John Terry led tributes to former Chelsea and Newcastle United winger Christian Atsu, who was confirmed to have died in the earthquakes that hit Turkey earlier this month.
Atsu was reported to be missing in the immediate aftermath of the tremors that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6.
The former Ghana international joined Turkish Super Lig outfit Hatayspor last September and scored for the side the day before the earthquakes.
After the tremors caused the collapse of the apartment block in which Atsu was living, his club initially said he had been recovered from the rubble and hospitalised, but that was later confirmed to not be the case.
Following confirmation of Atsu's death on Saturday, Terry – who was a team-mate of Atsu's during the Ghanaian's four-year spell at Chelsea, for whom he did not make a competitive appearance – paid tribute on social media.
"RIP my friend," the former England captain wrote on Twitter, alongside an image of Atsu.
Atsu's former clubs also expressed their condolences on Saturday, with Chelsea saying his death caused "enormous sadness" and Newcastle calling him: "A talented player and a special person, he will always be fondly remembered by our players, staff and supporters."
Other former team-mates paid tribute on Instagram, with Cesc Fabregas calling his death "heart-breaking" and Michael Essien saying: "Rest well king".
Bournemouth, where Atsu spent the first half of the 2015-16 season on loan, will join Chelsea and Newcastle in paying tribute to Atsu during Saturday's Premier League games.
Players from all three clubs will wear commemorative black armbands for their respective fixtures, while Chelsea will hold a minute's applause ahead of their meeting with Southampton, and Newcastle and Liverpool will observe a minute's silence before their clash at St James' Park.
Axar Patel dug India out of trouble with the bat to keep the second Test against Australia finely balanced after two days.
The spinner followed up his 84 from India's innings victory in the first match of the series, this time making 74 in a rearguard action as the hosts fought back from 139-7 to post 262 all out.
That meant Australia held a one-run first-innings lead, with Nathan Lyon taking 5-67, and the tourists reached 61-1 at the close batting for a second time at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
India began the day on 21-0 but soon began to unravel. KL Rahul (17), captain Rohit Sharma (32) and Cheteshwar Pujara (0) departed in the space of three overs, with India sliding from 46-0 to 54-3 as Lyon gobbled up each wicket, bowling Rohit and getting two lbw verdicts.
Shreyas Iyer (4) soon followed, and although Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja added 59 for the fifth wicket, when the latter was dismissed lbw for 26 by Todd Murphy it heralded another collapse. Kohli became the fourth lbw victim of the innings when he fell to Matthew Kuhnemann for 44, and Srikar Bharat (6) did not hang about, leaving Axar and Ravichandran Ashwin with the task of salvaging something.
They proved up to the job, adding 114 for the fourth wicket before Ashwin (37) fell to Pat Cummins with the new ball, a loose delivery down the leg side flicked to Matt Renshaw at square leg. Axar was then caught brilliantly by Cummins off Murphy, ending hopes of a maiden Test century.
Australia, ultimately relieved to avoid a first-innings deficit in this latest instalment of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, then saw Travis Head's 39no help them overcome the early loss of Usman Khawaja (6) before the close.
David Warner will miss the rest of the game due to concussion, and has also suffered a hairline elbow fracture, it was announced earlier in the day.
Lyon closes in
Lyon took his Baggy Green career haul to 496 wickets, putting him on the brink of becoming the sixth Australia bowler to reach 500 at international level. A long-format specialist, some 466 of Lyon's scalps have come in Tests.
With the breakthrough wicket of Rahul, Lyon became the second Australia player to reach 100 wickets in all formats against India, after Brett Lee, who took 111 wickets. This haul also took him to 100 wickets in Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches.
Axar keeps hosts in touch
Axar's innings was a terrific concoction, as he struck three sixes and nine fours before going after another powerful shot and perishing to an exemplary catch from Cummins. He went wicket-less during 12 overs with the ball in Australia's first innings, but this was another reminder he is in the team as a bowling all-rounder.
He made a modest 249 runs in his first 13 Test innings, but has plundered 158 from his last two knocks.
Eddie Hearn remains hopeful Anthony Joshua could fight Tyson Fury this year and is willing to make the bout immediately if Fury's proposed meeting with Oleksandr Usyk falls through.
Talks were held over a meeting between Joshua and Fury following the former's second defeat to Usyk last August, but the Gypsy King ultimately faced Derek Chisora on his return to the ring in December, while Joshua will take on Jermaine Franklin in April.
A deal for Fury and Usyk to clash in the same month is reportedly close to being agreed, but Joshua's promoter Hearn is waiting in the wings if an agreement cannot be reached.
"I'm happy to make Joshua and Fury right now for the summer, whether Fury wins or loses against Usyk," Hearn told BBC Sport.
"If the Usyk fight doesn't get made, our message to team Fury is that we'll make the fight now, for straight after the Franklin fight.
"Whatever way Tyson Fury wants to look at it, the fight with AJ will give him the pay day he wants. He wants to make as much money as possible, and rightfully so, he's a fantastic fighter.
"The fight with AJ breaks all records. I understand their focus is to make the Usyk fight, but we're ready if they want AJ."
While Saudi Arabia was initially suggested as a possible location for the Fury-Usyk fight, Wembley Stadium is now seen as the most likely venue, and Hearn believes the absence of Joshua has harmed the fighters' attempts to secure backing from the Middle East.
"They've obviously gone to the Middle East to get that money, failed because Anthony Joshua is not involved in that fight, and now they've gone to Wembley," Hearn added.
"I don't know how they get the numbers that Fury will demand for that fight, but if they can, brilliant. Hopefully for boxing it gets made because any time there's an undisputed clash it's great for the sport.
"It doesn't matter if they failed in their attempt to secure a big Middle East fight or whatever has happened, it's tremendous for British boxing if it does come home."
Stuart Broad paid tribute to James Anderson after earning the England pair a place in the record books with a devastating display against New Zealand.
Broad took 4-21 on day three as he bowled four Black Caps top-order batters on Saturday, reducing the home side to 63-5 in their pursuit of 394 for victory in the first Test.
His efforts saw Broad and Anderson move to 1,005 Test wickets in matches where they have lined up in the same England team, going four past the record previously held by Australia greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.
Broad, 36, and 40-year-old Anderson have proven a remarkable pace partnership for England over the years, having first played on the same Test side at Wellington on a 2008 tour of New Zealand.
Fifteen years on, they remain key cogs in Brendon McCullum's England set-up.
Broad was quick to say Warne and McGrath remain a class apart, but he had fond words for Anderson, describing him as "a great leader to follow".
"It's a special country for us, New Zealand," Broad told BT Sport. "Back in 2008 at Wellington we came into the team together and to go past heroes of mine, growing up, in McGrath and Warne, certainly we're not in the category and quality of those two, they're absolutely heroic in what they did for the game.
"But to be up there and to have taken the amount of wickets with Jimmy – I feel very lucky and blessed to have been born in the same era as Jimmy, because certainly without him I wouldn't have been able to be at the other end taking wickets in the partnership that we've had.
"I've learnt so much from him throughout my career and he's probably the reason I'm still going at 36, in the way that he's done it."
England put up 374 in their second innings at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval, with Joe Root top-scoring with 57 amid a slew of useful scores, with eight batters each contributing at least 25 runs.
Broad said he liked the look of the conditions while observing Tim Southee bowling for New Zealand earlier in the day.
"I saw from Timmy bowling this morning when he rolled his fingers across a few, I saw the nip to Rooty," Broad said. "That was quite encouraging, actually.
"Although the pitch has played pretty true in the day, when the evening's come it's just jagged around a little bit, so my game plan was to try to hit the pitch as hard as I possibly can with the wobble seam, and it's almost the perfect dryness of pitch for my kind of bowling.
"I didn't have to chase too full. I could still bowl it hard into the pitch and bring the stumps into play, and it's always nice when you get a few quality batters out, bowled."
Jurgen Klopp does not think UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin should resign over the shambolic staging of last season's Champions League final.
However, the Liverpool manager suggested the damning review of the Stade de France showpiece might be a resigning matter for someone senior involved in planning the event.
UEFA was found "primarily responsible" for the "near-miss" at the Paris final, where "the parallels between Hillsborough 1989 and Paris 2022" were described in an independent review as "palpable".
The review, commissioned by UEFA, was released on Monday after an investigation into events surrounding the May 28 fixture in the French capital. It concluded UEFA and French authorities were wrong to blame thousands of Liverpool supporters with "fake tickets" for the concerning scenes outside the stadium turnstiles.
French police were criticised for their treatment of fans, which included using tear gas, while the review stated it was "remarkable that no one lost their life".
Klopp suggested the venue was badly chosen in the first instance.
The Reds boss was asked about the review's outcome, which came in a week that saw it confirmed Ceferin would stand unopposed for another stint in the UEFA presidency.
Regarding whether Ceferin should quit, Klopp said: "No. I'm not sure who made the decision, to be honest. I'm the boss of some people as well, and on a lot of things I'm not 100 per cent on the subject. I get information from different people, and then you make a decision. The better the information you get, the better the decisions are.
“I don't think Mr Ceferin made the decision, but somebody put all the papers together saying what the best place is. I can't see him flying to Paris or Rome or Berlin and saying: 'Oh, it's not that good.' There are other people who bring that together. Maybe one of them should have a think if there is not a better place for them in another job, I don't know.
"But I think really Paris was the worst possible [place] available in that specific area on that day. It's not a stadium that is used to it every week, every two weeks, like a lot of big stadiums in Europe are."
Klopp added: "From the first moment, I thought it wasn't a good idea [to play the game in Paris].
"Some people who work there should have done better. Everybody who was there knows the people who worked there didn't know 100 per cent what exactly they are doing."
Australia's David Warner is at risk of missing the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after suffering a double blow.
Warner was on Saturday ruled out of the ongoing second Test against India in Delhi with concussion, with Matthew Renshaw taking his place.
The veteran batter was later revealed to have sustained a fractured elbow.
Both issues arose during the first day of play on Friday, when Warner made 15 from a 44-ball knock in which he was struck on the elbow and helmet.
The latter blow left the 36-year-old with concussion, while the first inflicted a hairline fracture to his left elbow.
Warner did not return for fielding duties on day one and was ruled out on day two.
He is a major doubt for the third Test, which begins in Indore on March 1.
Australia made 263 in their first innings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Stuart Broad's devastating bowling put England within sight of victory in the first Test against New Zealand as he snatched a wickets record from Australia greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.
Set 394 for victory after England posted 374 in their second innings, New Zealand crumbled to 28-5 at one stage before adding 35 runs without further losses by the close.
In the first innings of this contest at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval, Broad and James Anderson matched Warne and McGrath as the most successful bowling partnership in Test history, with 1,001 wickets between them when playing together.
Broad ensured the England pair would hold that record outright when he bowled four of New Zealand's top order second time around, removing Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson and Tom Blundell.
Blundell made a brilliant 138 in the first innings as New Zealand recovered from 83-5 to reach 306 all out, but he could only manage a single in his second knock of the match before Broad sent the pink ball clattering into his middle stump.
England resumed on 79-2 on Saturday, having lost Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley the previous evening, and nightwatchman Broad soon departed, but Ollie Pope lofted Neil Wagner for two sixes in an over as the tourists' 'Bazball' attacking approach resumed.
Wagner later dismissed Pope for a quickfire 49, but the same bowler continued to come in for the heavy treatment as England's assault continued.
Former captain Joe Root top-scored with 57 before he was caught out when reverse-sweeping. Harry Brook made 54 from just 41 balls, and Ben Foakes weighed in with 51, while skipper Ben Stokes (31) and Ollie Robinson (39) kept the runs flowing.
With New Zealand set a daunting target, Broad made it looked all the more distant when he got to work, bowling Conway in the fourth over to break the Warne-McGrath record.
Bowling to a superb length and with a touch of movement, Broad clattered the stumps of Williamson and Latham in his next two overs, then repeated the trip to dismiss Blundell. Robinson sent Henry Nicholls on his way amid the Broad masterclass, with England having this match in their grasp.
Broad at his best
Broad ended the day with 4-21, taking him to 571 wickets in his 160th Test. He has two six-wicket hauls in New Zealand from past series in 2013 and 2018, and his best bowling figures against the Black Caps remain the 7-44 he took at Lord's, also in 2013. Those hauls could come under threat on Sunday. He and Anderson took their first Test wickets as a pairing on a trip to New Zealand 15 years ago, and they remain the doyens of this England attack.
England on the front foot thanks to nifty fifties
England's second innings was notable for its lack of an outstanding contribution. Collectively, the score was verging on being ideal, leaving New Zealand with a big run chase. But it was unusual for a team to score so heavily as a unit and Root's 57 to be unsurpassed. Given eight of the team made 25 or more, the absence of a statement individual innings hardly mattered in the end.
Christian Atsu has been found dead after the earthquakes that hit Turkey, his Super Lig club announced on Saturday.
The former Premier League player had not been seen since southern Turkey and northern Syria were hit by powerful tremors on February 6.
Previously with Newcastle United, Chelsea and Everton, Atsu scored for Hatayspor the day before the earthquakes, which resulted in the collapse of the apartment block in which the 31-year-old was living.
Atsu's club initially reported he had been recovered from the rubble, but it was subsequently confirmed that was not the case.
Hatayspor's update said Atsu's body had now been recovered and was being returned to his homeland of Ghana.
The club said in a statement posted on social media: "The funeral of our football player Christian Atsu, who lost his life under the rubble, is on his way to be sent to his hometown [in] Ghana.
"We will not forget you, Atsu. Peace be upon you, beautiful person.
"There are no words to describe our sadness. REST in PEACE ATSU."
Over 40,000 people have been reported by local authorities to have died due to the earthquakes.
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has submitted a bid to buy Manchester United through his chemicals company INEOS, according to reports.
Ratcliffe, a lifelong United fan, will be up against Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Al Thani.
Qatar Islamic Bank chairman Al Thani, who is the son of a former Qatari prime minister, earlier confirmed he tabled an offer that will not carry any debt and vowed to reinvest all profits during his stewardship back into the club or community.
Al Thani's offer was made public roughly two hours before an apparent 'soft deadline' of 22:00 GMT on Friday, though the exact figure on the table was not revealed.
Ratcliffe had previously been the first to formally lodge an interest last month after the incumbent owners – the Glazer family – announced in November the club had been put up for sale.
The Telegraph quoted a source close to INEOS as saying: "His aim is to be a long-term custodian of Manchester United and set the standard for a progressive approach to club ownership.
"As locally born, he wants to put the Manchester back into Manchester United."
The Glazers have been deeply unpopular among supporters during their 18 years as stewards, predominantly down to their initial takeover coming in the form of a leveraged buyout, which saddled the club with huge debts.
In United's most recent financial figures, released in September, the club revealed their net debt increased from £419.5million to £514.9m in the year up to June 30, 2022.
Speculation over the past few months has run wild with regard to prospective buyers, with Elon Musk, Apple, Jeff Bezos, and a Saudi Arabian consortium all credited with varying degrees of interest.
But talk of Ratcliffe and a separate Qatari-backed bid had long gathered the most traction in the media, and it is the former many United fans are thought to favour.
Ratcliffe's company INEOS already owns Ligue 1 side Nice and has been routinely linked with Premier League clubs in recent years, even tabling an offer for Chelsea in 2022 prior to their sale to Todd Boehly and his Clearlake consortium.
His long-held affinity for United is an understandable positive for fans hoping for a return of the glory days.
Though, for many fans, siding with Ratcliffe comes as much from a place of uncertainty due to the Qatari bid's potential ties to Qatar's state.
The 2022 World Cup host nation has been widely derided for its human rights record ever since being given that tournament in 2010.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw revealed on Friday that he will no longer be able to take part in March's World Baseball Classic.
Kershaw was announced as part of Team USA's star-studded squad during the initial team reveal on February 9, but according to reporting from ESPN, he ran into a roadblock when it came to getting his MLB contract insured.
Teams require players on their 40-man rosters to have their contracts insured before taking part in the World Baseball Classic, but with 35-year-old Kershaw having missed time with back injuries in five of the past seven seasons, it was far from straightforward.
Speaking to reporters, Kershaw confirmed he is fully healthy and has the Dodgers' blessing, but ultimately could not make it work.
"Super disappointing," he said. "We tried a lot of different things, all sides, we really tried to make it work.
"Nothing's wrong with me, it just didn't work out. I really wanted to do it, I really wanted to be a part of that group.
"Probably my last chance to do it, so I really wanted to do it. Just didn't work out for a number of reasons. I'm frustrated.
"They should make it easy for guys that want to play, to play. Obviously if the team doesn't want you to play that's one thing, but if you have the team's blessing, like I do, it should be easier. They should probably look into that."
He added: "There were some factors that were making it hard for me to play, and I tried to work it out on my own, tried to work it out with MLB, the union, the team. Everybody worked hard to try to make it work, and I wasn't able to."
Team USA general manager Tony Reagins also shared his disappointment in the outcome.
"It's unfortunate that Clayton won't be able to pitch for us," he said. "Clayton's desire to wear USA across his chest and represent his country was evident very early on in this process.
"We would have loved to have this future Hall of Famer on the mound for us, we respect all that he would bring to this clubhouse and this group of men.
"We now have to pivot and turn our focus toward the next man up as we prepare to defend the WBC title. I'm confident in the roster that we've built and we look forward to getting everyone together in just a few weeks."
James Anderson and Stuart Broad have become the most successful bowling partnership in the history of Test cricket after Broad bowled Devon Conway in England's match against New Zealand on day three.
The late Shane Warne and fellow Australian great Glenn McGrath had previously held the record, having combined for 1,001 wickets during their illustrious careers.
It was a record that looked like potentially standing the test of time, with the two Australia legends retiring 16 years ago.
But the England pair moved level with them on day two of the first Test at Bay Oval on Friday when Anderson took 3-36 and Broad finished with figures of 1-72.
That was their 133rd appearance together – Warne and McGrath reached their total in 104 matches.
The record-breaking wicket came in the fourth over of New Zealand's second innings, with the hosts having been set a target of 394 to chase down for an improbable victory.
Broad left New Zealand at 14-1 after his around-the-wicket delivery snuck through Conway's defence, immediately celebrating with Anderson as the duo were well aware of what they had just accomplished.
Broad went on to bowl Kane Williamson in his next over, making it 14-2 after an Anderson maiden in between.
New Zealand was a fitting location for them to reach the landmark, with the pairing having first teamed up together in Wellington way back in 2008.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf stole the show during Friday's NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, dunking and blocking his way to MVP honours.
Metcalf – standing at six-foot-four with explosive athleticism – made sure to show off what he could do on a basketball court at every opportunity, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in a 81-78 win for Team Dwyane Wade.
Team Wade was coached by Giannis Antetokounmpo and his two brothers, Thanasis and Alex, while Team Ryan Smith – named after the Utah Jazz governor, since they are the hosting city – was coached by WNBA legend Lisa Leslie, rapper Fat Joe and Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman.
Metcalf was not the only athlete suiting up, with 37-year-old Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson also taking part, as did tennis star Frances Tiafoe and MLB legend Albert Pujols.
World number two Carlos Alcaraz was too good in his Argentina Open quarter-final on Friday, defeating Dusan Lajovic 6-4 6-2.
The 19-year-old is playing in his first tournament of the year, and after dropping a set in his opener against Serbia's Laslo Djere, he had fewer problems against Djere's compatriot.
Alcaraz will play Bernabe Zapata Miralles in an all-Spanish semi-final after he eliminated Buenos Aires' own Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3.
England's Cameron Norrie had to come from a set behind for the second match in a row to knock out Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry 5-7 6-0 6-3, and he will meet Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas in the other semi-final.
Varillas collected arguably the biggest win of his career against world number 20 Lorenzo Musetti, and he is now two wins away from his first ATP Tour title.
Meanwhile, top seed and world number seven Taylor Fritz is through to the semi-final of the Delray Beach Open after fending off the challenge of veteran Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.
Fritz has lost his past two meetings with Mackenzie McDonald, and he will get a chance at redemption after McDonald joined him in the semi-final with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 triumph over Michael Mmoh.
Fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic joins Fritz as the only seeded players to reach the semi-finals after he saw off Marcos Giron 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, while second seed Tommy Paul was upset as a heavy favourite against Romania's Radu Albot 6-2 6-2.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta questioned why his side were given the Saturday afternoon kick-off time after Wednesday's battle against Manchester City.
It will be just 63 hours between matches when Arsenal take on Aston Villa away from home, which has been outlawed when the mid-week meeting is of the Champions League variety, but there are no restrictions for domestic games.
Arsenal, with a game in-hand, need a win to reclaim top spot on the table, but they will be playing a Villa side benefitting from an extra three days of rest.
Speaking to the media, Arteta said it does not make sense to have one rule for the Champions League but to disregard the same logic for other schedule congestion.
"There are certain rules with the Champions League," he said. "When you are playing on Wednesday night and then you cannot play [Saturday lunchtime], so that should apply to any competition.
"If think you are talking physiologically, it is very difficult to turn around in that period to get the best outcome and reduce the injury risk for players.
"They put the schedule the way they did. It's a bit unusual, but it's not about being worried or not worried. We have to play. I want the players to be in the best possible mindset and physically ready to get that challenge going."
While he acknowledges it is not an ideal situation, Arteta said it is no excuse for a poor performance.
"We knew we were going to play at that time," he said. "The players are young – they have a lot of energy.”
One of those young players Arsenal are relying on is 23-year-old Eddie Nketiah, who has now gone four games without a goal after a run of six goals in six matches.
"The most difficult thing is to score goals, but Eddie produced a penalty that could have been a goal," he said. "He could have scored a hat-trick and then we're talking about something else.
"Unfortunately he didn't, and so we have these debates. But we have full confidence in these kids."
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