As match-fixing in sports reaches record levels, leading sports betting monitor Sportradar has urged the sports industry to invest more resources into uncovering and confronting the issue.Football is the most impacted sport, though basketball is rising swiftly, according to Sportradar, which uses technology and human expertise to seek out and detect suspicious activity. The company found more than 1,200 suspicious matches in 12 sports last year, a 34% increase YoY. By April this year, it found 150 suspicious matches, the highest it had ever found in a single calendar month."What’s needed is much higher investment in integrity by governing bodies and at government level," urged Tom Mace, Sportradar’s senior VP globally for integrity services, who leads the company’s match-fixing monitoring and detection team. "We need more than a fig leaf – bet monitoring is not enough. Betting in all sports is increasing, and sports need to understand the risks."
Sheffield Wednesday stunned Peterborough United by scoring four extra-time goals to win 5-3 on penalties and win their League One playoff semi-final. After losing the first leg 1-0, Wednesday looked out of the game when conceding in extra time to fall behind 2-1, but scored twice to level, only for Peterborough to go 3-2 in front via a Lee Gregory own goal. However, Calum Paterson’s second of the night meant the game ended 3-3, with Wednesday triumphing on penalties after Dan Butler’s miss. They will now meet Hull City at Wembley for a place in the Championship.
Former Ireland coach Warren Gatland has spoken about how current La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara had once played a key role in stopping Gatland from resigning from coaching. Following Ireland’s 50-18 defeat to England at Twickenham in the Six Nations in February 2000, Gatland had decided to make several changes ahead of the Scotland game. However, when Scotland took a 10-0 lead early on, Gatland thought his failure was inevitable. But O’Gara helped Ireland come back from 10-0 down, resulting in a 44-22 win, thereby pulling Gatland back from the brink of resignation. Gatland said he had "learned to have players who played with fire, passion, and never-say-die attitude".
Spain's Rafael Nadal is the owner of a record-equalling 22 grand slam singles titles, including an unprecedented 14 Roland-Garros championships. However, Nadal, who is arguably behind only Novak Djokovic as the greatest tennis player in the men’s game, is battling regressive hip problems. While not retiring yet, the 36-year-old plans to take an indefinite break in the hope his increasingly fragile body can recover. For the first time in 19 years, Nadal will also not be playing at the French Open and has dropped out of the top 100. The tennis superstar wishes to complete a victory lap next year of all his favourite tournaments, which, if it happens, will be a fond farewell.
Manchester United supporters feel both sympathy and frustration as Phil Jones leaves the club after 12 years due to injury. Jones has struggled with increasingly serious injuries that have limited him to just four Premier League starts over the past four seasons. In an emotional interview just released, Jones says he literally worked tirelessly hard and missed playing football. United, which still stands as one of the most potent symbols of United’s mismanagement in the post-Ferguson era, will now hope for a successful summer with Erik ten Hag to be the one when ruthlessness finally returns at Old Trafford.
Tottenham Hotspur is hopeful of finding a head coach quickly after Luis Enrique and Feyenoord's Arne Slot emerged as the frontrunners for the position. Enrique, who is out of work, has been contacted by the club, but Slot is tied to Feyenoord by contract, although he would find the promise of double his annual salary attractive. To hire the Dutchman, Tottenham would need to pay £6m ($7.7m) in compensation to Feyenoord and guarantee him control over the first-team squad. Meanwhile, Spurs' chairman Daniel Levy is also looking for a new sporting director.
West Ham United fans fought off violent AZ Alkmaar fans following their Europa Conference League semi-final victory on Thursday. Despite West Ham winning 1-0, a group of black-shirted AZ ultras charged towards the small section of West Ham supporters sitting behind the dugouts and their friends and family in the AFAS Stadion in Alkmaar. These fans were protected by individual fans fighting off the attackers, with one, known as Knollsy, holding off the home fans from reaching the West Ham section, according to one eyewitness. Videos show West Ham fans holding off at least a dozen AZ supporters from the top of a stairway in the stands. West Ham’s players also tried to join the fray. There were concerns for the home fans who had been caught between the two groups, including young Dutch families forced to flee across the seats. Uefa will now review the reports before deciding on any action, and could appoint an inspector to investigate more deeply.
Brian O’Driscoll has said the Leinster Rugby team must win the Champions Cup final against La Rochelle, to be held at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 22 May, in order to ensure a successful season. Despite being considered one of the best sides in Europe, Leinster have struggled in the final in recent years. Leinster’s recent defeat by Munster during the URC semi-finals, when they fielded a second-string side, has added to the pressure going into the final.
Manchester United could lose their status as the only English club to complete the treble if Manchester City wins the FA Cup and Champions League, according to the football journalist Jim White. White, a United fan, claimed he found himself feeling increasingly pessimistic about the prospect of City enjoying a clean sweep after the club’s swift progress to the Champions League final, and his own team’s stuttering form. City faces Chelsea in Istanbul on Saturday’s final, before a meeting against United at Wembley the following weekend.
Mikel Arteta is hoping to lift his Arsenal side after their 3-0 defeat by Brighton and inject some positivity by reminding them of their progress this season, including the potential to win the most matches in a Premier League season. The criticism of the team as "bottlers" makes goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale bristle, describing it as an "easy way out" and pointing to the five titles in the past six years won by Manchester City, who remain on an 11-match winning streak. Fans' taunts provoke Ramsdale and he has learned to "feed off it", but he will expect different treatment next season, when he foresees a "new pressure" stemming from opponents' increased expectations.
Former England footballer and BBC presenter Gary Lineker is being recognised with a "Sport and Human Rights" award in Rome for his advocacy of refugees and migrants. Amnesty International referred to Lineker as a "staunch advocate". In March, Lineker was taken off air by the BBC after he compared the UK government's language on refugees to that of 1930s Germany. The corporation acted after he refused to apologise or promise not to voice his political opinions in future.
The board of the Heineken Champions Cup will approve a format revamp that was prompted by complaints from players, coaches and supporters, but only for next season. The current format will be replaced by 24 teams competing in four pools of six with the opening rounds in December this year. Clubs from the same league in each pool will not face each other, so each pool has four games, with the third and fourth rounds staged in January 2023. The top four clubs from each pool will qualify for straight knockout matches in April 2023. The remaining four teams will qualify for the revamped Challenge Cup.
Newcastle United will need a stronger squad to cope with their Europa League campaign next year warns manager Eddie Howe, as the club looks set for Champions League qualification. The plan is reportedly to sign four or five new players to the squad over the summer, including RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai. Szoboszlai is just one of many potential new signings including Leicester City's James Maddison, Marcus Thuram from Borussia Monchengladbach and Nice's Khephren Thuram. Howe urged management to think “long and hard” over Newcastle’s strategy for building a team to compete in the Premier League and Europe.
Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan will return to the BBC’s Test Match Special coverage for the Ashes, following his clearance of racism allegations earlier this year. Vaughan had previously written for the Telegraph and worked for Fox in Australia, both of which stood by him throughout the affair. Neither he, nor five other individuals who played at Yorkshire, have worked for the BBC since allegations of racism caused them to leave the franchised Twenty20 team two years ago.
Everton manager Sean Dyche has said his team's final league games are a priority over potential investment discussions surrounding the club. Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has been conversing with two US-based investment groups, MSP Sports Capital and 777 Football Group, about infusing cash into the club. MSP Sports Capital is said to be the frontrunner, but 777 has recently firmed up their interest. However, Moshiri has said he is only looking for a minority partner. While investment talks continue, Dyche said his focus lay on the immediate and he would continue to strive to give his team the best chance at winning their final two games.
Birmingham's South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) appears to be successfully helping talented cricketers to avoid "slipping through the county net", according to The Guardian's Ali Martin. A little over two years ago, the England and Wales Cricket Board revealed that players of south Asian descent made up 30% of recreational cricketers in England and Wales but just 4% of professionals. In this season's first-class cricket alone, the SACA has seen three graduates make their debuts in the County Championship, with seven having graduated and signed professional contracts to date.
Tesco's chairman John Allan will resign next month after allegations over his behavior risking becoming a "distraction." The decision follows several allegations over Allan's behaviour made in recent weeks, including accusations of inappropriate behaviour on four separate occasions, including an incident in which he was alleged to have touched the bottom of a senior Tesco employee; he was also accused of making inappropriate remarks to two other women on separate occasions between 2019 and 2022, and touching another woman's bottom. Allan denied all but one of the allegations, admitting only to having made comments about a worker's appearance in 2019, apologising for the action.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced that it will fly a Pride flag at Twickenham rugby stadium in support of the LGBTQ+ community in response to the inclusion of controversial former Australian rugby player Israel Folau in a World XV side. Folau’s contract was terminated by the Australian Wallabies after he posted views on social media claiming that gay people would be sent to hell “unless they repent of their sins and turn to God”. The RFU, which will also display a foreword in the match programme outlining its commitment to diversity, has called itself “inclusive to all players, staff and fans”, regardless of background.
Frank Lampard has questioned the appetite of former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's regime to back his bid to sign Erling Haaland for the club four years ago. Borussia Dortmund eventually paid the €22.5m release clause in Haaland's contract at Salzburg and Chelsea have since seen the Norwegian move to Manchester City. Haaland will face Chelsea, whom Lampard is caretaker head coach of, at the weekend in the race for the Premier League title. Meanwhile, AC Milan reportedly want to sign Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who has one year remaining on his contract and may command a low transfer fee.
England women's national football team player, Ella Toone, has said that despite injuries to key players Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby ahead of the World Cup, England are still well-equipped to prosper against teams such as Australia and New Zealand. Although maintaining fitness and endurance is challenging for athletes, Toone says she is optimistic. England are one of 10 teams that have automatically qualified for the tournament in 2023, held jointly across Australia and New Zealand. However, there are currently no plans in place to ensure equal pay between men and women players competing in the tournament.
