Salary cap rise for Premiership January 21, 2014 RUGBY UNION: A salary cap for all Premiership clubs will rise to £5m from next season, an increase of £500,000. The total includes £240,000 in academy credits covering players under 24. Club’s can nominate one player to be excluded from the cap.
Sponsors ditch West Brom over Anelka gesture January 20, 2014 PROPERTY website Zoopla has taken the extraordinary step of ending its sponsorship of West Brom following the row over striker Nicolas Anelka’s controversial “quenelle” celebration. Anelka’s gesture, which has been associated with anti-Semitism, is believed to have upset Zoopla’s Jewish co-owner Alex Chesterton, and the company yesterday said it would not renew its £1.5m per [...]
Golf Comment: Schoolboy error was McIlroy undoing January 20, 2014 FORMER world No1 Rory McIlroy was justifiably annoyed at missing out on the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday because of a two-shot penalty, but the truth is that he had no one to blame but himself. The Ulsterman was penalised for having one foot on the spectator path when dropping his ball during the [...]
Murray doubts Aus Open glory January 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray has played down his chances of winning the Australian Open ahead of tomorrow’s quarter-final with four-time champion Roger Federer. Murray, who underwent a back operation last year, beat world No119 Stephane Robert 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 yesterday. The 26-year-old said: “I can’t honestly say my expectations are as high as if I’d [...]
Bopara backs captain Cook January 20, 2014 ENGLAND all-rounder Ravi Bopara is adamant under-fire cricket captain Alastair Cook should continue to marshall his country in both Test and one-day international formats. Following Sunday’s seven-wicket reverse to Australia, ensuring defeat in the ODI series with two matches still to play, Cook admitted he was questioning his future as skipper. But Essex and England [...]
Lugano rescues point on Mel’s debut January 20, 2014 DEFENDER Diego Lugano scored his first West Brom goal as new boss Pepe Mel oversaw a 1-1 draw with Everton last night. The Baggies fell behind on 41 minutes after Kevin Mirallas slotted in from Romelu Lukaku’s knock down. But on 75 minutes Lugano headed in James Morrison’s cross. Mel said: “I’m very happy to [...]
Jones ruled out of Six Nations January 20, 2014 RUGBY UNION: Wales back row Ryan Jones will miss the entire RBS Six Nations campaign with a hamstring injury suffered during Ospreys’ Heineken Cup defeat to Leicester on Friday. James King has been called up as his replacement. Meanwhile, England No8 Thomas Waldrom has signed a three-year deal to join Exeter from Leicester from next [...]
Damaged arena to host British bouts January 20, 2014 BOXING: Next month’s high-profile bill featuring British heavyweights Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury is expected to remain at the Copper Box in Stratford’s Olympic Park, despite damage to the floor of the arena during a fitness exhibition at the weekend. Four netball matches, set to be staged this week, have been cancelled or switched venue.
Premier League: United too far behind to win the title now, says Mourinho January 19, 2014 AT STAMFORD BRIDGE CHELSEA 3 vs MANCHESTER UNITED 1 MANCHESTER United’s chances of retaining their Premier League title were written off by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho yesterday, after the Reds suffered a seventh league defeat of the season. Striker Samuel Eto’o rolled back the years to hit a clinical hat-trick, taking full advantage of United’s [...]
Last gasp Quins qualify January 19, 2014 HARLEQUINS director of rugby Conor O’Shea insists his side are already looking forward to a European quarter-final after they ended their Heineken Cup campaign with victory at the Scarlets. The Welsh side led 20-19 with seconds remaining after tries from Gareth Davies, Aaron Shingler and Scott Williams, but a last-gasp penalty from Ben Botica proved [...]