Liverpool and Luis Suarez grudgingly accepted the striker’s eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra on this day in 2012.

The Uruguay international began his suspension immediately after the club reviewed the 115-page document from the independent disciplinary commission and decided not to appeal against the sanction and a £40,000 fine.

However, Liverpool made it clear their action was by no means an acceptance of culpability and again criticised the way the Football Association handled the investigation into an incident which occurred during the 1-1 draw at Anfield in October, 2011.

“It is our strongly held conviction that the Football Association and the panel it selected constructed a highly subjective case against Luis Suarez based on an accusation that was ultimately unsubstantiated,” Liverpool said in a statement.

“The FA and the panel chose to consistently and methodically accept and embrace arguments leading to a set of conclusions that found Mr Suarez to ‘probably’ be guilty while in the same manner deciding to completely dismiss the testimony that countered their overall suppositions.

“Mr Evra was deemed to be credible in spite of admitting that he himself used insulting and threatening words towards Luis and that his initial charge as to the word used was somehow a mistake.

“The facts in this case were that an accusation was made, a rebuttal was given and there was video of the match. The remaining facts came from testimony of people who did not corroborate any accusation made by Mr Evra.”

Suarez, in making his own personal statement, made it clear he did not accept the accusations of which he was found guilty.

“Never, I repeat, never, have I had any racial problem with a team-mate or individual who was of a different race or colour to mine. Never,” he said.

“I am very upset by all the things which have been said during the last few weeks about me, all of them being very far from the truth.

“But above all, I am very upset at feeling so powerless whilst being accused of something which I did not, nor would not, ever do.”

The bad feeling continued when Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand ahead of the return fixture between the sides in February.

However, the pair would shake hands before a Champions League match between Suarez’s Barcelona and Evra’s Juventus in 2015.

In 2019, when Evra made an appearance as a pundit on Sky Sports, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher apologised to the Frenchman after Reds players wore a T-shirt supporting Suarez in the warm-up for a Premier League match at Wigan, and Evra later revealed he also received a letter of apology from the club.

Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists to reach 900 points for his career and the Edmonton Oilers won their sixth straight game, 5-2 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

McDavid’s milestone point came on an assist on Zach Hyman’s goal in the second period. The 900th point came in his 602nd game, making McDavid the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to reach that total, trailing only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Peter Stastny.

McDavid had five points in a game for the 10th time. He had a career-high six points on Nov. 14, 2019 against Colorado.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and an assist for the Oilers, who are 14-3-0 in their past 17 games.

Surging Jets handle Lightning

Nikolaj Ehlers and Morgan Barron scored third-period goals as the Winnipeg Jets extended their point streak to nine games with a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Neal Pionk and Alex Iafallo also scored and Vladimir Namestnikov had three assists as the Jets won their third straight and improved to 7-0-2 in their past nine games.

Connor Hellebuyck, named the NHL’s third star of the month of December, stopped 33 shots. He is 7-0-2 with a 1.99 goals-against average in his last nine starts.

Red-hot Hurricanes roll past Rangers

Andrei Svechnikov scored a pair of goals and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 28 shots to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-1 rout of the New York Rangers.

Brady Skjei had three assists against his former team and Jack Drury had a goal and an assist to help the Hurricanes win their fourth straight and improve to 7-1-3 in their last 11 games.

Svechnikov has points in five consecutive games, including six goals, while Sebastian Aho has points in his last five games with three goals and 10 assists.

Chris Kreider scored for New York, which has lost seven times this season by three or more goals.

Emma Raducanu has earned direct entry into the main draw at the Australian Open following a number of late withdrawals.

The 2021 US Open champion made a winning return to the court at the ASB Classic in Auckland on Tuesday after being sidelined since April following operations on both her wrists and one ankle.

It appeared that Raducanu was going to be required to go through qualifying for the Australian Open due to her protected ranking – given to players who have been sidelined long term – not being high enough.

However, the Australian Open announced in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday that the 21-year-old would take the place of American Lauren Davis in the main draw after the American withdrew due to a shoulder injury.

Davis joins French Open finalist Karolina Muchova, Irina-Camelia Begu and Caty McNally on the withdrawal list.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has also withdrawn from the tournament after announcing she is pregnant with her first child.

Naomi Osaka’s first tournament appearance in more than two years has ended with a second-round defeat to 16th seed Karolina Pliskova at the Brisbane International.

Following an opening-round win over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch on Monday, Osaka looked to keep her momentum going against the Czech world number 39 but was ultimately outlasted 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-4.

In a battle of two former world number ones, Osaka exploded out of the gates to claim the first set before Pliskova began to find her footing in the second.

After surviving an early break point, Pliskova capitalised on her serve to take control of the match, going on to win 92 percent of her first service points in the set.

Osaka continued to threaten throughout the final set, but was unable to make the most of her remaining opportunities in the narrow loss.

Osaka returned to the court on Monday for the first time since withdrawing from the Pan Pacific Trophy with a knee injury in September 2021. She became a mother for the first time in July.

Elsewhere, Australia’s Daria Saville came agonisingly close to upsetting 11th seed Anastasia Potapova in a 6-4 3-6 6-4 defeat.

The world number 176 dropped the first set but battled back to convincingly claim the second in front of a raucous home crowd.

However Potapova showed plenty of her own fight in the decider, eventually wrapping up the result in two hours and 52 minutes.

Meanwhile, sixth seed Veronika Kudermetova cruised to a 6-2 6-3 win over world number 73 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Teenage star Luke Littler will stick with his diet of cheese and ham omelettes and pizza as he tries to complete his history-making World Championship dream.

The 16-year-old debutant continued his amazing Alexandra Palace journey by becoming the youngest-ever finalist when he destroyed 2018 champion Rob Cross in the semi-final.

He is now on the cusp of producing one of the greatest sporting stories of all time, with new world number one Luke Humphries standing in his way.

Littler has made history with some unconventional preparations, with his love of kebabs also a theme of his run to the final, but it is working for him.

“I’ll keep doing what I have been doing,” he said. “I don’t wake up until 12, in the morning go for my ham and cheese omelette, come here and have my pizza, and then go on the practice board.

“It is what I have been doing every day – if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”

Littler has already proved he is the real deal but produced his biggest statement yet as he downed eighth seed Cross 6-2 in stunning fashion.

He bombarded the treble-20 for 16 180s, produced three 130-plus checkouts and averaged 106.05 in a nerveless performance.

“I haven’t got the words. It’s crazy,” he said. “I have just settled on that stage.

“It has not even sunk in yet. I have surprised myself.

“I have just got to stay focused and be Luke Littler. I have got to be mature and be myself.

“It would be unbelievable if I won it, I only wanted to win one match.”

He will come up against his toughest opponent yet in Humphries, who is the form player in the world.

The 28-year-old came into the tournament by winning three of the last four majors and produced one of the best ever performances at Ally Pally to whitewash Scott Williams 6-0 in his semi-final.

In doing so, he overtook Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith to become the new world number one – but he says becoming world champion would be more meaningful.

He said: “It feels amazing, I would never have imagined myself to be world number one and I did it in style, I was really pleased with the performance.

“I have always said world number one can last a number of months, world champion is forever.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted to see an “emotional” Reo Hatate back on the pitch before the Japan midfielder departs for the Asian Cup.

Hatate made his first appearance in 10 weeks when he came off the bench during Celtic’s 3-0 win over St Mirren.

The 26-year-old’s latest lay-off because of a hamstring injury was his third leg muscle injury of 2023 and he appeared to be in tears as Rodgers embraced him after the final whistle in Paisley.

Hatate will head off to Qatar with Japan and might not be back until February but Rodgers is excited to see the midfielder perform when he returns.

“You could see afterwards he was actually quite emotional to be back out on the pitch again,” the Celtic boss said. “He’s put in so much hard work and he’s a big, big player for us.

“So hopefully he can go away and get some minutes and keep his fitness up because when he comes back he’s going to be huge for us in the second half of the season.”

Paulo Bernardo is likely to remain a key player during Hatate’s absence after making major strides in recent weeks.

The 21-year-old Benfica loan midfielder provided two brilliant assists in Paisley to add to the goals he scored against Rangers and Dundee in the previous two games.

“It is all patience,” Rodgers said. “Sometimes at big clubs there is no patience with young players. You can see him growing and developing.

“When you have young players that is what tends to happen if their attitude is right and their mentality is right.

“He has come in in these last few games and created goals and scored goals and he has put his foot in too. He is tenacious. Absolutely delighted for him. It is now about consistency.

“He’s a great learner, he’s a different type of player, maybe not as dynamic as Hatate, but he’s functional and he learns.

“He knows the runs, he knows the pressing triggers, and he’s developing and improving.”

Celtic will see four players depart for Qatar with Daizen Maeda joining Hatate in the Japan squad and South Korea calling up Yang Hyun-jun and Oh Hyeon-gyu.

However, Kyogo Furuhashi will remain with Celtic after being overlooked by Japan.

“Daizen was originally in the squad and Reo got called up a bit later,” Rodgers said. “But Kyogo has been in and out of the squad so I was relaxed anyway. We had a look at all the numbers and what it might look like.

“But, obviously, if he stays it’s really good news for us. But, for him, I’m sure he would have wanted to play in it.”

The World Darts Championship final should be made free to view so as many people can watch teenage star Luke Littler compete as possible, ministers have been told.

The Liberal Democrats suggested it would be “scandalous” for the game not to be aired on ITV and the BBC, as well as on Sky Sports, which is broadcasting the sporting event.

Sixteen-year-old Littler is the youngest-ever player to reach the decider of the tournament, and has garnered celebrity status for his performance.

On Tuesday night, he secured his place in the final with a 6-2 win over former champion Rob Cross.

Ahead of his appearance on Wednesday in the final against Luke Humphries, the Lib Dems urged the Government to follow the precedent of other major events in rugby, football and cricket, and ensure the coverage is free to watch.

The party’s culture and sports spokesman Jamie Stone said: “The country is gripped by darts fever and the spectacle of a 16-year-old Brit becoming world champion.

“It would be scandalous for this historic game to be hidden away from millions of people. The final must be on free to air TV. If football, cricket and rugby world cup finals are free to air, then so should darts.

“Sky Sports should do the right thing and share coverage with the likes of the BBC or ITV. Ministers have the power to put pressure on them.”

It is understood that broadcasters could come to such an arrangement themselves without the need for ministerial intervention.

Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, congratulated Littler following his semi final victory.

Writing on X, she said: “Great win from Luke Littler at the semi finals this evening.

“Getting to a world championship final on his debut at 16 and amazing how he is getting everyone taking about darts.”

Teenage star Luke Littler revealed a diet of cheese and ham omelettes and pizza has been behind his incredible journey to the World Championship final.

The 16-year-old has set the Alexandra Palace alight over the last fortnight and is the youngest ever player to reach the decider of the premier darts tournament after demolishing Rob Cross in the semi-final.

He is now on the cusp of producing one of the greatest sporting stories of all time, which would rival Emma Raducanu’s US Open win in 2021.

It is unlikely Raducanu had pizza before every match of her New York fairytale but it is working for Littler, whose love of kebabs has also been a theme of his run to the final.

“I’ll keep doing what I have been doing, I don’t wake up until 12, in the morning go for my ham and cheese omelette, come here and have my pizza, and then go on the practice board,” he said.

“It is what I have been doing every day – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”

Littler has already proved he is the real deal but produced his biggest statement yet as he downed eighth seed Cross 6-2 in stunning fashion.

He bombarded the treble-20 for 16 180s, produced three 130-plus checkouts and averaged 106.05 in a nerveless performance.

‘The Nuke’ is trying to emulate 2018 champion Cross by lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy on debut and few would bet against him as his juggernaut looks impossible to stop – Luke Humphries the man facing that task on Wednesday.

“It’s crazy, it’s crazy to think I am in the World Championship final,” Littler said. “I was happy winning one game, but I could go all the way.

“I haven’t got the words. It’s crazy. I have just settled on that stage.

“It has not even sunk in yet. I have surprised myself.

“I have just got to stay focused and be Luke Littler. I have got to be mature and be myself.

“It would be unbelievable if I won it, I only wanted to win one match.”

He has earned celebrity status and his exploits have transcended the world of darts, already appealing to a younger generation of fans, with broadcaster Sky Sports reporting they had an 18.5 per cent share of all under-35 viewing in the UK for his New Year’s Day quarter-final win over Brendan Dolan.

Littler, who revealed he received pre-match messages from footballers Luke Shaw and Rio Ferdinand, only qualified for the tournament by winning the World Youth Championship in November and his fairytale run has put the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) under pressure to hand him a place in the forthcoming Premier League.

There is more immediate work to do, though, as his attention turns to Wednesday’s showpiece, where he will meet new world number one Humphries.

‘Cool Hand’ delivered one of the best ever performances at Alexandra Palace as he whitewashed Michael van Gerwen’s conqueror Scott Williams.

The 28-year-old came into the event as favourite after winning three of the last four major tournaments and lived up to the billing as he averaged 108.74, threw 13 180s and took out six 100-plus finishes, including the ‘big fish’ 170.

His victory saw him climb above Van Gerwen and Michael Smith to the top of the rankings.

He said: “It feels amazing, I would never have imagined myself to be world number one and I did it in style, I was really pleased with the performance.

“I have always said world number one can last a number of months, world champion is forever.”

David Moyes was frustrated at not being able to pick Mohammed Kudus for West Ham’s goalless draw against Brighton.

Ghana forward Kudus, arguably West Ham’s best player this season, was unavailable due to his forthcoming participation at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Yet Egypt’s Mohamed Salah was able to play for Liverpool against Newcastle 24 hours earlier, scoring twice in a 4-2 win before the deadline for players to link up with their countries.

In a thinly-disguised dig at the Premier League’s schedulers and the decision to move this match for television a day later, Moyes said: “It feels a bit strange that we’re playing on the second of January.

“Could we not have played on the first and allowed our African players to be allowed to play yesterday, because they can’t play today?

“I feel that’s something which isn’t correct. I just think why couldn’t we have our African players the same as everybody else?

“Brighton might have had players at the Asian Games – I know (Kaoru) Mitoma’s injured I think – but they might have the same feeling.

“It’s nothing to do with the performance, Brighton were without lots of good players and we were without lots of good players.

“But I don’t see at this point why you would play a game and be disadvantaged by some of your players not being able to play. I’m not saying any more.”

The decision to move the match for television looked even more baffling as two weary teams fought out a lifeless goalless draw.

Given that it was West Ham’s ninth game in a month, and Brighton’s eighth, the managers would probably have shaken hands on a draw before kick-off and gone to watch the darts instead.

Tomas Soucek stabbed West Ham’s best chance wide but Brighton were the better side after the break, with Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola making fine saves to deny Danny Welbeck and Adam Lallana.

“Overall we’ve had a brilliant Christmas period on the points front,” added Moyes, whose side began the year inside the top six. “I’m thrilled to win three, including Arsenal and Manchester United, and draw one. From a points point of view we’ve done really well.

“It’s the first time this season we’ve looked really jaded and tired tonight but all the boys have done a brilliant job. Brighton have been our bogey club in recent years and we’ve taken four points off them this season. But I want it to be better and I know it has to get better.”

Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi had little doubt what was missing from his side.

“A goal,” was his simple response.

“Today we deserved to win but we played an amazing game, one of the best in my time.

“West Ham are very good in counter-attack and we played a smart game. I can’t say anything about my players because I’m delighted with the performance.

“We have injuries but we have great character and great spirit.”

Manchester United loanee Mason Greenwood was sent off as nine-man Getafe slipped to a 2-0 home defeat to Rayo Vallecano in LaLiga.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men five minutes before the break as Real Madrid loanee Juanmi Latasa was handed a second booking and matters were made even worse when Sergio Camello put the visitors 1-0 to the good.

Camello doubled their lead two minutes after the interval and Greenwood was given a straight red card three minutes later for dissent after he appeared gesture how many times he had been fouled to referee Jorge Figueroa.

Greenwood became the eighth player to receive a red card for Getafe this season and a further red card was given to Damian Suarez from the bench after he had already been substituted in a heated clash as 11 cards were shown throughout the encounter.

Martin Zubimendi scored a stoppage time equaliser to rescue 10-man Real Sociedad a 1-1 draw with Deportivo Alaves.

Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro was sent off in the 36th minute after he handled the ball outside the area but the scores were level until the 76th minute when Luis Rioja put the away side 1-0 up from the penalty spot.

Alaves looked set for all three points until the sixth minute of stoppage time when Zubimendi latched onto a loose ball inside the area and buried an effort from inside the box.

Pepelu bagged a couple of penalties as Valencia sealed a second successive league victory with a 3-1 triumph over Villarreal.

Roman Yaremchuk scored his first goal in LaLiga to give Valencia the lead four minutes in and Pepelu twice bagged from the penalty spot in either haf, with Gerard Moreno’s second-half strike securing all three points.

In Italy, AC Milan progressed through to the quarter-final of the Coppa Italia with a convincing 4-1 victory over Cagliari at the San Siro.

Luka Jovic put the hosts in front on the half-hour mark when he slammed into the net from close range and he completed his brace just before the break after Theo Hernandez teed it up for a second time to Jovic, who diverted the ball in.

Milan made their lead unassailable in the 50th minute after Chaka Traore’s snapshot handed him a first senior Milan goal and Cagliari pulled one back late on through Paulo Azzi before Rafael Leao regained their three-goal cushion and booked their place in the next round.

A double from Serbian striker Luka Jovic helped AC Milan to a 4-1 win over Cagliari and a place in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Jovic struck twice in the first half of the contest at San Siro, while 19-year-old Chaka Traore was delighted to score his first Milan goal on his full debut early in the second half.

Paulo Azzi grabbed a consolation for Cagliari in the 87th minute but there was still time for substitute Rafael Leao to score a fourth for Milan, who have not won the competition for 20 years.

Milan boss Stefano Pioli retained only two players from the starting line-up for Saturday’s Serie A win over Sassuolo – Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders.

Cagliari are sitting in the relegation zone in Serie A but it was Claudio Ranieri’s side who created the first big chance inside four minutes, with Andrea Petagna’s close-range header from a corner drawing a fine reaction save from 40-year-old Antonio Mirante.

Four minutes later Jovic was through one on one with Boris Radunovic after a perfectly-timed pass from Yacine Adli but the keeper was equal to his shot.

Antoine Makoumbou was the next to threaten the Milan goal when Petagna pulled the ball back into the middle of the box but his tame effort was straight at the keeper.

The breakthrough for Milan came in the 29th minute, with Hernandez the creator, picking out Jovic on the right of the box with a fine ball from the left.

The striker managed to evade his marker with his first touch before tucking the ball under Radunovic.

Three minutes before half-time, the summer signing from Fiorentina made it two goals in a game for Milan for the first time.

Again the architect was Hernandez, who drove down the left, cut into the middle and slid in Jovic, whose shot from a tight angle squirmed under Radunovic and into the net.

Five minutes after half-time, the widest smile in Milan belonged to 19-year-old Traore as he bagged a first goal in red and black.

It was a scrappy goal, with Alex Jimenez’s ball in from the left half blocked, Samuel Chukwueze failing to connect with his attempted shot and then Traore turning and guiding the ball under Radunovic.

The keeper will feel he should have done better but that took nothing away from the joy of Traore, who was mobbed by his team-mates.

Pioli turned to his big guns with 20 minutes left, sending on Leao and Christian Pulisic.

The visitors found something to celebrate in the 87th minute, Azzi’s strike from 20 yards taking a deflection and beating Mirante, but Leao had the final say, curling the ball beyond Radunovic in stoppage time.

Sixteen-year-old Luke Littler stormed into the World Championship final with a 6-2 win over former champion Rob Cross.

Here, the PA news agency puts the youngster’s achievements in context.

Young gun

The famously raucous Ally Pally crowd chanted “you’ve got school in the morning” during Littler’s opening win over Christian Kist and he became the youngest player to reach even the last 16 of the event with his third-round win over Matt Campbell.

His youth was highlighted most of all in beating Raymond van Barneveld, the man he describes as “one of my idols” and fully 40 years Littler’s senior, to reach the quarter-finals.

The Dutchman won the 2007 World Championship 20 days before Littler was born and has been playing competitively for more than twice Littler’s lifetime, since 1984 when he himself was just 17.

Michael van Gerwen is the youngest PDC world champion, winning in 2014 at the age of 24 – and indeed the youngest major winner, aged 23 at the 2012 World Grand Prix – so time is on Littler’s side to rewrite the record books regardless of Wednesday’s outcome.

Jelle Klaasen won a BDO world title aged 21, while Eric Bristow won his first at 22 and was 27 when he inspired Sid Waddell’s famous commentary line comparing him to Alexander the Great.

Littler would be the first player to win the title on his debut since Cross himself in 2018. Dennis Priestley, in the inaugural event, and Van Barneveld are the only other players to achieve the feat but were both BDO world champions before switching allegiance.

A six-figure payday is already assured for the teenager, with £500,000 awaiting the champion and £200,000 for runner-up.

Tournament performance

Regardless of his age, Littler has produced a series of hugely impressive displays at Alexandra Palace.

He has compiled a three-dart average of 101.82 on his run through the tournament, topping 100 against Kist – with a tournament-high 106.12 – Van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and with 106.05 against Cross.

His 44.68 per cent record on checkouts has helped ensure he has never been in a close match, winning 3-0, 3-1, 4-1, 4-1, 5-1 and then 6-2.

A 180 in the decisive leg of the seventh set against Cross was his 16th of an outstanding match and his 50th of the tournament.

He has hit 293 centuries in all, including 70 scores of 140 and, with his accuracy when switching to treble-19, 134 on a remarkable 46 occasions.

Eighth seed Cross was the highest-ranked scalp on a run which has also seen Littler take out three players ranked in the 20s in Gilding, Dolan and Van Barneveld. Littler’s own ranking could climb as high as ninth in the world if he wins the final.