Jamaica Volleyball Association President, Jacqueline Cowan, was re-elected as the General Secretary on the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) board. She was selected during the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association’s (CAZOVA) Electoral Congress held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Sunday.

Trinidad and Tobago's Mushtaque Mohammed was also re-elected president during the electoral congress, which determined the new board to guide CAZOVA until 2027.

Other members of the newly appointed CAZOVA Board are Kennedy McGowan, First Vice-President (Cayman Islands), Gisette Emer, Second Vice-President (Bonaire), Kurtwood Greene Snr, Treasurer (Bahamas), Filomena Daniel-Curiel, Board Member (Aruba), and Mark Lewis, Board Member (Barbados) a former Jamaica Indoor and Beach Volleyball National
Representative now residing in Barbados.

Philippe Lirus, Honorary Board Member (Martinique) and Daymian Stewart, Executive Director (Trinidad and Tobago), also secured slots on the board.

Along with those elected, there were also representatives from Curacao, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Suriname, and US Virgin Islands, at the congress.

Barcelona midfielder Pedri faces a short spell on the sidelines after suffering a muscle injury in training.

The 21-year-old Spain international, who has started eight LaLiga games this season, will definitely miss the champions’ clash with bottom side Almeria on Wednesday.

An update from the club read: “First-team player Pedri got a knock in training and has a slight muscle injury. He is ruled out of selection and his recovery will determine his return.”

Chris Woakes is relishing a reunion with former England head coach Trevor Bayliss after being snapped up by Punjab Kings at the Indian Premier League auction.

Woakes is on England duty in the West Indies so was tucked up in bed when he went under the hammer in Dubai, where the 34-year-old fetched a fraction under £400,000 (4.2 crore rupees) on Tuesday.

The player of the series in this summer’s drawn Ashes will have familiar company in the Kings dressing room next year, with Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow already retained by the franchise.

And linking up with Kings coach Bayliss is the cherry on top for Woakes, with the pair both instrumental in England’s white-ball transformation from also-rans to World Cup winners in 2019.

“It’s a nice feeling to wake up here in the Caribbean and see that I have been picked up by Punjab in the auction,” said the 34-year-old, who has not featured in the last two editions of the IPL.

“The IPL is obviously an amazing tournament to be a part of and we have a nice little contingent of England players in the squad with Jonny, Sam and Liam.

“It’ll be great to join up with Trevor Bayliss as well given the success I’ve had with him as a coach, so I can’t wait to get going.”

Harry Brook was another of England’s travelling contingent in the Caribbean to get picked up, signed for around £380,000 (4cr) by Delhi Capitals.

The fee is vastly reduced from the £1.3million he was paid by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2023 edition of the tournament, when he amassed one century but returned just 190 runs in his other 11 innings.

Nevertheless, Brook is relishing a return to the IPL and especially the chance to work with former Australia captain and now Capitals coach Ricky Ponting.

“Playing against the best players in the world is something I thrive off and the IPL is one of the biggest stages to play on,” said the Yorkshireman

“Delhi have some unbelievable players already and I can’t wait to work with Ricky Ponting and see if we can win a first title for the team.”

James Wade became the first seed to crash out of the World Championship after losing to world number 57 Matt Campbell.

The Canadian produced the biggest win of his career as he came from 2-1 down to beat the four-time semi-finalist 3-2.

Wade, seeded 13th, was in good form, having reached a final, semi-final and quarter-final in the last three major tournaments, but is out of the main event of the year before Christmas.

Keegan Brown will not want to hear the name Boris Krcmar again after enduring a chastening afternoon.

Brown was left confused when MC John McDonald mistakenly called out his opponent’s name when he was due to walk onto the Alexandra Palace stage before the first-round match.

Things got even worse once play began as the Croatian cruised to a 3-1 win.

Brown took the first set but things went downhill from there, with Krcmar coming back to reach the second round for the second successive year, with Dirk van Duijvenbode waiting for him in the next round.

Elsewhere in the afternoon session, Jeffrey de Graaf produced a comeback to beat Ritchie Edhouse 3-2 while Tomoya Goto beat Ian White 3-1.

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez is confident his side can close the gap on LaLiga’s leaders but will need to cut out the errors.

Last season’s champions are nine points off the top after winning just one of their last four games in the competition.

Barca are currently third, trailing second-placed Real Madrid by seven points with Girona – who beat their Catalan rivals earlier this month – leading the way.

Xavi told reporters at a press conference: “The conviction in both areas is marking our season a little and that is what needs to be fixed and improved to be competitive in all competitions.

“Yes, I see it as recoverable but, of course, we have to be competitive rather than fail ourselves. In the end, what is costing us is our mistakes.”

Barca were held to a 1-1 draw at Valencia in their last outing but will be expected to get back to winning ways as they host bottom side Almeria – who are yet to win a game – on Wednesday.

Xavi said: “It is a very important game for us. We need a victory for the feelings of confidence, three points and to continue believing.

“There is still the league. There are still mathematical possibilities to win it. It has become difficult for us, but we have to go step by step and tomorrow is an important step.

“We have been playing good football but we need to win games. We need the fans and need to play that complete game that we have been missing until now.”

Xavi also gave his thoughts on his side being drawn against Serie A winners Napoli in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Like Barca, Napoli are finding defending their crown tough going.

“We are playing against the current Italian champions and I think it’ll be difficult,” said Xavi. “I think we have a 50 per cent chance because they are in a similar situation to our own.”

Despite their predicament, Almeria, who are eight points from safety, are hoping to make life difficult for the champions.

Head coach Gaizka Garitano, whose team claimed a goalless draw with Mallorca in their last outing, said: “We’ve competed on pitches where it’s very difficult to win.

“We’re going to go all out to obtain a good result with courage and desire to compete but, if we don’t give 100 per cent, they can hurt us.”

Australia fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have become the most expensive players ever sold at the Indian Premier League auction, smashing the record held by England all-rounder Sam Curran.

Starc has not played in the IPL since 2015 and the left-arm quick’s return to the fray drew a bidding war that ended in an unprecedented bid of £2.34million (24.75 crore rupees) from Kolkata Knight Riders.

Cummins had earlier been picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for just under £2million (20.5 crore), with both fees eclipsing the previous high of £1.77m Punjab Kings paid for Curran last year. Starc and Cummins had both signed up with a base price of less than £200,000.

Like Starc, Cummins is making his comeback to the tournament after a one-year absence to focus on his international commitments, during which he has captained Australia to glory in the World Test Championship and 50-over World Cup on Indian soil.

While those successes placed a premium on the available Australian talent, England’s terrible World Cup campaign saw their stock fall on the trading floor in Dubai.

Veteran Chris Woakes was the biggest winner, earning a fraction under £400,000 as he joined team-mates Curran and Liam Livingstone at Punjab Kings, while Harry Brook was snapped up for around £380,000 by Delhi Capitals.

Brook had been released after one season of a £1.3m deal with Sunrisers and the Yorkshireman settled for a healthy but much-reduced payday.

He hit one superb century in his first IPL campaign but was otherwise badly short of runs with just 190 in 11 matches.

David Willey, who retired from England duty at the end of the World Cup, collected £189,000 from Lucknow Super Giants, while Surrey paceman Gus Atkinson was among the last signings to be completed in a £95,000 deal with Knight Riders.

Royal Challengers Bangalore took Tom Curran for £141,000 and Rajasthan paid the reserve of £40,000 for Somerset’s uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

Elsewhere there was disappointment for English talent, with opener Phil Salt, spinner Adil Rashid and left-armer Tymal Mills among those left unsold.

Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed was a late withdrawal from the auction, with the England and Wales Cricket Board keeping an eye on the workload of a player who looks set to play a big role for them across all three formats and who signed his first central contract a matter of weeks ago.

International considerations already saw Test captain Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jofra Archer step away from a competition that is expected to run for two months from the end of March. Curran, Livingstone, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Reece Topley, Will Jacks, Moeen Ali, Jason Roy and Mark Wood were all retained by their franchises.

As well as Cummins, Sunrisers also splurged on another Australian, Travis Head. He capped a stellar year with a match-winning 137 in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad and cost around £645,000 as he returned to the tournament for the first time since 2017.

New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell scooped the biggest cheque of his career when he went to Chennai Super Kings for £1.3million, joined by fellow Kiwi Rachin Ravindra, who looked a snip at £170,000 following his starring role at the World Cup.

Experienced Indian seamer Harshal Patel and West Indies seamer Alzarri Joseph both drew over £1million.

Philippe Clement believes sacrificing the personal for the collective can help Rangers to an “amazing” season.

The Belgian boss is still basking in the glory of the 1-0 Viaplay Cup final win over Aberdeen at Hampden Park on Sunday, his first trophy since taking over from Michael Beale in October.

Coincidentally, Beale’s departure came after a 3-1 home defeat to the Dons in the cinch Premiership which provided a body blow to the Gers’ title hopes.

However, Clement has also rekindled those aspirations amid his 14-game unbeaten run since arriving in Glasgow, while guiding the Light Blues into the last-16 of the Europa League with a stunning 3-2 win over Real Betis in Spain last week.

Ahead of the visit of St Johnstone to Ibrox on Wednesday night, where a win will take Rangers to within two points of leaders Celtic having played a game fewer, former Genk, Club Brugge and Belgium defender Clement said: “I think it’s logical, when I came into the club the confidence was not there but I saw what I saw in the games and the first days in training.

“Every experience makes you stronger. The strongest teams I played in were teams that were together for two or three years and those were teams that had a lot of experience together.

“Good but also bad because you not only become stronger out of good experiences but also out of bad experiences if you take the right conclusions together.

“Every experience with this group will make it stronger and winning in Seville, winning a cup and winning the first silverware, proving a lot of things that had been said not so long ago about these players, that it was wrong.

“They need to continue doing that and keeping this hunger. If they keep the hunger, if they also keep the collectivity and this solidarity that it’s not important to start or not to start, and it’s not about them but about the team then we’re going to make an amazing season. I’m confident about that.

“The moment players start to think about themselves and to take themselves out of the collective, it will be more difficult.

“Then we will speak with them. It’s going to happen, I’m not naive and I know if there is success there are also people around the players who are influential or who try to become more influential.

“We have to make it clear it’s about the collective and if the collective is good then the individual is also good because it works like that in a team sport.”

Sheila Lewis has an eye on more Ascot prize money as Straw Fan Jack heads back to the track following his gallant run in the 1965 Chase.

The grey was a useful hurdler who took to chasing instantly with a pair of wins at Ffos Las and Cheltenham last season, ending his term in top class company when fourth in both the Arkle and the Manifesto Novices’ Chase.

He started his campaign in amongst graded company again when lining up for the Grade Two 1965 Chase at Ascot in November, a race in which he was the 40-1 outsider with Shishkin an odds-on favourite.

Shishkin was not in the mood for racing, however, and refused to start, leaving Pic D’Orhy to take the honours with Straw Fan Jack collecting over £16,000 for coming home in second.

The eight-year-old will now return to the same track to run over the same trip in the Howden Graduation Chase at Ascot on Saturday.

Lewis reports the gelding to be faring well following his last outing, where he justified the trainer’s decision to take on establish graded performers.

“He absolutely did (justify the run),” she said.

“It was really interesting, it was one of those times where you’re either a genius or an idiot. My son said before we left ‘taking on Shishkin…you know you’re off your head, don’t you?’

“Graham (Wilson), his owner, did point out that Shishkin can be a bit temperamental, though we never thought he just wouldn’t start.

“It was one of those chance-your-arm times and it paid off.

“He’s come out of it so well, it’s almost as if he hasn’t had a race. He’s doing really well, I’m very pleased with him.

“He’ll go as long as it’s not too soft, I think he’d go on it if it was but I don’t think he’d be at his best.

“I’ve gone down the route of the bigger races and you’re going in to it knowing you’re not necessarily going to win but we’ve had some lovely days out and we’ve collected some place money, which keeps the owners in the game.

“We’re really enjoying the journey and we’re just grateful every time he runs, to be honest, that’s how we feel about him.”

Also entered in the contest is Paul Nicholls’ Solo, second in the Haldon Gold Cup when last seen, with Venetia Williams’ unbeaten novice chaser Djelo and Alex Hales’ Grade One-winner Millers Bank.

Nottingham Forest have sacked boss Steve Cooper and are in talks to appoint former Wolves and Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo as his replacement, the PA news agency understands.

The 44-year-old has paid the price for a run of just one win in 13 Premier League games, which has seen Forest plummet to just five points above the drop zone.

The Portuguese is the preferred candidate to take over at the City Ground and has met with club officials ahead of a possible appointment.

Nuno has been out of work since leaving Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad in November. He appears set for a return to the Premier League two years after his sacking from an ill-fated four-month stay at Spurs.

Cooper has had the support of the Forest fans after taking them from the bottom of the Championship to Premier League survival last season.

It was fan power that saved him from the sack last term, but with another summer of heavy investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis, the Greek businessman has lost patience.

Forest host Bournemouth in a crucial Premier League clash on Saturday before festive fixtures against Newcastle and Manchester United.

Marinakis was eyeing a top-half finish this season after spending north of £100million in the summer, but, after a solid start to the campaign, results have not followed and they have won just once since beating Chelsea at the start of September.

Cooper has kept his dignity in tact following speculation surrounding his position and leaves the City Ground a hero after becoming the man to end Forest’s 23-year exile from the top flight when he guided them to promotion in the summer of 2022.

A difficult first year in the Premier League followed, where Cooper’s job was under continual threat before a late-season rally saw them finish 16th.

Expectations of a push towards the top 10 came after a heavy spending spree in the summer, but results have been disappointing and Cooper has paid the price.

Patrick Neville reports The Real Whacker to be firmly on course for next week’s Ladbrokes King George VI Chase after coming through a Tuesday morning workout with flying colours.

The seven-year-old won each of his three starts over fences last term, completing his hat-trick with a narrow defeat of Gerri Colombe in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

He disappointed under a big weight on his reappearance in last month’s Paddy Power Gold Cup, but Neville had a viable excuse after his stable star returned with an overreach and he is confident he is back on-song ahead of his bid for glory in Kempton’s Boxing Day showpiece.

“He’s in great shape and we’re looking forward to running him. He’s come on a lot since his last run and we’re delighted with him at the moment,” he said.

“He went away for a piece of work this morning – he’s been to the High Moor in Middleham for a gallop and we were very happy, so it’s just a case of keeping him fresh and well for the next week now.

“I think he maybe only missed two days after the Paddy Power, although he didn’t really miss anything as we had him on the water treadmill, which is a great facility for us here.”

The Real Whacker is a best-priced 10-1 for the King George, with the Willie Mullins-trained Allaho and Paul Nicholls’ defending champion Bravemansgame among his likely rivals.

Dual Ryanair Chase hero Allaho was sidelined for 19 months prior to a workmanlike comeback win in last month’s Clonmel Oil Chase, while Bravemansgame has been beaten in his two starts so far this season.

With Gerri Colombe’s participation uncertain and Nicky Henderson’s Shishkin set to line up having refused to start on his intended return at Ascot, the race does have an open look to it and Neville is excited to be in with a shout.

He added: “There will be some very good horses in the race, as you’d expect, but we’re very happy with our horse and that’s all we can ask.

“I think they’re due a good week’s weather, so the ground shouldn’t be as bad as it was in Cheltenham, when it was very heavy.

“Sam (Twiston-Davies) is looking forward to riding him. He was very happy with how he jumped for most of the race the last day and he looked after him once it wasn’t happening.

“We’re looking forward to taking our chance.”

Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller has extended his contract with the club until June 2025.

The 34-year-old has been with Bayern since he was 10 years old and, since making his senior debut for the club in 2008, he has gone on to amass 684 competitive appearances for the first team, ranking him second in Bayern’s all-time appearance list.

Muller has helped the club win 12 Bundesliga titles, two Champions Leagues, the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup trophies as well as six DFB Cups and eight German Supercups.

On the international stage, the German forward won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Muller told the Bayern website: “I’m happy my journey at Bayern is continuing. I want to play my part in us remaining successful, both as a team and the whole club.

“It’s important to me to be a foundation and to help steer the team in the right direction. I want to excite our fans with goals, helping create goals, my love of the game, my passion for football – and hopefully with many more titles.”

Sporting director Christoph Freund added: “We’re very pleased that Thomas Muller will be staying at FC Bayern for another season.

“He’s a leader both on and off the pitch, always a role model and incredibly valuable for the entire team. Thomas pushes every team with his open and positive manner on and off the pitch.

“The way he plays is extremely clever, for the team, and he’s very versatile in where he can play. Thomas is also almost never injured, always there – just quality and reliability personified.”