Players who competed in LIV Golf tournaments without permission have been fined up to £100,000 for each breach of the DP World Tour’s regulations.

Suspensions of up to eight events have also been handed out in the wake of an arbitration hearing which ruled that players had committed “serious breaches” of the DP World Tour’s code of behaviour.

In April, the Tour won its legal battle against 12 players who had appealed against being fined £100,000 and suspended from the Scottish Open for playing LIV Golf’s inaugural event in June 2022 without permission.

Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland subsequently resigned their membership of the DP World Tour, with all but Garcia having paid the £100,000 fine.

On Thursday, the DP World Tour announced details of further sanctions imposed for playing in the remainder of LIV events in 2022 and those contested before the arbitration panel’s verdict was reached.

It is understood that the largest fine falls short of the seven-figure sums which had been reported.

A statement from the DP World Tour read: “In total, 26 players were today informed individually of the sanctions applicable to them based on the specific conflicting tournaments they each played in, as a DP World Tour member, without being granted a release.

“These sanctions include fines and, where appropriate, tournament suspensions.

“The sanctions imposed were determined on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging differences between the events in terms of the impact on the DP World Tour’s broadcast partners, sponsors and stakeholders.

“Where fines were issued to players they ranged from £12,500 to £100,000 for each individual breach of the Conflicting Tournament Regulation.

“The total cumulative suspension imposed on any single player for breaches in the period June 22, 2022, to April 2, 2023 is a maximum of eight DP World Tour tournaments, comprising a combination of one or two-week suspensions.

“The suspensions imposed relate to regular season DP World Tour events (i.e. excluding Major Championships) and will run consecutively, effective from the Porsche European Open from June 1-4, 2023 – the first tournament chronologically on the DP World Tour schedule whose entry list remains open as of today.

“Players who have resigned their membership will not be eligible for reinstatement unless and until they pay their fines and their suspensions will apply from then onwards.

“Further sanctions for breaches of the Conflicting Tournament Regulation in events which occurred subsequent to April 2, 2023, will be considered in due course.”

Nottinghamshire have announced Ashes hopeful Olly Stone is set for a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

The England paceman, who has had a luckless run with injuries, was forced off the field after pulling up when bowling during the LV= Insurance County Championship match against Lancashire.

Despite being in obvious discomfort, Stone hobbled to the crease at Trent Bridge on Sunday as last man and kept out the last four legal deliveries of the Division One match to help his side salvage a draw.

On Thursday, Nottinghamshire released a short statement which did not give any further details of the extent of the issue, but said Stone would not be in contention for the opening Vitality Blast fixture against Derbyshire on May 26.

“Olly Stone will miss the start of the Vitality Blast following a scan of his injured hamstring,” a statement on the county’s Twitter page read.

“We, and England, will be working with Olly to get him returning to cricket in a timely manner without compromising his recovery ahead of a busy summer.”

Stone made the last of his three Test appearances in June 2021, but had made a return to some international action after recovering from a fourth stress fracture in his back and a broken finger.

The 29-year-old played in four ODIs and a T20 last winter, and was then an unused squad member during England’s Test tour of New Zealand in February.

Depending on his recovery schedule, Stones could now face a battle to be fit ahead of the first Ashes Test, which starts at Edgbaston on June 16.

Nottinghamshire have announced Ashes hopeful Olly Stone is set for a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

The England paceman, who has had a luckless run with injuries, was forced off the field after pulling up when bowling during the LV= Insurance County Championship match against Lancashire.

Despite being in obvious discomfort, Stone hobbled to the crease at Trent Bridge on Sunday as last man and kept out the last four legal deliveries of the Division One match to help his side salvage a draw.

On Thursday, Nottinghamshire released a short statement which did not give any further details of the extent of the issue, but said Stone would not be in contention for the opening Vitality Blast fixture against Derbyshire on May 26.

“Olly Stone will miss the start of the Vitality Blast following a scan of his injured hamstring,” a statement on the county’s Twitter page read.

“We, and England, will be working with Olly to get him returning to cricket in a timely manner without compromising his recovery ahead of a busy summer.”

Stone made the last of his three Test appearances in June 2021, but had made a return to some international action after recovering from a fourth stress fracture in his back and a broken finger.

The 29-year-old played in four ODIs and a T20 last winter, and was then an unused squad member during England’s Test tour of New Zealand in February.

Depending on his recovery schedule, Stones could now face a battle to be fit ahead of the first Ashes Test, which starts at Edgbaston on June 16.

Chris Ashton has been cleared for Leicester’s Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final against Sale after his red card was reduced to a yellow following a disciplinary hearing.

The 36-year-old former England wing was sent off for a high tackle on Harlequins’ Cadan Murley during Leicester’s 20-17 defeat on the final day of the regular league season.

Ashton, the Premiership’s record try-scorer, is set to retire at the end of the campaign, but if the suspension had been upheld, his hopes of featuring in a potential Premiership final at Twickenham on May 27 would have been over.

An independent disciplinary panel heard the appeal, which lasted five hours during which numerous angles of the tackle were shown, many having been not available to the referee and the match officials at the game. Ashton and Murley also gave evidence.

Panel chair Gareth Graham said: “Mr Ashton accepted committing an act of foul play that would have merited a yellow card.

“Having seen and heard all the evidence, including that of Mr Murley, who gave a clear account as to the point of contact and the level of force involved in the tackle, the panel agreed with the submission that this was a yellow card offence.”

The panel also considered what the degree of danger was in the tackle, concluding there was indirect contact to the head and that any force to the head or neck was low.

Graham added in a statement: “Consequently, the panel concluded that there was not a high degree of danger and that the correct starting point under the Head Contact Process was a yellow card.

“Therefore, the panel found the charge not proven. Mr Ashton is thereby able to play with immediate effect.”

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from May 11.

Bradford remembered.

Newcastle weighed in on the ‘does Jason Tindall love the camera’ debate.

Dominic Matteo had some great news.

Rio was impressed.

League One safety and a new arrival in the same day for Paul Digby.

Bastian Schweinsteiger took a trip down memory lane.

Thibaut Courtois celebrated his birthday.

The Rocket’s book was out.

KP was on the bubbles.

Cricket rivalry was put to one side by Surrey and Middlesex on Thursday to honour the life of “incredible” Florence Dunn, the daughter of Matt Dunn who died in March.

Surrey bowler Dunn led a team of runners from Lord’s to the Kia Oval on day one of the LV= Insurance County Championship fixture to raise funds for charity Dravet Syndrome UK.

Dunn’s daughter Florence was diagnosed with the rare and severe form of epilepsy, when she was 11 months old and died earlier this year at the age of two.

Former England Lions seamer Dunn and wife Jessica have decided to run 5k every day of May to raise funds and awareness of Dravet Syndrome UK, following the lead of Regional Pride of Britain winner Tamara Ward who started the ‘every day in May for Dravet’ challenge.

The Division One fixture between the London rivals has been dedicated to the charity with both teams warming up in special T-shirts showing a picture of Florence while commemorative caps have been signed by each member of the Surrey and Middlesex starting line-up.

These will now be auctioned off and Dunn alongside his team of runners received applause from the Kia Oval crowd when they walked onto the pitch before play resumed at 3pm having completed the 5k run from Lord’s ahead of lunch being taken.

Dunn had a long embrace with Surrey captain Rory Burns and hugged Middlesex’s Toby Roland-Jones with his current focus on fundraising and raising awareness of a serious form of epilepsy that affects one in 15,000 people in the UK.

“The awareness side is probably the biggest for us,” Dunn told Surrey’s YouTube channel.

“Because it is such a rare condition, really no one knew anything and even with epilepsy in general, it is such an unknown field,” Dunn reflected.

“Myself before our journey with Florence, I knew really very little. For me it is to shine a spotlight on the daily struggles and challenges people with Dravet Syndrome and epilepsy face.

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“It is one of those quite isolating illness and one of those illness you won’t see on day to day life because the risk for people who have epilepsy, it is too great to risk in day to day activities.”

Life for the Dunn family was turned upside down following Florence’s diagnosis and a large chunk of the second year of her life was spent in hospital following life-threatening seizures, although new rescue medication had a transformative effect.

The medication meant soon after Florence’s second birthday, she could be treated instantly at home after a seizure and therefore recovered from them sufficiently quicker having previously endured seizures that lasted up to two hours during regularly trips to Milton Keynes hospital.

Dunn added: “At two we finally got rescue medication we could safely use at home and that transformed our lives for eight months.

“It meant we could give it to her straight away as soon as she started seizing at home and we were terminating the seizure within a minute or two. It was huge for her and her recovery time.

“It meant between illness or periods of her being run down, we were able to get out and do all the things every child should be doing. For that eight months it really gave us a life of enjoyment and we saw a change in her.”

The danger with Dravet Syndrome and other forms of epilepsy is the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), which happened to Florence on March 11.

It left the Dunn family heartbroken but after watching Florence repeatedly defy doctors expectations by walking and talking, they draw inspiration from her strength.

“As a character she was pretty incredible. She was a character who loved life,” Dunn reflected.

“That showed throughout her whole time and even during hospital stays, she would wake up and be straight at the door of the ward and think, ‘I am better now, let’s go home and let’s get on with life.’

“It has really given strength to me and my wife for what we’re doing now because all the barriers she had throughout her whole life, she never once let it define her and for me to have that strength now is huge.”

The Kansas City Chiefs will begin defence of their Super Bowl title by hosting the upstart Detroit Lions as the NFL announced a few more select games on its 2023 regular-season schedule Thursday morning.

The league also revealed when and where Aaron Rodgers will make his highly anticipated debut with the New York Jets, who will host the AFC East-rival Buffalo Bills on Monday, Sept. 11 in a nationally televised primetime game on ESPN.

Detroit will visit Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 7 to officially start the NFL's 2023 campaign, with the game to be broadcast on NBC beginning at 8:20 p.m. ET.

The Chiefs will also be playing at home on Christmas Day with a matchup against their longtime AFC West foes, the Las Vegas Raiders. The NFL announced on Wednesday that the reigning champions will host the Cincinnati Bengals on New Year's Eve in a rematch of last season's conference championship game, which Kansas City won 23-20 on a late field goal.

Also announced is a clash between two of the NFC's marquee teams in Week 5, when the San Francisco 49ers will host the Dallas Cowboys in prime time on Oct. 8 as part of NBC's "Sunday Night Football" package.

The entire 2023 schedule for all 32 teams will be revealed Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The NFL announced dates and times for eight games, including five International Series matchups that will take place in either London or Germany, on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Lakers expect to have Anthony Davis on the court as they again attempt to close out the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of their Western Conference semi-final series on Friday.

After exiting Wednesday’s 121-106 loss with a head injury, Davis apparently is not in the concussion protocol, according to reports, and should be ready to play.

The league’s concussion protocol prohibits a player diagnosed with a concussion from playing in a game that same day or the next calendar day.

An official injury report will be released later Thursday.

Davis’ availability appeared murky after he was inadvertently hit in the head and was reportedly feeling woozy and required a wheelchair to go to the locker room.

Immediate tests after the game were encouraging, however, according to Lakers coach Darvin Ham.

“He seems to be doing really good already,” Ham told reporters after the game.

Davis was injured with 7:43 to go in the fourth quarter when Kevon Looney’s elbow hit him in the head as the two were converging under the basket on D’Angelo Russell’s driving layup.

The 6-foot-10 superstar stayed in the game until the Lakers’ next possession before taking a seat on the bench.

Prior to leaving, Davis was in the midst of another solid game, totalling 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go with nine rebounds and three assists. However, he did fail to block a shot for a second straight game after blocking 11 shots in the first three games of the series.

Leading 101-88 when Davis exited, the Warriors remained in control the rest of the way to keep their season alive and cut the Lakers’ advantage in this best-of-seven series to 3-2.

The series now shifts back to Los Angeles, where the Lakers are 5-0 this postseason.

Ollie Lawrence hopes to one day return to a rebuilt Worcester after dedicating his Gallagher Premiership player of the season award to his former Warriors team-mates.

Lawrence’s blockbusting form following his October move to Bath led to an England recall before helping his new club climb the table and qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup on the final day of the regular campaign.

The 23-year-old centre returned from an end-of-season social in Lisbon to be recognised at Premiership Rugby’s annual dinner in central London after a panel of experts judged him to be the league’s best player of 2022-23.

But having spent several days with Bath in Portugal, it was his former colleagues at Worcester who occupied his thoughts as he reflected on his award.

The Warriors went into administration in September due to unpaid debts, triggering their relegation from the Premiership, and their new owners have been blocked from relaunching the club in the Championship, ushering in an uncertain future.

Not all squad members have been able to secure contracts elsewhere, but Lawrence has gone on to make waves at the Recreation Ground.

“Without the Worcester players I wouldn’t have won the award and I wouldn’t be at Bath, so I want to thank them. This is on behalf of those boys as well,” Lawrence said.

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“A huge thanks goes to Bath for managing to get me on board as quickly as they did. And also for the Worcester boys, it’s a big thing for me to represent them. Hopefully one day I can play with them again and play again in front of those fans.

“In general, this year I’ve had to pinch myself sometimes to remember where I’ve come from.

“That desperation knowing that I could have not had a job – some of my best mates still don’t now – makes this pretty special. It’s been pretty surreal. I feel incredibly fortunate.

“But I’ll keep two feet on the ground and just enjoy myself and hopefully go again next season.”

The bonds between the players whose worlds came crashing down eight months ago remain strong and a group of them are heading to Barcelona for a stag do this weakened.

Once that is done, Lawrence’s aim is to ensure he is in the best possible shape for England’s World Cup training camp after Steve Borthwick issued strict instructions on their conditioning.

“Steve has said to the players to make sure you’re fit going into these camps instead of using the camps to get fit,” he said.

“My focus over the next five weeks is to get as fit as possible, train as much as I can and try to get a week abroad somewhere.”

The UK’s Overseas Territories should be given representation in the House of Commons, ministers have heard.

The 14 British Overseas Territories (BOTs), including the Falklands Islands, Bermuda, and Gibraltar, are self-governing, but the UK is responsible for their defence and foreign policy.

A cross-party group of MPs suggested there were strong arguments for giving the territories a “voice” in Parliament on matters that involve them.

Conservative former Cabinet minister Karen Bradley told MPs: “Where in our procedures have we got the ability to give a voice to our friends, our family, in the overseas territories and the crown dependencies?”

Intervening, Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) said: “My view, as I’ve expressed, is that we should have MPs here, with voting rights.

“But other areas do it differently as well.

“At least in the US, for example, they are without voting rights but full participation rights.

“We must find a solution along those lines, otherwise we are all negligent.

“Because the best people to make their voice heard, is themselves.”

Tory former minister David Jones said: “I think there is a strong argument for saying that in the case of at least some of the territories integration should be pursued, and that those territories should send a member to this Parliament.”

But the Tory chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Alicia Kearns urged caution about the proposals.

She said: “I do think it’s important that we reiterate that is only if that is the wishes of overseas territories, because I would make the point that when the Foreign Affairs Committee spoke to them, many said they would not want to see that.”

Ms Kearns had earlier stressed Government policy in relation to the BOTs must recognise the “unique circumstances of each territory” and make sure “they feel heard, valued and supported”.

She added: “British Overseas Territories span Europe, the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Atlantic.

“They vary in size, population, culture, climate, food, traditions, challenges and opportunities.

“The British global family is diverse and requires policy that recognises this diversity.

“I hope the Government will adopt an ethos that recognises the unique circumstances of each territory and makes sure they feel heard, valued and supported.”

Foreign Office minister David Rutley said the Government was doing more to ensure the BOTs were better represented.

He told MPs the Prime Minister had agreed the Foreign Office should “lead on a new cross-Government strategy for the overseas territories”.

Mr Rutley also suggested “relevant” Government departments would soon select ministers to be responsible for issues in the BOTs, adding: “Lord Goldsmith as minister for the overseas territories will convene a regular meeting of these minsters as a ministerial group to ensure that the UK meets its constitutional responsibilities.”

The minister went on: “Others have suggested that there should be MPs or some form of representation in this House.

“We so far have not had any formal representations from any territory on this matter.”

MPs debated the future of the BOTs as representatives from the territories visited Parliament.

As part of the visit, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle unveiled two stained glass windows celebrating the BOTs and crown dependencies at the entrance of Speaker’s House in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday.

Marco Silva is happy to welcome back Aleksandar Mitrovic from his eight-match ban this weekend.

Fulham have been without their top goalscorer since he grabbed referee Chris Kavanagh during the FA Cup loss to Manchester United in March.

Mitrovic, who has trained every day with the team since his ban started, has scored 11 times in 21 Premier League games on Fulham’s return to the top division, following his record-breaking haul of 43 in last season’s Championship.

“Mitrovic is back and it’s always good to have him back,” said Silva, whose side travel to bottom-club Southampton on Saturday.

“It’s been tough, I won’t hide it from you. His behaviour has been really good all this period, with support from ourselves. He knew from the first day it was going to be different from a normal ban or normal injury.

“He was always working with the team. It was a tough period for him, of course. It will be good to have him back.

“It was a strong feeling for us, it’s clear it was an exaggerated thing. We admitted as a club that you cannot react in that situation. It’s clear, he did it, he admitted the mistake but the number of games, if you compare with other situations, is completely different. We as a club keep strong and we keep supporting him.”

Silva has rotated who he has used in the central attacking position in the Serbia striker’s absence, with Carlos Vinicius taking on the role during Monday’s 5-3 win against Leicester and scoring his fourth of the season.

Daniel James and Bobby Decordova Reid have also been deployed as strikers as the Cottagers maintained the push to break their record top-flight points tally of 53, which was set by Roy Hodgson’s side in 2009.

Silva was especially impressed with Vinicius’ performance in the rout of Leicester.

“It’s what any manager wants really,” Silva added. “It was the reason why we signed Carlos. Of course with more game time, and making good things, bad things, mistakes, make the players grow of course with some important goals.

“It’s given (him) the confidence he needs. It’s nice to see him performing better and better the last few games.

“It’s important to have a player like Mitro, a player like Vini, and I have to say even we won two games with Daniel James as a striker and Bobby as a striker. Different profile and we were able to win that game against Everton and Leeds at home.

“That shows that everyone knows his role, everyone is fighting for the club and can pop up in certain moments of the season.”

Silva declined to comment on whether negotiations had begun with the club over a new contract, with his current deal expiring at the end of next season.

“Nothing new,” he said. “It’s a moment of the season when everyone is going to talk about managers, about players, about everything. There are rumours around everything.

“When you do a good season of course, it’s a consequence of the performance, the way the team is playing. It’s a normal situation. If there’s something new, we’re going to announce it.”

Leeds boss Sam Allardyce believes his side can take a giant leap towards Premier League safety with victory against Newcastle in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.

Allardyce, appointed by Leeds eight days ago in a last-ditch bid to retain top-flight status, takes charge of his first match at Elland Road for the club, who sit second bottom and two points from safety with three games to go.

The former England manager said: “The biggest thing that can happen is not lose. If we got three points I’d be 40 or 50 per cent thinking we could stay safe.

“We still have to win some games. We won’t stay up on 30 points. If we get nine points we’ll stay up, if we get six we might stay up. I want to be still in it when we play Tottenham (on the final day).”

Allardyce was sacked by Newcastle in early 2008 after just eight months in charge, but insisted that would not give him extra motivation to deal their top-four hopes a blow.

“It’s a long time ago,” the 68-year-old said. “Was I disappointed? Yes. What did it do to my career? Massive knock-back.

“But I always recover and move on. It was an opportunity, but in the end I couldn’t avoid a change of ownership that was unexpected.”

Mike Ashley had taken control of Newcastle from Freddy Shepherd six months earlier and Allardyce added: “It was a blow to my career at that time because I wanted to take Newcastle as far as I could, like they’re doing now.”

Newcastle lost 2-0 to Arsenal last week, but have won eight of their last 10 league games to stay on course for Champions League football next season.

Allardyce said the Magpies’ transformation this term under manager Eddie Howe was not just down to the mega-riches provided by current Saudi owners, the Public Investment Fund.

“If it doesn’t all come together, your relationship with the owners and the recruitment and the whole building of a football club is imperative to your success,” Allardyce said.

“If you get the right players, as they have done…I think what they have done is they’ve not got sucked into the usual hell-for-leather spend, spend, spend like Chelsea.

“The way they have spent, slowly but surely, position by position, not over-extending the price that they pay and refusing to pay the inflated price that everybody thinks they’re going to get because they’ve got a mega-rich owner, they’ve resisted all that and now they’ve had the benefit.”

Allardyce, who has three games left to keep Leeds in the top flight for a fourth season, was pleased with their “fight and determination” in his first match in charge, which ended in a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City.

After Newcastle’s visit they play West Ham away and then host Tottenham in their last match.

Allardyce added: “It won’t be over if we lose (on Saturday), but to give ourselves the best chance we have to try and at least get a point on the board.”

Allardyce, still without injured skipper Liam Cooper, does not expect USA captain Tyler Adams to feature again this season after he had hamstring surgery in March.