Marc Marquez will miss this weekend's Grand Prix of the Americas as the Repsol Honda rider continues his recovery from a hand injury.

The six-time MotoGP champion suffered a fracture to the first metacarpal bone in his right hand in last month's Portuguese Grand Prix.

He underwent surgery and subsequently sat out the Argentine Grand Prix.

Marquez had been expected to return at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin this week, but he announced on social media on Tuesday that his injury has not yet fully healed.

"I have just had a CAT scan and it was confirmed that the bone is still in the process of healing," he said.

"After talking with the medical team led by Dr. Ignacio Roger de Ona, we have decided not to take any risks and therefore I won't be able to ride in Austin.

"I will continue working and rehabilitating as I have been doing so far to be able to get back on the bike as soon as possible."

Marquez suffered the injury after a crash with Miguel Oliveira early on in Portimao, with the Spaniard found guilty of irresponsible riding for his part in the collision.

The 30-year-old was handed a double long-lap penalty and the FIM confirmed Marquez will serve the sanction when he next features, though Honda lodged an appeal.

The Spanish Grand Prix on April 30 has now been earmarked for Marquez's possible return.

The Detroit Lions are moving on from cornerback Jeff Okudah, sending the former first-round draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons for a fifth-round selection in this year's draft.

The trade was reported by multiple sources on Tuesday.

The Lions selected Okudah with the third overall pick of the 2020 draft, but he has had a hard time staying healthy.

In three seasons with Detroit, Okudah has appeared in 25 games while missing 25 games due to injuries.

Heading into the fourth season of his rookie contract, Okudah will make $5.1million and the Falcons have until May 1 to decide on picking up his fifth-year option.

Atlanta will hope a change of scenery will give Okudah a fresh start and help shore up a pass defense that ranked among the worst in the NFL in 2022.

Only five teams had fewer interceptions than the Falcons' 10 last season, while opposing quartebacks posted a 95.7 passer rating – fourth highest in the league.

In 15 games last season, Okudah had one interception, seven pass breakups, 73 tackles – including two for loss – and one forced fumble.

Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell believes success can be just around the corner after securing a two-year contract extension at Stamford Bridge.

The 26-year-old England international's new terms tie him to the Blues until 2027, having initially joined in 2020 on a five-year deal from Leicester City.

Initially signed by Frank Lampard, Chilwell has transitioned through different eras at Stamford Bridge – working under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, before coming full circle with Lampard's recent return to the club on an interim basis.

Although Chelsea have struggled this season, sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League, Chilwell is delighted to secure his future with the west London side.

He had been linked with Manchester City but is going nowhere, which suits him, and feels the future can be bright.

"I feel very settled at Chelsea and have really enjoyed my time on the pitch here, so I’m very pleased the club want me to be part of the project long-term, and am very happy to sign this extension to my contract," he told the club's website.

"We are working hard for success and I will do my best to bring more smiles to the faces of the fans who have made me feel so welcome."

Chilwell was part of a Champions League-winning side in his debut season at Chelsea and fought his way back from a serious knee injury to re-establish in the Blues ranks.

He has made 25 appearances across all competitions this season, 17 as a starter, and has contributed two goals and two assists.

Julian Brandt believes he can achieve "something big" with Borussia Dortmund after ignoring interest from elsewhere to sign a new three-year contract.

The Germany international has shone in his attacking midfield role for BVB this term, playing a huge role in a title challenge that could go to the wire.

Brandt, who turns 27 in May, signed his latest contract on Tuesday, quashing the prospect of him being able to leave on a free transfer at the end of next season.

Liverpool and Arsenal are among the teams who have been linked with Brandt in recent weeks, and that comes as little surprise considering his strong campaign.

Only three midfielders in the Bundesliga have created more chances this season that Brandt's 57, which puts him 30 ahead of his nearest midfield club colleague, Jude Bellingham (27).

Brandt has eight goals and four assists in the league, with his 12 goal involvements also setting the benchmark for Dortmund's midfielders, putting him two ahead of Marco Reus and four clear of Bellingham.

He has played 164 passes, including crosses, into the opposition box, far and away the most of any Dortmund player, with his threat from the flanks making him a valuable asset.

Considering he has played 931 passes in all, more than one in six of those on average have gone into the penalty area (18 per cent).

With uncertainty lingering over Bellingham's future, as clubs look closely at the England international, Dortmund made sure to tie up former Bayer Leverkusen star Brandt to new terms.

Brandt said: "Even after four years, I still have a lot of fun every single day being part of precisely this team, being on the pitch with these lads and playing football for this highly emotional club with its extraordinary fans.

"In honesty, the feeling of being in the right place at the right time has always been the most important point of my sporting life. And that won't change either. I'm looking forward to the coming years in black and yellow and I'm sure that we'll have the opportunity to celebrate something big together."

Dortmund announced the extension on their website, describing it as "a core element of the medium-term squad planning", with sporting director Sebastian Kehl saying Brandt has "undergone another enormous development in the last year, is significantly more focused in his play off the ball, regularly sets up goals and shines himself as a goalscorer".

Michael Salisbury has been dropped from refereeing duties after his failure to award a penalty while acting as the VAR for Tottenham's win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Kaoru Mitoma was tripped by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg during the Seagulls' 2-1 loss at Spurs but no penalty was awarded by referee Stuart Attwell, and the VAR did not summon him to the pitchside monitor for another look.

Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), is said to have apologised to Brighton since.

Attwell has not been stood down and will be the VAR for Wolves' home match against Brentford on Saturday, before operating as the fourth official for the London derby between West Ham and Arsenal a day later.

However, Salisbury, the VAR official for Saturday's game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, will see no action this weekend.

Assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis, who is being investigated for an alleged elbow on Liverpool defender Andy Robertson during the Reds' 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Anfield, is also not involved this weekend.

The PGMOL will not consider Hatzidakis for any matches until the investigation is completed.

Arsenal are "very disappointed" with the decision to push back their crucial Premier League clash with Chelsea at short notice due to policing concerns.

The league leaders had been due to host London rivals Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, April 29, but the game will instead be played three days later on Tuesday, May 2.

Both Arsenal and the Premier League expressed regret at the decision, which was taken after the Metropolitan Police revised its position on policing the match.

A statement on Arsenal's official website on Tuesday read: "After working to try to find a solution with the Met Police, we are very disappointed with the impact and disruption this fixture change will cause to our supporters, particularly after this match had been initially approved for a Saturday evening kick-off."

The Premier League added in a separate statement: "The initial scheduling of this match was approved at a Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meeting in February.

"However, the Metropolitan Police has now revised its position regarding the kick-off time and requested a further SAG meeting which determined the match had to be rescheduled.

"We regret the need to move this fixture at late notice and the impact this will have on supporters."

Arsenal's under-18 side are scheduled to face West Ham in the FA Youth Cup final in late April, while Arsenal Women take on Wolfsburg in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on May 1, with both games at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners travel to West Ham and host Southampton in their next two games, before heading to title rivals Manchester City – whom they lead by six points having played a game more – ahead of their rescheduled meeting with Chelsea.

West Indies all-rounder and current Tornadoes Women captain Stafanie Taylor scored 61* but could not prevent her team from going down by six wickets to Spirit Women in their FairBreak Invitational T20 fixture at the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Taylor won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring her 61* off 48 balls and hitting 10 fours in the process to help her team post a respectable 150-4 off 20 overs.

Stere Kallis and Dane Van Niekerk also provided valuable contributions of 37 and 28, respectively.

Their total, however, proved to be not enough in the end as Spirit Women needed only 15.4 overs to reach 155-4. Captain Nicola Carey led the way with a magnificent 28-ball 84* including seven fours and seven sixes. Natthakan Chantham also made 35*. Aliya Riaz took 2-15 from three overs for the Tornadoes.

Taylor’s Tornadoes finished last in the six-team table with two points from five games.

France international Wissam Ben Yedder was sentenced to six months and one day in prison and fined €133,798 by a Spanish court on Tuesday for tax evasion.

The 32-year-old forward has had the prison sentence suspended, with the offence dating back to his time playing in Spain.

Ben Yedder spent three seasons at Sevilla, arriving from Toulouse in July 2016 and leaving to join Monaco in August 2019.

A ruling from the Provincial Court of Seville, dated March 9, was released and outlined how Ben Yedder failed to submit an income tax return on time and "consciously falsified" a self-assessment by not declaring interest he received as income in three accounts, also not declaring earnings from a sponsorship deal with Adidas.

The court said Ben Yedder paid €225,323.25 initially and later added a payment of €51,007.41 to cover for what was found to be the shortfall, plus interest, once it was discovered he should have paid €267,597.40.

The fine imposed on Ben Yedder, agreed by all parties, amounts to 50 per cent of the total described by the court as the "defrauded fee".

The prison element of the punishment has been suspended for two years, conditional on him not reoffending.

"In view of the imposed sentence of six months and one day in prison and the lack of a criminal record, together with the fact of having satisfied civil responsibilities, it is appropriate to agree to the suspension," the court stated.

Paris Saint-Germain defender Nordi Mukiele will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing an operation on his damaged hamstring.

The one-cap France international has featured in 25 of PSG's 42 games in all competitions since arriving from RB Leipzig last August, starting 14 of those.

However, the 25-year-old has not played since sustaining the injury in the second leg of PSG's Champions League last-16 tie with Bayern Munich last month.

The Ligue 1 leaders confirmed on their official website on Tuesday that Mukiele will not figure in the eight league games they have left this season. 

"Nordi Mukiele is suffering from a serious hamstring injury. To minimise the risk of recurrence, the Paris Saint-Germain medical staff opted for an operation," the statement read.

"The operation will be performed in Finland today and will keep him out of action until the end of the season."

PSG also said midfielder Renato Sanches will miss between three and four weeks with an adductor injury sustained in last weekend's win over Nice.

Christophe Galtier's side are six points clear of closest challengers Lens, who they host in their next match on Saturday.

Milan coach Stefano Pioli is embracing his team's history of fulfilling their dreams as they prepare to face Napoli in the Champions League quarter-finals as underdogs.

With Napoli running away with the Serie A title, sitting 16 points clear already, Milan are generally considered outsiders for their upcoming Champions League duel.

But Milan beat Napoli 4-0 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as recently as April 2 in a major shock, and the Partenopei will once again be without talismanic striker Victor Osimhen.

Milan not being favourites is no issue for Pioli, however, as he pointed to their Scudetto success last season as being somewhat out of the ordinary.

Asked what he was expecting from Wednesday's contest at San Siro, Pioli told reporters: "I think we'll see balance.

"It's the first of two matches. It's impossible to repeat matches from in the league – we know we have to play a great game.

"We have to play a great game because the opponents require a great level of play. Napoli are the team with the best attack in the Champions League and who have won the most games after Bayern. They are a very strong team, they have great quality.

"We also need to be attentive. Napoli have great quality and know how to take advantage of every mistake.

"Serie A is another story. I think we have every chance to play and do well in the two games. With the power of our dreams we won the Scudetto last year, so dreaming is good for us."

 

The absence of Osimhen is a particularly significant boost for Milan, given Napoli had expected him to be fit again for the first leg after sustaining an abductor injury on international duty.

Osimhen has been a huge factor in Napoli's remarkable charge at the top of the Serie A table, with Luciano Spalletti's men closing in on a first Scudetto since 1990.

Osimhen has scored 25 times across all competitions, with none of those goals coming from the penalty spot – among players from the top five leagues, only Erling Haaland (38), Kylian Mbappe (28), Marcus Rashford (27) and Robert Lewandowski (26) have netted more non-penalty goals than the Nigerian.

Nevertheless, the defeat to Milan earlier this month was the only match Napoli have failed to win out of nine without Osimhen this term, and this was not lost on Pioli.

"We're talking about a great centre-forward, he's scored repeatedly both in the league and in the Champions League [but], up until the match against us, Napoli had always won without Osimhen," Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.

"We're talking about a great team that has all the qualities to be fearsome."

He added: "The preparation has always been the same. With Osimhen, Napoli are stronger in depth, without him a little less. We keep everything in consideration, but we go ahead with our own concepts."

Robert Lewandowski expressed his desire for Lionel Messi to return to Barcelona ahead of next season.

Club legend Messi left Barcelona in 2020, after financial issues at the club prevented the renewal of his deal, and joined Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi's contract in the French capital runs out in June and an exit seems increasingly likely, particularly after his name was booed by some fans during the recent Ligue 1 defeat to Lyon – with supporters venting their frustration at the club's policy of signing big-name players without yielding results in the Champions League.

A return to Camp Nou has often been touted and Lewandowski, who joined the club last year from Bayern Munich, wants to play alongside Messi next season.

"Messi belongs to Barca and if he comes back it will be something incredible," he said at the launch of the 18th book of Solidarity Stories of Sport.

"We know your place is here in Barcelona. I don't know what will happen, but I hope that next season we can play together."

While Barcelona are poised to win LaLiga for the first time since the 2018-19 season, the club exited the Champions League at the group stage and were eliminated from the Europa League by Manchester United.

A Copa del Rey elimination at the hands of Real Madrid prevented a potential treble for the Catalan side, who won the Super Cup earlier in the season, and Lewandowski feels that Barcelona will improve next year.

"It's still early days for LaLiga. We are taking steps and it is not easy," he explained.

"We have a lot of new players and a lot of injuries, like in the group stage of the Champions League or the last game against Madrid, so it's been difficult.

"At Bayern it has always been normal, but Barca is in the process of becoming great again. We have to be patient and I'm sure next season will be better."

Ajax have finally filled the void left by Marc Overmars with the appointment of former Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund transfer chief Sven Mislintat.

Overmars was sacked by Ajax in February 2022 after "a series of inappropriate messages sent to several female colleagues over an extended period of time".

The former Netherlands international apologised for his actions but departed the club, accepting a role at Belgian side Antwerp a month later.

In the meantime, Ajax have operated without a specific director of football, Overmars' duties instead handled by technical managers Gerry Hamstra and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Mislintat, who left Stuttgart in late 2022, will step into the void from May 19.

Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar said of the appointment: "It is good for Ajax that we have been able to fill this important position with an internationally experienced football director who can start quickly.

"A careful process preceded the search for the right person. We were looking for someone who stands for attacking and attractive football.

"Someone who has an international network, and has an eye for scouting, development, and the growth of our own youth.

"Sven meets the profile, and he made a very good impression on us from the first talks in February.

"In addition, he has a way of working that fits today's industry. I am convinced that he will make an important contribution to new successes of Ajax."

Mislintat made his name at Borussia Dortmund, where he was head of scouting and head of professional football between 2006 and 2017, playing a vital role in the identification of talents who re-established BVB among the elite.

Robert Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa and Ousmane Dembele all signed for Dortmund on Mislintat's watch.

He became Arsenal's head of recruitment in 2017 but his spell in charge of transfers was largely deemed a disappointment, leaving in February 2019.

Mislintat returned to Germany with Stuttgart two months later, staying until late last year when he opted against signing a new contract as he sought a new challenge.

Carlo Ancelotti is keen for his Real Madrid side to meet Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul.

Los Blancos face Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the competition, while Milan are building up for an all-Italian affair against Napoli.

Madrid will be favourites against Chelsea due to the poor season being endured by the Premier League side.

For Milan, the situation is different as Napoli have blown away their rivals in Serie A this season, but they will have the backing of Ancelotti.

Asked what he said to Paolo Maldini in a recent call with the former defender, Ancelotti told Rai Radio 1: "It was above all a wish for Milan, of which I am a fan.

"In reality, Milan-Napoli will be a very balanced and very uncertain match.

"Would it be nice to meet in Istanbul? For Madrid, yes, I think also for Milan, but everyone wants to get to Istanbul."

In his pre-match press conference ahead of the first leg of the quarter-final tie against Chelsea, Ancelotti again outlined a desire to meet Maldini in the final – particularly with the host city not holding fond memories for the pair, who lost in Istanbul against Liverpool in the 2005 final.

"Paolo and Istanbul is not a pretty memory especially in 2005," Ancelotti added. "I have all the love in the world for Maldini, he has been my captain and my partner and if we can see each other on my birthday [the day of the final] it will be very good".

For Milan, the tie against Napoli is a chance to build upon their recent thrashing of the runaway Serie A leaders in a game that is certain to be an emotional one.

Because of this, Ancelotti explained that motivational speeches are not required ahead of the game and pre-match discussions should be purely tactical.

"In these types of games the players are going to feel the pressure, they are going to be very motivated, so you don't have to make motivational speeches," he explained.

"The speech that is going to be made is linked to the strategy of the game, trying to give clear and simple indications to the players, so that they feel involved: it is also a way to take a little off the pressure that these games inevitably put on you."

Carlo Ancelotti is saddened by Chelsea's struggles this season but expects his former side to bounce back under Frank Lampard.

The Real Madrid head coach faces off against the Blues in the Champions League quarter-finals, the first leg taking place at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

While domestic form has not been the best for Madrid, heading into the tie on the back of a 3-2 reverse against Villarreal at the weekend, their form in Europe in recent years has been devastating.

Los Blancos have won the Champions League in five of the last nine seasons, the most recent of which was last year, and boast vast experience.

However, Ancelotti does not believe that will have an impact in the two legs against Chelsea, where he expects the Blues to provide a stern test.

"I'm sad. I have great memories of my time at the club. I spent two very good years there," he said at a press conference when asked about Chelsea's poor season.

"I don't think my experience will change what's going to happen tomorrow. Lampard has been a great player that I coached for two years.

"He knows this type of game well and how to prepare his team. It's been a week, but he's going to do well in the time he's at Chelsea.

"We had a really bad time here [last year] and we have to respect Chelsea. They are not going through a good moment, but they have a very good team.

"Sometimes when you're worse, you bring out the best."

Madrid faced Chelsea at the same stage last year, losing 3-2 at home in the second leg but progressing as 5-4 aggregate victors, while the semi-final against Manchester City was similarly dramatic.

Playing the first game of home this time around allows Madrid to potentially build a lead to defend at Stamford Bridge in the second leg, which Ancelotti highlighted.

"We have to think it's a 180-minute game and try to do well tomorrow. It's not decisive, but we can help manage the second leg better," he added.

"We are looking forward to returning to the Champions League and living a magical night at the Bernabeu.

"We have to take advantage of the fact that we play the first game. I think we played well at home and away last year, we did well in every game and deserved to win the title.

"We had to come back, and we had more energy in the finals. We deserved to win the Champions League last year and we will try to deserve this one if we play better than others.

"They were difficult moments against Chelsea and City but we didn't give up the games and ended up winning the title."

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