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French basketball star Amath M'Baye has joined CSKA Moscow until mid 2024, the team announced Friday, a deal that bars him from the French national...

Cardiff have been ordered to make the last two payments to Nantes for Emiliano Sala’s transfer by football’s global governing body FIFA. Sala died when the light aircraft he was travelling in from France crashed into the English Channel in January 2019, two days after Cardiff had announced the signing of the 28-year-old Argentinian forward from Nantes. The French club’s claim for the first six million euros (just over £5m) of the £15million transfer fee was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last August, and Cardiff announced on Friday they had now been ordered by FIFA to pay the last two instalments of the fee as well. Cardiff have paid the first instalment and it is understood they intend – albeit reluctantly – to now pay the remaining two. Cardiff have lodged a negligence claim in the French courts against Nantes. They maintain Nantes must be held accountable for the accident which led to Sala’s death, saying the flight was organised by Nantes’ agent. The Welsh club’s statement on Friday said Nantes chief executive Franck Kita had been placed in police custody alongside agent Bakari Sanogo, which they said related to an investigation opened in France last June into allegations of illegal exercise of sports agent activity, forgery and use of forgery, misuse of corporate assets and money laundering. The club said their negligence claim has exhibited direct exchanges which they say show Kita informed Sanogo of the proposed transfer fee for Sala. Cardiff said it is not clear why Kita informed Sanogo of the fee. Cardiff said: “In the circumstances, the club considers that it would have been fairer if the requirement to pay FC Nantes had been deferred until the conclusion of the French police investigations and the club’s claim against FC Nantes in the French courts.” A week ago, the EFL announced an independent disciplinary commission had confirmed an agreed position between the league and Cardiff regarding a fee restriction. Under the restriction, Cardiff could not pay fees in respect of transfers or loans for the January transfer window and are under the same restriction in the current summer window. The EFL said the sanction related to Cardiff triggering the EFL’s 30-day rule when it was late in making an initial payment to Nantes for the transfer of Sala, having been ordered to do so following a lengthy legal process involving FIFA, CAS and the Swiss Federal Tribunal. The sanction was reduced in length from three transfer windows to two following an appeal.

Sarina Wiegman would ideally like England to have more warm-up game time ahead of the World Cup but says she is not concerned. Having started their preparation camp at St George’s Park on June 19, the Lionesses have an initial warm-up match on Saturday against Portugal in Milton Keynes. They fly out to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand four days later, and are scheduled to then have a behind-closed-doors game against Canada on July 14, their only other match before opening their Group D fixtures by playing Haiti in Brisbane on July 22. Asked if she was concerned her players will not have enough match practice going into the World Cup with the two warm-up games, England boss Wiegman said: “No, we knew ahead of our preparation that this was the case. “You plan things ahead and this is the best possible preparation we can have, with all the experience, knowledge we have and some feedback from players. “So, yes, of course you want to play more games, but you also want to get your schedule right, and this is the right schedule, and that means we can only have two games in the schedule before we go into the World Cup, also with the travelling to the other side of the world, which takes time, two days, and also takes some adaptation, to beat the jetlag. “I’m satisfied with this preparation. We would have wanted to play a little more but this is the schedule we have, and you want to do what’s best in preparation, but also what fits in the schedule from a physiology point of view. Of course you want to play more games, but you also want to get your schedule right, and this is the right schedule. Sarina Wiegman “So we’re happy with this. We’re ready, and I think also our training sessions make us grow.” Wiegman, who named the same starting line-up throughout last summer’s triumphant Euros campaign, was asked how close she was to knowing her team for the Haiti match, and said: “We’re getting closer, that’s clear. “But we’re still trying out some things, and in some positions I don’t know what the starting line-up will be, there’s still competition going on and that’s why we need those two games too.” Defender Millie Bright, captaining the squad after regular skipper Leah Williamson was ruled out of the World Cup by an ACL injury, is unavailable for Saturday’s match as she continues to build back up after knee surgery. She has been doing individual training work, with the same applying to midfielder Jordan Nobbs, and Wiegman said: “I think they’re in a good place in getting prepared for the World Cup. Millie and Jordan will not be available for tomorrow, (but are) really progressing well.” If Georgia Stanway features, it will be a 50th cap for the Bayern Munich midfielder, and she said regarding that potential milestone: “I think in football, it’s really difficult to become reflective – football doesn’t rest and time doesn’t stand still, so it’s kind of one thing after another. “You can see how fast and how much has changed since the Euros and everything that’s happened since then. So within football, you do something, you put it to bed and move on to the next thing. “Of course I’ll try to enjoy tomorrow, and I’ll enjoy with my family in the stands, being with the girls. But the main focus is the next thing, which is the World Cup.” England face a Portugal side ranked 17 places below them in the world at 21st and who open their own World Cup campaign by playing the Netherlands in Dunedin on July 23 in Group E.

Chelsea changed the landscape of the Premier League and European football as a whole exactly 20 years ago, when Roman Abramovich completed his takeover of the club on 1 July and immediately started spending money on a scale never before seen in the league. While the Russian billionaire eventually was forced to offload the club last year, Todd Boehly and his Clearlake group purchasing the Blues, Abramovich’s spell at the helm was trophy-laden and filled with unrivalled investment in transfers. In that first summer back in 2003, the Stamford Bridge side immediately signed a massive haul of players: Hernan Crespo, Damien Duff, Juan Sebastian Veron, Claude Makelele, Adrian Mutu, Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole, Geremi, Glen Johnson and Aleksey Smertin, along with a clutch of reserve players to boost squad numbers. But the haul could have been even higher, both by volume and very much by reputation, it has been revealed, by those who were at the club at the time - including moves explored for two of Italy’s greatest players at the time. Then-manager Claudio Ranieri has detailed how early meetings after Abramovich bought the club could have seen him lose his own post, had Sven-Goran Eriksson been persuaded to leave the England job - as well as the players who might have been lured to the Premier League had a takeover been concluded earlier. “When I came back for preseason, [chief executive] Trevor Birch told me the club had been sold. I asked who the new owner [weas], he said a Russian person, very rich, he wants to build a big team...that was it,” Ranieri told The Blueprint podcast, in a forthcoming episode heard exclusively by the Independent. “I didn’t know what could happen but of course I thought ‘maybe he wants to change the manager’. Roman wanted to sign Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was the England national team manager. But in the end he told me ‘OK, you worked well last season, try to do your best in this season.’ “He told me, ‘tell me what you want’ [for transfers], but it was difficult to sign [players like Francesco] Totti, [or Alessandro] Nesta when big teams are in preseason. Roman wanted to buy big champions but to bring them you had to work a year, six months. Not when other teams are ready to start the season! “The first meeting he was so happy - he told me he wanted to buy great players and make Chelsea the greatest team in the world. But it was impossible to sign those kind of players he was asking me if I wanted. It was the only time in my life [I was asked about them]!” Meanwhile, the players already at the club were also dealing with the fallout in different ways. Winger Jesper Gronkjaer, who had joined in 2000/01, noted that the squad at the time knew about the club’s financial difficulties and the likelihood of a change in ownership - especially since there were media reports about not getting paid on time. And when the signings started to happen, a natural response for many meant cause over their own futures. “I think we were all aware that the club had financial issues. In springtime there were rumours about not getting salaries, about Ken Bates wanting to sell the club. We did not buy any players the summer before because of the financial situation,” Gronkjaer said. “Nobody could imagine Roman coming in and we have never seen a guy coming in like that, using that much money in such a short time, changing the training facilities. We have never really seen that around in Europe before, so I think we were all a bit sceptical afterwards. All the players were thinking, ‘Are we gonna stay here? How many players is he gonna buy?’ It was quite chaotic. “From day one if you opened all the papers there were rumours about five players for each position. And not just five players, it was five top players from Real Madrid, from Bayern Munich, from Manchester United. “It was the top scorers in Serie A, you know, it was from the top shelf. Then you have got thoughts about, ‘Is there going to be space for me here? Are they trying to get rid of me?’” Gronkjaer’s own departure was sealed 12 months later with a transfer to Birmingham, as the Blues continued to splash the cash and bring in the likes of Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba. The Abramovich era was well and truly under way and Chelsea certainly became a dominant force under his ownership, which very much enforced a new era in the English game. But the revelations of who could have arrived in the earliest days maybe highlight how much faster other clubs would have had to move to keep up, and how determined Abramovich was to see his plans come to fruition quickly. ::‘The Blueprint: How Chelsea FC Changed Football’ podcast is streaming now - listen to every episiode here Read More Harry Kane builds new family home near Chelsea training ground Havertz transfer leaves Chelsea fans conflicted: ‘You won’t be missed’ Arsenal transfer news: Record Rice bid, Timber and Xhaka latest Havertz completes transfer to Arsenal as Chelsea continue clearout Mateo Kovacic completes move from Chelsea to Manchester City Why Jackson possesses tools to make Chelsea a free-scoring Pochettino team

Max Verstappen finished fastest in the sole practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix – as Mercedes were fined £86 after Lewis Hamilton was caught speeding in the pits. Verstappen saw off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by 0.241 seconds at Red Bull’s home race, with Charles Leclerc third. Hamilton finished fourth. Spielberg is hosting Formula One’s second sprint event of the year which will see two qualifying sessions – one to decide the order for Sunday’s grand prix which takes place at 5pm local time (4pm BST) – and the other determining the starting grid for Saturday’s sprint race. Practice has been slashed from three hours to just one to create greater jeopardy with the teams unable to gather as much data as they would like. Red Bull are undefeated at the opening eight rounds of the season with Verstappen taking six victories to head the championship standings by 69 points. And the Dutchman, perhaps predictably, raced to top spot in the first running of the weekend without even posting a lap on the speedier soft tyre compound. Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez finished in fifth, half-a-second off the pace and one place ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s Mercedes team were hit with a 100 Euro (£86) fine after the British driver breached the pit-lane limit. Hamilton, who earns £40million-a-season, was adjudged to have broken the 50mph limit by just 0.12mph. Aston Martin were also hit with a fine – this time worth 300 Euros (£258) – after Fernando Alonso and team-mate Stroll drove too quickly in the pits. Elsewhere, Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished ninth for Mercedes, almost a second down on Verstappen, with Lando Norris bringing up the rear in his revamped McLaren machine. 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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