Stephen Kenny has insisted he has not sought assurances over his future as Republic of Ireland manager despite facing mounting criticism. Kenny’s position has been questioned and potential successors touted in the wake of a hugely disappointing 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifying defeat in Greece on Friday evening which left Ireland’s hopes of making it to the finals in severe jeopardy after just two games. However, asked if he had been given any assurances by the Football Association of Ireland that he would see out the campaign, the 51-year-old replied: “I haven’t sought any assurance. That’s not something I do.” Kenny, who complained about “a lack of respect” at his pre-match press conference, was asked how he felt he was doing as Ireland manager. He said: “I’m not going to sit here and do a full press conference on an assessment of my period in charge or anything like that, I’m here really to prepare for tomorrow, the game against Gibraltar. “It’s a big game for us. Obviously, I’m disappointed that we lost against Greece, but we’ve got to bounce back against Gibraltar and I’m fairly sure we can do that, and we’ll take that into September.” For all Kenny’s bullishness, Ireland have won only four of the 23 competitive games they have played under his charge and lost five of the last eight. Asked if that was a source of disappointment, he said: “It’s a fair question. I’m disappointed about the Greek game, I’m disappointed we didn’t get the result that we needed. Listen, we have lost a game that we wanted to win and we have to bounce back against Gibraltar.” Former Ireland boss Brian Kerr was critical of Kenny’s tenure in his role as a TV pundit, while counterpart Liam Brady, one of the nation’s most gifted former internationals, described the current squad as “the worst group of players that any manager has had in my lifetime”. James McClean, who will captain the side against Gibraltar on Monday as he collects his 100th cap, said: “It would be very stupid and naive for me to sit here and take on Liam Brady and criticise Liam Brady with the calibre of player that he was and what he was. I’m not going to do that. “But look, we have a tendency, especially in this country, to get carried away. We are two games in now. This country in the past has shown that we have big results in us when no-one has expected it. “There is a lot of football to be played between now and the end of the campaign. We’re not naive, we know it’s going to be tough, very tough, but we have to start somewhere and we aim to do that on Monday night against Gibraltar and take it a game at a time.”

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Alessia Russo fired England through to their third World Cup semi-final with a second-half strike to complete a 2-1 comeback over Colombia at a sold-out Stadium Australia. Leicy Santos gave Colombia the lead when she looped an effort over Mary Earps after 44 minutes, but saw her opener cancelled out after Lauren Hemp pounced on an error by Colombian keeper Catalina Perez six minutes into first half stoppage time. Georgia Stanway set up Russo’s low finish to hand the Lionesses the lead after 63 minutes, and while Colombia pushed forward against the European champions an equaliser ultimately proved just out of reach. England will next face tournament co-hosts Australia, who beat France 7-6 on penalties in the early kick-off. Follow live reaction as England reached the semi-finals Read More Who and when do England play next? Lionesses’ route to the World Cup final ahead of semi-final England respond to new World Cup adversity to reach semi-finals England set up old rivalry on new stage thanks to Alessia Russo magic

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The Spanish women’s team have released a joint statement on Friday saying they will not play until the federation leadership is changed, mere hours after president of the Spanish FA, Luis Rubiales, comfirmed his intention to remain at the head of Spain’s football federation. Rubiales has faced increasingly fierce criticism after he grabbed fooballber Jenni Hermoso by the head and kissed on her lips during the Women’s World Cup final trophy presentation on Sunday. Video later emerged of Rubiales grabbing his crotch in celebration in close proximity to the Queen of Spain and her 16-year-old daughter. Speaking to media on Friday morning Rubiales doubled down on his position saying that he would fight to clear his name in court if necessary and refused to resign. The statement published by players’ union Futpro included Hermoso’s rebuttal of Rubiales’ earlier assertion that the kiss was consensual. “I want to clarify that, as was seen in the images, at no time did I consent to the kiss he gave me,” Hermoso said. “I do not tolerate my word being questioned and much less the invention of words I have not said.” Hermoso and her teammates called for “real change to help the national team to keep growing, to be able to bring this great success to the generations to come”. The joint statement, signed by 56 players including all 23 from the World Cup winning squad, says that the World Cup champions will not return to play for Spain while “the current management” remains at the Rfef. It read: “As a result of the events that occurred this morning and given the perplexity of the speech delivered by the president…the players of the senior team, recent world champions, in support of Jennifer Hermoso, want to express their firm and resounding condemnation of conduct that has violated the dignity of women, “In view of the statements made by the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Jennifer Hermoso wants to flatly deny that she consented to the kiss that Luis Rubiales gave her in the World Cup final. “After everything that happened during the Women’s World Cup medal ceremony, we want to state that all the players who sign this letter will not return to a call for the national team if the current leaders continue.” Elsewhere, Spain’s government has started the legal proceedings seeking to suspend the soccer federation chief with Victor Francos, head of the state-run National Sports Council telling a news conference: “The government starts today the procedure so that Mr Rubiales has to give explanations before the Sport Court and if the Sport Court agrees, I can announce that we will suspend Mr Rubiales from his functions.” The secretary of sport also added that he hoped this incident would become “Spanish football’s Me Too moment”. Spain’s acting labour minister Yolanda Diaz said: “What we have seen today in the Federation Assembly is unacceptable. The Government must act and take urgent measures. Impunity for macho actions is over. Rubiales cannot continue in office.” Fifa also opened its own investigation on Thursday and released this statement: “The events may constitute violations of article 13 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code. The Fifa disciplinary committee will only provide further information on these disciplinary proceedings once it has issued a final decision on the matter. Fifa reiterates its unwavering commitment to respecting the integrity of all individuals and strongly condemns any behaviour to the contrary.” The sections of the disciplinary code referenced in the Fifa statement cover “offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play”. Read More It’s tragic this World Cup will only be remembered for one thing Spanish government starts legal proceedings to sack Luis Rubiales Spain striker boycotts national team in protest against FA president Luis Rubiales Jenni Hermoso slams Spanish football federation after Luis Rubiales incident Spain’s world champions refuse to play while Luis Rubiales is RFEF president Spain’s women’s football committee president resigns over Luis Rubiales controversy

Previewing the upcoming pre-season friendly between Juventus and Real Madrid in Orlando.

Harry Kane will fly to Germany on Friday to complete his proposed move to Bayern Munich after a fee that could rise to £120million was agreed with Tottenham. Bayern have tracked the England captain all summer and a number of bids were turned down, but a breakthrough was reached on Wednesday night. It left the ball in Kane’s court and he decided on Thursday to leave his boyhood club and join the Bundesliga champions, who will pay an initial £100m for the forward with add-ons able to potentially take the transfer up to an overall fee of £120m, the PA news agency understands. Reports on Friday morning initially suggested Spurs had refused to give Kane permission to fly, but they were squashed by Tottenham and he is set to complete a medical on Friday once he lands in Munich. Kane is unlikely to be signed in time to feature in Bayern’s DFL-Super Cup match with RB Leipzig on Saturday night. However, with the clash taking place at Bayern’s Allianz Arena home, England captain Kane could well be unveiled to supporters before kick-off. This is not the first summer where Kane’s future has dominated headlines after Manchester City had a failed pursuit in 2021. Kane sat out the first match of that season – coincidentally against Man City – but Pep Guardiola’s side never got close to agreeing a fee with Tottenham for the forward. With Kane into the last 12 months of his contract at Spurs this summer, speculation over his future this time always felt more significant. Bayern saw bids reportedly turned down in June and July but made their intentions clear, with club officials in honorary president Uli Hoeness and president Herbert Hainer speaking openly in the media about Kane’s desire to join the Bundesliga champions. A third bid was submitted last Friday and a new twist occurred when Spurs spent all weekend deliberating before chairman Daniel Levy rejected the offer on Monday. With noises coming out that Kane, who scored four goals in a friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Sunday, had enjoyed working with new Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, confidence started to grow that he could spend the season with his boyhood team. Bayern’s latest bid proved enough for an agreement to be reached and after Kane took his time to weigh up the decision, he decided it was right to end his 19-year stay at Spurs. It means Kane’s pursuit of Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal-scoring record will go on pause, with the Tottenham forward still 47 goals off equalling Shearer’s 260-goal tally. He will leave N17 as the club’s leading marksman after he beat Jimmy Greaves’ 266-goal record in February with the winner against Man City. Kane will also get the chance to fulfil his career-long ambition of winning trophies at Bayern, while remaining in the Champions League after spending only one of the last three campaigns in Europe’s elite competition. Back at Spurs, Postecoglou, who only took over in June, will be tasked with filling an unimaginable void. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live ECB to launch review after former coach admits to sexual assault of 14-year-old Jamie Ritchie ready to lead Scotland in Saint-Etienne showdown with France Can Arsenal better Man City? Talking points as the Premier League kicks off

Naoya Inoue will challenge Stephen Fulton for his unified super-bantamweight titles on Tuesday, as the Japanese superstar aims to become a four-division champion. Inoue, 30, previously held a world title at light-flyweight, unified gold at super-flyweight, and was recently undisputed champion at bantamweight. The “Monster”, who is Indy Sport’s pound-for-pound No 1, has since vacated his undisputed titles to move up a division, where he will face Fulton. Fulton, 29, is unbeaten like his opponent here, and the American will carry the WBC and WBO titles into Tokyo this week, where Inoue awaits. Last time out, Inoue toyed with Paul Butler in December before finishing the Briton to achieve undisputed status at bantamweight. Meanwhile, Fulton last fought in June, outpointing David Roman to retain his super-bantamweight belts. Here’s all you need to know. When is it? Inoue vs Fulton will take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday 25 July. The main card is due to begin at 9.30am BST (1.30am PT, 3.30am CT, 4.30am ET), with ring walks for the main event expected at around 12pm BST (4am PT, 6am CT, 7am ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action. Subscribers can also watch the fights on the Sky Go app. In the US, ESPN+ will broadcast the event live. Odds Inoue – 1/4 Fulton – 16/5 Draw – 16/1 Via Betway. Full card (subject to change) Stephen Fulton (C) vs Naoya Inoue (WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles) Robeisy Ramirez (C) vs Satoshi Shimizu (WBO featherweight title) Chihiro Iwashita vs Hiroyuki Takahara (super-featherweight) Kanamu Sakama vs Ryu Horikawa (super-flyweight) Taiga Imanaga vs Hebi Marapu (lightweight) Yoshiki Takei vs Ronnie Baldonado (super-bantamweight) Yuki Kajitani vs Masato Shinoda (super-flyweight) Kenta Yamakawa vs Ryosuke Nakamura (featherweight) Takero Kitano vs Kenta Kawakami (featherweight) Read More Spence vs Crawford live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend Another boxing robbery: Maxi Hughes deserves justice for heist that shames the sport George Kambosos reacts to ‘robbery’ claims after controversial win over Maxi Hughes How to watch Inoue vs Fulton online and on TV What time does Spence vs Crawford start this weekend? The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings

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Inter Milan and Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku says the world's top soccer stars could form a union to tackle racist abuse in the sport.