification and ended Poland’s hopes. In Group H, Denmark qualified for the group stages following a 2-1 victory over Slovenia. Joakim Maehle put Denmark in front but Erik Janza’s strike four minutes later sent the teams level into the break. The all important winner was scored by Thomas Delaney, who poked home from close range to send the Danes through. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan kept their hopes of qualifying alive thanks to a 3-1 home victory over San Marino. The hosts were expected to gain all three points and were on their way when Islam Chesnokov claimed a brace, scoring either side of the break. For just the second time in the qualifying phase, San Marino got on the scoresheet when Simone Franciosi nodded home from close range but Kazakhstan restored their two-goal advantage thanks to Abat Aimbetov’s late penalty. Northern Ireland were thrashed 4-0 at the hands of Finland and slumped to their seventh defeat in qualifying. Read More Wembley celebrates life of Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of England’s Malta qualifier Alan Browne says Republic upsetting Netherlands ‘would mean an awful lot’ Stephen Kenny’s last dance? 5 talking points as the Republic face Netherlands Golden Boy award recognises Jude Bellingham’s irrepressible rise at Real Madrid Fine finish hands Nicolai Hojgaard two-shot lead at halfway stage in Dubai Exeter captain Poppy Leitch hoping for more progress during inaugural PWR season