Odell Beckham Jr. received no assurances he will be able to link up with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore next season, but he hopes to.
The three-time Pro Bowler was confirmed as the Ravens' newest addition on Thursday on a one-year deal, having been available as a free agent since leaving the Los Angeles Rams, last appearing at Super Bowl LVI.
Beckham missed the whole of the 2022 campaign after a lengthy rehabilitation for an ACL tear sustained in that Super Bowl victory with the Rams.
The 30-year-old was introduced as a Raven in a press conference alongside general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh.
And conversation unsurprisingly turned to quarterback Jackson, who has requested a trade but had the non-exclusive franchise tag placed on him and has not yet resolved his future.
"I didn't get any assurances for anything," Beckham said. "Life's uncertain. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or the next day; we only know what's happened in the past.
"To me, it's about the possibility of that [playing with Jackson]. My thoughts would be that he would be here.
"I know that these two want him to be here. At the end of the day, it's going to be up to them."
GM DeCosta remains optimistic, adding: "Lamar is in our plans. We're hopeful to still get a long-term deal. He's the right player for this team."
Beckham has 7,367 receiving yards and 56 touchdowns in 96 career NFL games and will join a Baltimore team who finished 10-7 in 2022, losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in an AFC Wild Card game.
On having the chance to play again, Beckham said: "I'm excited but also very determined and hungry. Through the smiles, there's still this [feeling] that I really want this badly."
He has reportedly signed a $15million deal worth up to $18m, with a base salary of $1.165m in 2023 to fit under the Ravens' salary-cap restrictions.
Great Britain has joined the breakaway international boxing federation, World Boxing, in an attempt to counter a threat to the sport's Olympic future.
World Boxing was established in response to issues surrounding the Olympic sport's existing governing body, the International Boxing Association (IBA), which was banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2019 over governing issues and alleged corruption.
At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, boxing was organised by the IOC and the situation is the same for the 2024 games in Paris as, while World Boxing is seeking Olympic recognition, it may take up to two years for that to be achieved.
Boxing's position in the Olympics moving forward is under threat, with the sport left off the initial programme for Los Angeles in 2028 as the IBA has refused to implement the changes requested by the IOC.
In October, the IBA lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, contravening IOC guidance, which saw multiple nations boycott the Women's World Championships last month.
World Boxing aims to replace the IBA's current role in the sport, with a number of national bodies said to have indicated their interest to join the new federation and the membership process will begin in May.
Lorenzo Musetti stunned Novak Djokovic to seal a "dream" victory and a quarter-final spot in the Monte Carlo Masters.
Falling to a 4-6 defeat in the first set, Musetti responded to win 7-5 in the second and 6-4 in the third following a rain delay.
The 21-year-old overcame the world number one in a mammoth two-hour, 54 minute encounter and capitalised on weak serves from the Serbian – breaking his opponent eight times en route to a career high victory.
Emotions were high for Musetti, who said afterwards: "I am struggling not to cry. It is an emotional win because it was a really long match. Three-hour match and suspended by rain.
"It was not easy conditions because it was a little bit windy and cold. Not like we used to play in the recent days. I am really proud of myself and I can see on the screen. I am struggling not to cry because it is a dream for me."
Musetti's reward is a clash with Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, who trailed Hubert Hurkacz by a set and a break before rallying to a 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 triumph – sending him into the last-eight in six of the seven events he has played this season.
Elsewhere, Andrey Rublev earned a 50th tour-level win on clay with a 7-6 (6-4) 6-2 victory over Karen Khachanov, who was his doubles partner earlier this week before the pair suffered elimination against Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.
Rublev will meet German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff in the next round, who secured a major upset earlier in the day by eliminating world number four Casper Ruud.
A 6-1 7-6 (10-8) victory earned Struff his first top 10 win since June 2021, when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in Halle, and advances to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since Cincinnati in 2020.
Feyenoord gained some semblance of revenge against Roma for last season's Europa Conference League final as they beat the Serie A side 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
An insipid performance from Jose Mourinho's side saw them miss a first-half penalty, before Mats Wieffer struck the only goal of the game just after half-time.
Paulo Dybala was forced off after 25 minutes through what appeared to be a groin injury as Roma struggled to get anything going, while Feyenoord only threatened with half chances.
Roma were awarded a penalty just before half-time after an outswinging corner struck Mats Wieffer on the hand, but Giallorissi captain Lorenzo Pellegrini hit the left-hand post with his spot-kick.
The hosts were ahead just eight minutes into the second half after neat work from Oussama Idrissi on the left allowed him to find Wieffer on the edge of the box, and his volley into the turf bounced past Rui Patricio and into the far corner of the net.
Things went from bad to worse for Mourinho as he also lost Tammy Abraham to a shoulder injury, while Roger Ibanez was denied an equaliser by a goal-line clearance from Idrissi as Arne Slot's men clung on to take an advantage to the Stadio Olimpico next week.
Shubman Gill's composed 67 helped Gujarat Titans to a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League on Thursday, but not before some late jitters.
The Titans looked to be strolling to a win before Gill fell in the final over, with Gujarat needing all but one ball of their 20 overs to reach the target of 154.
Punjab's innings got off to a poor start when Prabhsimran Singh was out for a second-ball duck after inadvertently lobbing Mohammed Shami to Rashid Khan, before captain Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed by Josh Little for just eight.
Matt Short was going well on 36 from 24 balls before a superb delivery from Rashid bowled the Australian.
Jitesh Sharma helped steady things with 25 from 23 before edging Mohit Sharma to Wriddhiman Saha, but Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Sam Curran played some risk-free cricket to make sure the Kings had some wickets in hand for the closing overs.
Rajapaksa fell for 20 with three overs left, with Curran following soon after for 22, though a quickfire 22 from Shahrukh Khan helped them to a final total of 153-8.
Saha and Gill put on an opening partnership of 48 inside the first five overs before the former picked out Short at deep square leg off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada for 30.
Sai Sudharsan added 19 before being dismissed by Arshdeep Singh, while Hardik Pandya matched his fellow captain by also only managing eight runs before departing.
Gill was dramatically bowled by Curran in the final over as the Titans were left needing six from the final four balls, and then four from two, but Rahul Tewatia swept a four with the penultimate delivery to seal the win for Gujarat.
Gill dethrones Kings again
It was a superb effort from Gill, who hit four fours and one six as his 67 from 49 balls took the Titans to victory.
This was his fifth 50 against the Kings, his highest tally against any single opponent in the IPL, while no player has logged more scores of 50+ runs against Punjab than Gill since his IPL debut in 2018.
Dhawan cannot find the power
Shikhar Dhawan was unable to produce a much-needed captain's innings for the Kings, trying to loft Little's delivery over mid-on, but only finding the safe hands of Alzarri Joseph.
He has been dismissed 85 times during powerplay overs in the IPL, the most of any player and at least 15 more times than any other in the competition's history (Parthiv Patel second on 70).
World Rally Championship driver Craig Breen has died aged 33 after he was involved in a pre-event test accident ahead of the Croatia Rally.
The 33-year-old Irishman had been racing this year with Hyundai Motorsport, who confirmed he was involved in an incident on Thursday.
"Hyundai Motorsport sends its sincerest condolences to Craig's family, friends and his many fans," the team said.
Breen's team-mate and co-driver James Fulton was unharmed in the accident, which took place before this weekend's race in Zagreb.
Across a career that saw him debut in 2009, BReen achieved eight podiums, most recently matching his best ever finish with second at the 2023 Rally Sweden.
The Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST) has expressed "great concern" following reports of a further delay to the club's ongoing takeover talks.
United announced in November that their owners, the Glazer family, were exploring options including a potential sale.
After a deadline for expression of interest passed, a second deadline in March was extended by a few days and, while that was widely seen as the final stage before a preferred bidder was selected, it has been reported that a third stage is now under way.
Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus announced on Wednesday he was withdrawing from the process, labelling the situation as "a farce", and MUST has now issued its thoughts on the matter.
"When it was announced in November that the Glazers were undertaking a 'strategic review' and inviting offers to buy the club, MUST welcomed the news and went on to urge the majority owners to move ahead with the process with speed, so that any period of uncertainty was as short as possible," a statement read.
"Nearly five months on, we read speculation that offers from prospective buyers remain below the Glazers' valuation, and that a third round of offers will now be invited.
"With Erik Ten Hag having made such great progress in his first season, and with the vital summer transfer window a matter of weeks away, the news of these delays and further prolonged uncertainty are of great concern.
"Erik needs to know what resources he has to spend, so he can make the signings the club needs, and the whole management resources of the club need to be focussed on supporting him in that. That cannot be the case with the future ownership so unclear.
"We are also unable to move forward on major investment projects – not least the stadium redevelopment as we remain in limbo.
"We are in dire need of new investment, which undoubtedly requires new ownership. MUST, along with United fans all around the world, are calling for this process to be concluded without further delay."
Vincent Kompany insists he is happy at Burnley despite reports linking him with the vacant manager's role at Tottenham.
Kompany has guided Burnley to an immediate return to the Premier League in his first season in charge at Turf Moor, having arrived from Anderlecht at the end of the 2021-22 campaign after the Clarets were relegated from England's top-flight.
Burnley sit top of the Championship on 90 points from 40 games, and secured promotion with a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough last Friday.
Their form and impressive style of play – having scored 78 goals and conceded just 30 – has led to links with Premier League jobs, including Tottenham, who parted ways with Antonio Conte at the end of March.
Asked what he thought of such links, Kompany told reporters: "It is not at the forefront of my thoughts at all.
"Wherever I am, in my head, it is always the biggest job in the world."
He added: "What can I say? I'm not happy [at Burnley]? We are 14 points clear at the top of the Championship.
"A key part is I'm always happy, never satisfied."
Previously known for their direct style under Sean Dyche, no team has averaged as much possession in the Championship than Burnley's 64.3 per cent this season, showing the impact Kompany has had in a short space of time.
The former Manchester City captain has also been linked with taking charge at the Etihad Stadium in future, with City boss Pep Guardiola regularly championing him for the job once he leaves.
Cristian Stellini has been put in charge at Spurs until the end of the campaign, with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino also being linked with taking over ahead of next season.
Tyson Fury has not heard anything from Anthony Joshua over an all-British heavyweight bout, claims the former's promoter George Warren.
A long touted fight between the pair has been on the cards several times over the years, but has failed to materialise for multiple reasons.
Fury was set to face Oleksandr Usyk in a proposed undisputed world title bout later this month, while Joshua defeated Jermaine Franklin earlier this month.
Hope for another round of negotiations with former two-time world champion Joshua had been mooted, but now Warren says no discussions have been had.
"I don't know the answer to that," he told Sky Sports. "The other side spoke a lot about wanting to reach out and contact us after the fight with Franklin.
"We've not heard anything, not had any contact, so there's been nothing to discuss with Tyson.
"They made it quite clear pre-Franklin fight that they wanted to maybe look at that fight for the summer. They thought maybe there was an opportunity.
"I haven't heard from them. I haven't had a phone call, I haven't spoken to anyone about it. You'd have to ask them."
Joshua, who lost twice to Usyk including in a rematch last year in Saudi Arabia, returned to winning ways against American Franklin earlier this month.
However, he has since indicated he will not fight again until December, leaving the rest of the heavyweight division to look for other opponents.
Fury meanwhile has not fought since a trilogy bout victory against Derek Chisora in December.
Sadio Mane has been suspended and fined by Bayern Munich after he allegedly punched team-mate Leroy Sane.
The former Liverpool forward was seen arguing with Sane during Bayern's 3-0 Champions League quarter-final first leg defeat at Manchester City on Tuesday, with reports suggesting the former struck the latter after the game and cut the Germany winger's lip.
The pair were reported to have apologised in front of their team-mates at training on Thursday, but Bayern confirmed that Mane will not be in the squad for the home clash with Hoffenheim on Saturday.
A statement from the Bundesliga champions on Thursday said that Mane will not be involved this weekend due to "misconduct" following the loss at the Etihad Stadium and he also be hit in the pocket.
Mane has 11 goals and five assists in 32 appearances this season, while Sane has 13 goals and seven assists from 36 outings.
WTA tournaments will return to China later this year after being suspended since late 2021 due to concerns around the safety of player Peng Shuai.
Peng posted claims on Chinese social media site Weibo in November 2021 that she had been sexually assaulted by the former Chinese vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, before disappearing from public view and later denying making the allegations in a video interview posted by a Singaporean Chinese-language newspaper.
The situation led to widespread concern for Peng's wellbeing, initiating the #WhereIsPengShuai campaign, with the WTA going as far as suspending Chinese tennis tournaments.
The organisation called on the Chinese authorities to investigate the matter, but has now accepted that those requests "will not be met".
"We've been in this for 16 months and we are convinced that at this point our requests will not be met," chief executive Steve Simon said to BBC Sport.
"To continue with the same strategy doesn't make sense and a different approach is needed. Hopefully, by returning, more progress can be made."
He added: "We've achieved some assurances from people that are close to Peng that she's safe and living with her family in Beijing.
"We do also have some assurances that there won't be any issues with our players and staff while they are competing in China. And hopefully we have received some respect for the stance we took.
"We haven't seen anyone else take a stance such as we did. There hasn't been any other sporting leagues or any business that have. We took that strong stance, we stand behind it."
The final two months of the season will be "very similar" to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to Simon, when eight tournaments were played in China from the start of September.
The 10-year deal for the season-ending WTA Finals to be held in Shenzhen will also resume.
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier has found support after being accused of making racist comments about players during his time as Nice boss.
The allegations came in an e-mail allegedly sent by former Nice football director Julien Fournier at the end of last season.
According to The Athletic, the email's recipient was Dave Brailsford, director of sport at INEOS, the company that owns Nice.
The contents of the email were first reported on Tuesday evening, with Galtier alleged to have told Fournier – in Fournier's words – that the club "could not have so many blacks and Muslims in the team".
Fournier and Galtier both left Nice after the end of last season, with Galtier cherry-picked to be coach of champions PSG.
Galtier's lawyer, Olivier Martin, said the 56-year-old PSG coach "contests with the greatest firmness" the accusations made against him. In a statement to AFP, Martin said Galtier "learned with amazement of the insulting and defamatory remarks".
Fournier allegedly also mentioned John Valovic, the agent and adopted son of Galtier, in the e-mail.
Valovic responded on Instagram, writing: "Thanks to everyone for your support. The accusations against me are false and intolerable. They will not remain without consequences."
Veteran Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz, who played under Galtier at Lille, said the claims of racism did not tally with his own experiences.
In a message posted on Instagram on Wednesday evening, Yilmaz wrote: "I read the news today and I felt like I have to say something. I worked with Galtier and never felt any negative behaviour from him about my religion or nationality.
"He is a great coach as well as a great person."
Defender Jose Fonte, who along with Yilmaz won the 2020-21 Ligue 1 title under Galtier at Lille, also stressed the claims came as a surprise.
"In three years working with Mr Galtier, he was always close to his players and above all, very respectful," Fonte wrote. "It is upsetting reading some news today. I have only good things to say about this man."
Jean-Michel Aulas, the long-standing president of Lyon, said he was "very sorry" for Galtier.
According to the Nice-Matin newspaper and other French media, security around Galtier has been tightened up since the allegations came to light.
Aulas, quoted by RMC, said: "I am very shocked and very sorry for Christophe, whom I know personally.
"I cannot imagine this kind of thing, but it's not for me to pass judgement. We see things happening in the public square that are so different from what we advocate in football.
"From the moment Christophe expresses his refusal to accept this type of information, he has every right to do so."
Nice issued a statement on Wednesday that read: “The facts related concern two people who no longer work for OGC Nice. This situation was treated with the utmost seriousness at the time of the events. The club will not comment further."
Fournier has firmly denied leaking the email, saying in a statement to Nice-Matin: "I am in no way responsible for the dissemination of this year-old internal information at the time of my departure from the club. The timing of these revelations revolts me as much as their content."
Galtier is expected to make a routine appearance at a PSG pre-match press conference on Friday, ahead of his team's top-of-the-table Ligue 1 game against Lens the following day.
Premier League clubs have agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship on the front of matchday shirts by the start of the 2026-27 season.
Eight English top-flight clubs, including Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham, have gambling companies as their primary shirt sponsor, and have been allowed up to three years to "transition away".
The decision was reached after consultation between the Premier League, clubs and the UK government.
A statement released by the Premier League on Friday read: "Premier League clubs have today collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of clubs' matchday shirts, becoming the first sports league in the UK to take such a measure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising.
"The announcement follows an extensive consultation involving the league, its clubs and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of the government's ongoing review of current gambling legislation.
"The Premier League is also working with other sports on the development of a new code for responsible gambling sponsorship.
"To assist clubs with their transition away from shirt-front gambling sponsorship, the collective agreement will begin at the end of the 2025/26 season."
It is reported that clubs will still be allowed to have gambling companies as sponsors elsewhere, such as on advertising hoardings and shirt sleeves.
Christian Horner says Adrian Newey will by staying at Red Bull for "many years to come" amid speculation over his future.
It has been reported that chief technical officer Newey could leave the Formula One constructors' champions as his contract is up for renewal.
Red Bull team principal Horner dismissed talk that Newey could be on his way out of the team.
"His heart is still very much in Formula One and his commitment to the team is, it's not something…" Horner told Sky Sports News.
"We don't talk about contracts or longevity of contracts, but he'll be here for many years to come.
"There's always going to be rumours in this paddock, that's Formula One."
Horner added: "He's such an important part of our team and popular part of our team.
"It's great to have him with us for the long term, but also to be involved in some of the things we're now getting involved in."
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