Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has died at the age of 78 following his battle with cancer, the club have announced.

Kenwright, who succeeded Sir Phillip Carter as chairman in 2004 after first joining the board at Goodison Park in 1989, had a cancerous tumour removed from his liver in August.

A statement on the club’s website said: “Everton Football Club is in mourning following the death of Chairman Bill Kenwright CBE, who passed away peacefully last night aged 78, surrounded by his family and loved ones…

“The club has lost a chairman, a leader, a friend, and an inspiration. The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Everton are with his partner Jenny Seagrove, his daughter Lucy Kenwright, grandchildren and everybody who knew and loved him.”

Everton announced earlier this month that the surgery had been “completely successful”, but complications meant Kenwright needed a lengthy stay in an intensive care unit before continuing his recovery at home.

Liverpool-born Kenwright was a successful theatre and film producer when asked to join the Everton board in 1989.

He bought a majority 68 per cent stake in the club in 1999 and became deputy chairman before replacing Carter in his current role.

In June this year, Everton owner Farhad Moshiri announced he had asked Kenwright to remain as chairman and help the club through a “period of transition”.

Kenwright had come under pressure from a section of fans who protested at how the club was being run.

It was announced last month that a deal to sell the club to American investment firm 777 Partners had been agreed.

The prospective new owners insisted last week that the takeover bid was still on track after it was reported they had failed to supply information to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and said the process was ongoing.

Frankie Dettori picked up two whip bans totalling 16 days on his farewell to Britain at Ascot on Saturday.

The Italian was found to have used his whip once above the permitted level of six in winning the Long Distance Cup aboard the John and Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman, the race that opened Qipco British Champions Day.

Taking into account it was a class one race, Dettori’s penalty was doubled from four to eight days.

The following race saw Dettori narrowly beaten on Kinross in the British Champions Sprint. As in the Long Distance Cup, he was found to have used this whip once over the limit and received the same suspension.

His ban is due to begin on November 7, which is the date of the Melbourne Cup.

Two other winning rides saw suspensions for the successful rider, with Sam James using his whip once over the allowed limit in making all aboard Poptronic in the Fillies & Mares Stakes. As this represents a fifth suspension within the previous six months for a breach of the whip rules, James was referred to the Judicial Panel.

David Allan also used his whip once above that allowed threshold in his victorious ride on Art Power in the aforementioned Champions Sprint.

A BHA spokesperson said: “Ensuring fairness is a key element of the rules and the penalties which are in place – in these cases those governing the most prestigious and valuable races – are intended to act as a deterrent against overuse of the whip. This is, in part, to ensure that all participants, and those betting on the race, have a fair chance.

“Over the course of the year, we have seen jockeys adapt superbly to the new rules and the overall offence rate has markedly decreased.

“The overall objectives of the rules governing the whip, which came about following a lengthy consultation process and have been refined through regular dialogue with jockeys, are to ensure its more judicious use for encouragement, improving the perception of its use and ensuring that outcomes of races are fair.”

Barcelona boss Xavi said his players will not be distracted by the upcoming El Clasico against Real Madrid when they face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The meeting with the Ukrainian champions at the Nou Camp will be Barca’s last match before hosting LaLiga leaders Real on Saturday, where victory against their great rivals will see them leapfrog Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the table.

The manager will be without the suspended Gavi against Shakhtar after he was red carded in added time at the end of the 1-0 win against Porto before the international break, while midfielder Pedri is almost certain to be out after he missed training on Monday.

Victory on Wednesday will see Barca put one foot in the last 16 after they won their first two games of this season’s competition, against Porto and 5-0 at home to Belgian side Royal Antwerp.

It would be their first time in the Champions League knockout rounds since 2021 after they were eliminated in the group stages of each of the last two editions.

And Xavi said the prospect of cementing their position at the top of Group H will be sufficient to focus his side despite the spectre of Real looming.

“For us it is a vital game and really important in terms of getting out of the group,” he said. “The three points tomorrow against Shakhtar are key for our objective.

“This is the Champions League, the biggest competition there is for clubs and for us getting nine points from nine is very important.

“I don’t need to take anyone’s mind off Saturday’s game against Real Madrid because the Champions League makes you focused and switched on.

“We are focused on tomorrow’s game because it will not be easy. Shakhtar are a dynamic side, strong and I think they can cause us problems. We can’t lose our focus.

“Shakhtar are in a difficult situation, it’s uncomfortable, far from their families. Speaking only in footballing terms, they have changed coach and now they have (Darijo) Srna who I know well and respect a lot.

“The team has quality players even though perhaps they are not well known, and technically they are very good.”

Srna, Shakhtar’s director of football who was appointed caretaker manager last week following the dismissal of Patrick van Leeuwen, has warned supporters not to expect miracles under his brief tenure.

It was announced on Tuesday that Marino Pusic will take charge of the team on a permanent basis following the Barcelona match.

The team are currently third in the Ukrainian Premier League behind surprise early-season leaders Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih and Polissya Zhytomyr.

“I told (the club) that I am not (Pep) Guardiola nor (Jurgen) Klopp, that I am Darijo Srna, that I do not have a lot of experience as a coach,” said Srna.

“But I have a heart of a miner (the club’s nickname), and that this heart has said to me that I have to help in a difficult situation, for the country and for Shakhtar.”

World Rugby has approved plans to set up a new international league competition as part of part of a radical shake-up of the global calendar.

The bi-annual tournament is to be launched in 2026 and will be made up of two divisions of 12 teams, with promotion and relegation commencing from 2030. Matches will be staged in the July and November international windows.

In addition to a competition that has been tentatively named the ‘Nations Cup’, World Rugby’s council has given the go-ahead to the expansion of the World Cup to 24 teams in time for Australia 2027.

The revised format will consist of six pools of four teams and will see the creation of a round of 16 to take place before the quarter-finals.

The top two teams from each group will automatically qualify, as well as the best four third-placed teams.

Even though the number of sides is to be increased, the adjustment means the World Cup can be reduced from seven to six weeks from October 1 to November 13, 2027, while providing the same number of minimum rest days.

The draw for the next competition will take place in January 2026 in the hope of avoiding the lopsided groups seen in France over the last two months.

As part of the changes, the international window for November has been lifted from three to four weekends and the Six Nations will lose one of its fallow weeks.

Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique is treating the upcoming home and away Champions League fixtures as a knock-out tie as they try to navigate their way out of a ‘group of death’.

The heavyweight Group F, which also includes Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle, remains tight after the opening two fixtures, and Enrique believes the next two games could determine PSG’s fate as Milan visit the French capital on Wednesday before the return fixture in two weeks’ time.

“This is a turning point for everyone,” Enrique said. “For us, this is a great opportunity. There are two matches against Milan, it’s almost a direct elimination. But it’s the same for them. You have to take it game by game. We will try to do things better than AC Milan.”

PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma will face his boyhood club, having first broken into the Milan side at the tender age of just 16, making the switch to PSG in 2021.

The 24-year-old admitted it would be a special occasion, but promised it would not affect his game.

“There will be a lot of emotion, it will be special,” Donnarumma said. “We have to put that aside and just think about the match.

“I feel very good here, it’s like a big family, like I had in Milan. I will always be grateful to Milan. I found a wonderful atmosphere in Paris from the first day. I want to give everything for PSG now.

“The beginnings were not easy here because I had a lot of friends and family in Milan. But little by little, I was able to get my bearings here, and now I have friends, I speak a little of the language and I feel very good.”

PSG were on the wrong end of a 4-1 thrashing in their last Champions League match, away to Newcastle, another night that put the spotlight on Donnarumma, who has often been criticised for his game with the ball at his feet.

“I’m always trying to improve,” Donnarumma said. “I always said I had to improve on everything. Every day I want to learn and listen to my coaches. My goal every day is to grow. I am very happy with my growth. I have a little experience and I try to help young people too.

“(The Newcastle game) was one where we had to do better. We were very upset, but we have to look forward. We know that the group is very balanced, very difficult. It will be a great game, with a lot of emotions for me.”

Milan go into the game looking to extend a four-game unbeaten run against French opposition, but coming off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Juventus in Serie A, and they are yet to win in the Champions League this season.

“We have to do better,” coach Stefano Pioli said. “Each game tells us where we need to improve. Becoming more concrete is an objective.”

Storm Babet continues to hit racing fixtures in Britain and Ireland but the forecast is less daunting for the major meetings scheduled to take place later this week.

The ground at Doncaster was described as heavy, waterlogged in places on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the Futurity Trophy weekend cards on Friday and Saturday.

However, the recent rain is expected to ease off at the South Yorkshire track, which is set to stage the final Group One contest of the season with Saturday’s Kameko Futurity Trophy Stakes.

Clerk of the course Paul Barker said: “We’ve had around 7mm today, which has taken us to heavy ground and it is just a bit waterlogged around the mile shoot, so we are seeing if we can do anything about that.

“But the forecast is for things to improve later on this evening and then stay relatively dry until Thursday morning, when it should just be a case of getting a few showers, rather than the heavy stuff we’ve had since the weekend.

“So, once we get through today, hopefully everything will get a bit more manageable right through the rest of the week and we can start to put a plan together for Friday and Saturday.

“At least Friday’s entries were made after Saturday’s deluge and the Futurity is historically run on testing ground, so everyone who is planning to have runners are aware of what to expect.

“Other than that, all we can do is take it one day at a time and try our best to keep on top of everything.”

Cheltenham have no issues prior to kicking off their new season with The Showcase meeting on Friday and Saturday, when Grand National hero Corach Rambler and dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner Flooring Porter could return to action.

“It’s really exciting to get going again and we’re in great shape,” clerk of the course Jon Pullin told Racing TV. “We’ve had a really beneficial summer from our point of view and the turf manager’s point of view.

“Whilst we’ve seen significant rain, which did cause some problems around areas of the site, fortunately the track took it really, really well. We’re in a good position.

“It’s currently good to soft in the main and the forecast is for little bits of rain between now and racing, so I’d envisage that staying the same.”

Newbury are also scheduled to race on Friday and Saturday, with a couple of Group Three events on the second of those cards – the Horris Hill Stakes and the St Simon Stakes.

The Berkshire track is described as heavy, soft in places, with the warning that it will not be able to take substantial rain.

The forecast is for another downpour tonight to be followed by a mixture of sunshine and showers.

Clerk of the course George Hill said: “The bulk of the rain should be tonight but then it’s a variable forecast. It could be anything from 5mm to 10 or 15, or even an inch of rain.

“If we’re talking those higher kind of quantities over a 24-hour period, we’d be very much up against it, but the track is in good shape for this time of year and we’ll just have to hope for the best and see what we get.”

Tuesday’s meeting at Yarmouth and the Wednesday card at the Curragh were the latest casualties of Storm Babet and a sustained spell of heavy rain.

That followed last Saturday’s scheduled meetings at Stratford and Market Rasen being lost to the weather, along with Wednesday’s Worcester card and four upcoming fixtures at Southwell.

England insist Tom Curry is ready for Friday’s World Cup bronze final as squad and management rally around the flanker caught in a racism storm.

World Rugby is investigating an allegation made by Curry that he was racially abused by South Africa hooker Bongi Mbonambi in the first half of Saturday’s semi-final defeat.

Curry claimed to referee Ben O’Keeffe that he was called a “white c***” by Mbonambi and, after a complaint made by the Rugby Football Union, audio and video footage is being examined for evidence.

If the 25-year-old is picked against Argentina on Friday night it will be his 50th cap and attack coach Richard Wigglesworth is confident the alleged incident will not be a disruption as England prepare to sign off their World Cup.

“Tom is good. I know players will have got around him. Steve and the management team have been all over it. I’m sure he’s getting every bit of support that he needs,” Wigglesworth said.

“I’m not sure you can ever put yourself in those shoes and know that feeling. What I do know is he’s an impressive young man who, if selected on Friday, will pour everything into that England shirt as he has done on the previous 49 occasions.

“It will be dealt with by World Rugby. We get stuck into our prep for Argentina. The process is the process and we have no knowledge of how long that will go on for or the outcome, but we have to get ready for Argentina.

“Every week there is always some sort of thing you could be distracted by. It’s international rugby, there’s a lot you could be distracted by. You want to be in situations where there are distractions.

“This distraction is different, but it’s still noise that isn’t about Friday night, our prep and our desire to finish in the right way.

“World Rugby has been pretty vocal in following up things in the past and they need to do the same again.”

Kitty’s Light, who enjoyed an incredible end to last season when winning the Eider, Scottish Grand National and Bet365 Gold Cup is likely to have a spin over hurdles before his first major target – the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on December 2.

Trained expertly by Christian Williams, he pulled off a unique feat last term in winning three of the most prestigious staying handicaps.

Now rated 147, Williams has the Randox Grand National has his big aim this spring.

“He’s in good form and I might give him a run over hurdles before Newbury because he thrived on his racing last year,” said Williams.

“Hopefully we’ll then take him to Newbury for the gallops morning about a week before and the plan then will be all systems go for the Coral Gold Cup, we like to have runners in these prestigious races.

“He had a spin in a charity race at Chepstow recently and while I wouldn’t take much notice of that, it was great to see him on the racecourse.

“A lot of his season is geared around the Grand National but his other big aim is Newbury to try to win that. He’s 147 now so he should be in the top 34 for the National, he’d be very unlucky if he missed out. He will probably stay over hurdles apart from the Coral Gold Cup, though.”

The sponsors make Jonjo O’Neill’s Monbeg Genius their 6-1 favourite followed by Dan Skelton’s Midnight River after the initial entry stage.

Lucinda Russell has entered her two stable stars Corach Rambler and Ahoy Senor, while Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame has also been given the option by Paul Nicholls.

Connections hope to see Art Power shine in the sprint division for seasons to come after his triumph on Champions Day.

The Tim Easterby-trained grey was not especially fancied for the six-furlong Group One as he started at 40-1, but under David Allan he led from an early stage and always looked competitive when clearly comfortable on the soft going.

As the race neared the final furlongs his lead was reduced by the 5-4 favourite Kinross, ridden by Frankie Dettori, and at one point Art Power looked as though he was going to have to accept finishing second.

He did not fold, however, and rallied all the way to the line to prevail by a neck and give owners King Power Racing their first Group One success since Winter Power took the 2021 Nunthorpe.

“We were thrilled, it’s all about winning on those big days on the big occasions,” said Alastair Donald, racing manager to King Power.

“He’s been a great horse for King Power, he hasn’t had much luck in Group Ones as he’s been drawn badly or things have gone wrong for him, so he really deserved that.

“He showed great heart after being headed to come back and win, it was very exciting and I was thrilled for connections.”

The success is a third of the season for the six-year-old, who landed both the Greenlands and the Sapphire Stakes at Group Two level at the Curragh but was luckless when returning for the Flying Five in early September.

“He’s won two Group Twos and then in the Group One in Ireland it was a mess of a race, there’s a huge draw bias and the three hot favourites were all out of the top four,” Donald said.

“Two Group Twos and a Group One in a season, you’d take that with most horses!”

The Ascot victory vindicates the decision to geld the horse, who lost his form at the tail end of last season and was deemed to be a better prospect as a seasoned sprinter than a stallion.

“In his last three races last year he started missing the break and was rather colty, we thought before he went the wrong way he needed to be gelded,” Donald explained.

“His stallion value was low at that point and we thought there’d be more fun in gelding him and having him a racehorse for the next few years, he’s been such a sound horse, touch wood, that he should be around for two or three more seasons.

“He’s very much a favourite, he’s so eyecatching as he gets paler and paler and he’s a horse that people just seem to love watching.”

Former world number one Simona Halep has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against her four-year ban from competition for breaking anti-doping rules.

The 2019 Wimbledon singles champion was suspended by an International Tennis Integrity Agency tribunal in September, having been provisionally suspended in October 2022 after returning a positive test for the banned substance Roxadustat.

The tribunal ruled that the 32-year-old Romanian had committed intentional anti-doping run violations with reference to two charges, but she has now lodged an appeal with CAS for that finding to be overturned.

If the ban is upheld it means she will not be free to compete again until October 2026, by which time she will be 35 years old.

In a statement issued at the time of the ban, Halep said she had “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.”

CAS has not given a timeframe for the appeal to be considered, but noted that she would be free to appeal the court’s decision via the Swiss Federal Tribunal if it is unfavourable.

Tottenham are enjoying their best start to an English top-flight season since 1960-61, following Monday’s 2-0 win over Fulham.

Ange Postecoglou’s side are unbeaten in nine matches and sit two points clear of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the data behind Spurs’ strong start.

Dare to dream

Tottenham’s return of 23 points from their opening nine matches is the second highest in their top-flight history (all records calculated with three points being awarded for a win).

Only the 1960-61 double-winning side had a superior record at the same stage, having taken maximum points on their way to 11 victories from their first 11 games under Bill Nicholson.

Three other Spurs teams have gone unbeaten over the same period, with each of the 1959-60, 1990-91 and 2016-17 sides recording five wins and four draws in their first nine fixtures.

Tottenham ended as runners-up in the latter campaign – their highest Premier League finish to date – but they never topped the table ahead of champions Leicester.

Having already reached the summit during the recent international break, a win against Crystal Palace on Friday would see Postecoglou’s men set a new club record for most days spent at the top of the Premier League in a single season, which currently stands at 23 in 2020-21.

Ange-ball

As well as putting together a promising set of early results, Postecoglou has overseen a remarkable transformation in Tottenham’s playing style.

Spurs rank top of the Premier League for shots fired at their opponents’ goal this season, having racked up a total of 168 at an average of 18.7 per game.

They were seventh according to the same metric in 2022-23, with an average of 13.6 efforts per match.

Tottenham have also improved defensively after conceding 63 goals last season – their highest tally in a 38-game Premier League campaign.

Postecoglou’s side have faced an average of 12.4 shots per game compared with 13.6 last term.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has outperformed his predecessor Hugo Lloris, with a save rate of 84.2 per cent – the best in the Premier League – compared with the Frenchman’s 67.5 per cent in 2022-23.

Son steps up

Tottenham’s unbeaten run is all the more impressive given the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich on the eve of the campaign.

The club’s all-time record scorer netted 30 Premier League goals last season, which accounted for 42.9 per cent of the team’s total (70).

This was the highest percentage of any player in the division, ahead of Erling Haaland who scored 38.3 per cent of Manchester City’s tally (36 out of 94).

Tottenham’s over-reliance on Kane in 2022-23 coincided with a dip in the form of Son Heung-min, who endured his worst scoring campaign in a Spurs shirt.

However, the South Korean has rediscovered his best under Postecoglou, with seven goals in nine appearances so far at an average of 0.89 per 90 minutes.

That is up from 0.31 per 90 last season and 0.69 in 2021-22 – the season in which he scored 23 goals and shared the Golden Boot with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

The next World Cup will be expanded to 24 teams as part of a new global calendar approved by World Rugby’s council.

The change that will come into effect for Australia 2027 is intended to provide more qualification opportunities for emerging nations as well as regional competitions.

Further details of the revised format for the group stage will be announced at a World Rugby press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

A new bi-annual international competition is also to be launched in 2026, comprising of two divisions of 12 teams with promotion and relegation commencing from 2030.

The matches will take place in the July and November international windows.

Three climate change protesters who were found guilty of aggravated trespass after they ran on to the pitch during the Ashes series at Lord’s have been sentenced.

The Just Stop Oil protest carried out by Judit Murray, 69, Daniel Knorr, 21, and Jacob Bourne, 27, stopped play during the second Test between England and Australia on June 28, as security and ground staff cleaned up orange powder that was thrown on the pitch and ensured the ground was not damaged.

The three, who said they wanted to create headlines for their climate change protest and did not want to cause disruption or damage the pitch, were found guilty after a trial at City of London Magistrates’ Court.

England player Jonny Bairstow carried Knorr off the pitch, champagne corks and fruit were thrown by cricket fans at Bourne as he was led off the field, and Murray was tackled before she could reach the wicket and held down on the grass.

The court heard there is a 3ft-high metallic fence in front of the grandstand at Lord’s, followed by a gap and 3ft-high LED hoardings which loop around the ground, and then a boundary rope which all serve as “markers” – along with many signs and loudspeaker messages which warn ticket-holders they are not allowed to go on to the field of play.

Nick Rowe, security operations manager at Lord’s, said the protesters got “very close” to the wicket and play had to stop for a short period immediately after the incident.

He said he was near the Allen Stand at the ground in St John’s Wood, north-west London, when “an unexpected roar from the crowd, much louder than you would expect from a first over” alerted him that something was wrong.

He previously told the court: “I heard a roar from the crowd. Obviously there were people on the pitch. There was a big cloud of orange powder in the air.”

Mr Rowe said he could see that play had stopped and the stewarding team ran towards the group of people who had been detained.

He told the court one of the men was detained on the ground before being taken away, while another was carried off the grass by Mr Bairstow.

Nick Collins, the head of security at Lord’s, who said the match was “probably the biggest game of our season”, added: “It impacts the rest of the day. The biggest worry for me is whether the ground has been damaged.

“Cricket has wide specifications and a set of rules about the pitch being played on. If the pitch had been damaged in some way, we could not have played.

“We had to check. We had blowers come on. Everyone was trying to blow the powder away and check the ground was not affected.”

Adeela Khan, defending Bourne and Knorr, said the disruption was “minimal” during the offence as there was a delay of four minutes and there was no damage to the pitch.

She said the offence was “carefully planned” in terms of timing to minimise the risk of harm to the defendants, players and security staff.

Katrina Walcott, defending Murray, said the defendants did not touch the wicket, were “quickly removed”, and clean-up lasted “a matter of seconds”.

She added: “She is very remorseful for the actions, she did apologise at the time.”

District Judge Neeta Minhas sentenced Murray, of Plough Road, West Ewell, Surrey; Knorr, of Green Street, Oxford; and Bourne, of Moorland Road, Hyde Park, Leeds, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to a 12-month community order, 60 hours of unpaid work and made an exclusion requirement from Lord’s cricket ground for 12 months.

Judge Minhas said: “Whilst you may not have intended harm and you say you co-ordinated action to minimise any harm, and I accept there was no harm in terms of damage to the pitch or from yourselves towards security officers or players, it’s such a public location where there were so many people who are very much enjoying the activity, who may have been drinking, your action will have an unknown effect on those in the stands.

“It also causes difficulty for security at that venue who have to control the crowd.

“It also takes security away from doing the job that they’re supposed to be doing, while they are detaining you and ensuring your safety from the crowd.

“I recollect evidence about items being thrown from the crowd which they then had to manage.”

The defendants will each also have to pay £330 in costs.