Sports & Casinos UK

️ F1 qualifying updates from 11am BST️ Preview: the chase for Antonelli | Mail PhilipGabriel Bortoleto, who is just outside a points place on the sprint grid, is under investigation for an unsafe release, which could be costly.Only 10 minutes to go. I guess I should add Tsunoda to the bottom of the standings … Continue reading...

⚽ News and buildup as the Premier League returns ⚽ Arsenal sweep Coventry aside | Fixtures | Get in touchOn the topic of signings. Mikel Arteta said he was ‘really happy’ with the squad he’s got at The Emirates, but there’s still talk around whether Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez could be on the way.Tell you what’s a fun rabbit hole to get lost in. This interactive tool from the team here that has every single transfer listed from all of Europe’s top five leagues. Continue reading...

Updates from around the grounds Day two roundup | Sign up for the Spin | Mail TanyaBen Stokes could have been at Leeds, taking part in the demolition of Pakistan. Instead, he was 80 miles away, bashing 53 and hooplaing two wickets against Derbyshire at the Racecourse Ground.There were plenty of trademark shots in his 11 fours, including a cross-legged lofted drive down the ground that brought warm murmurs from the crowd perched on white plastic seats. He was eventually out to a leading edge, caught by Anuj Dal like a man taking a kitchen catch from the fruit bowl. Continue reading...

Fifa president tells Sky man: ‘You have a nice haircut’Odd exchange outside a hotel in the Dominican RepublicGianni Infantino told a reporter “I’ll see you at the hairdressers” after he was asked whether he had betrayed football over his aborted World Cup sell-off plan.The Fifa president was stopped outside a hotel in the Dominican Republic by the Sky News US correspondent, James Matthews, who challenged the under-fire leader of football’s governing body over why he had not resigned, despite calls from across the game for him to step down. Continue reading...

Second Test, day one: Bangladesh 64; Australia 165-8 in MackayFast bowler takes five wickets before lunch and finishes with 6 for 12Australia’s top-order batting woes continued after Mitchell Starc’s six-wicket blitz as Bangladesh fought back on an extraordinary opening day of the second Test in Mackay.Bangladesh’s own left-arm speedster Shoriful Islam, who had recovered from a side strain that kept him out of the first Test, cut a swathe through Australia’s batting to claim 6 for 35 off 11 lethal overs in his best-ever return in an innings. Continue reading...

Europe’s biggest amateur sports event for children – that has drawn celebrity ambassadors ranging from Sean Dyche to Alastair Campbell – has marked its 30th birthday in SplitOn a dais overlooking the Adriatic, 20 children are playing chess. Arranged in a circle, they are competing not against each other but against the grandmaster Nigel Short, who passes awkwardly around the group playing one move each time. The children are no slouches, the best young chess players from the Balkans. But, in a twist, they can also call on the support of celebrity coaches. And so we have the unusual sight of precocious chess talents being coached through their games not just by the former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, but by the former Burnley manager Sean Dyche and, in quite the eyebrow-raiser, the rightwing tech billionaire Peter Thiel.This is just one event at the Plazma Youth Sport Games (YSG), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the Croatian city of Split this month. Described by some of its more esteemed visitors as “the Davos of sport”, it brings eminent figures from the world of sport and politics to the Dalmatian coast each summer. More important, it is also the biggest amateur sports event for children in Europe. Just under half a million young people from across Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia and North Macedonia took part in qualifying for this year’s event. The finals in 10 sports – from chess to 3v3 basketball – are then held over the course of a week in Split. Alongside the competition, children are encouraged to learn lessons in teamwork, collaboration and putting phones away. The organisers describe Plazma as both a sporting event and a “social project”. Continue reading...

African federations sound out Swede over role‘They think he can group all the continents’ Senior figures in African football have held talks with Fifa’s general secretary, Mattias Grafström, to sound out his interest in standing against Gianni Infantino, the Guardian can reveal.As many as 15 federations in Africa are also said to be ready to turn their backs on Infantino when he seeks re-election as Fifa president next year, despite the Confederation of Africa Football (Caf) claiming that its executive committee (exco) had “unanimously reconfirmed” its support for the under-fire 56-year-old. Continue reading...

Australia defeated by New Zealand 66-19 in rugby Test in AucklandSevens star Maddison Levi unable to help end 32-year losing streakMaddison Levi has been unable to inspire the Wallaroos to a hoodoo-busting victory, the Australians falling flat in an ugly 66-19 defeat to New Zealand.At Auckland’s Go Media Stadium on Saturday, the Wallaroos – playing in their 100th Test match – were looking to beat the Black Ferns for the first time since their initial game against their rivals in 1994. Continue reading...

Slater and Gordon says client exploring civil claim while continuing to speak with police as they investigate alleged sexual assaultA third woman who joined five Sydney Swans players in a Melbourne hotel room on Monday morning is exploring legal action, with her lawyer saying she is navigating “an incredibly traumatic experience”.Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner, Riley Bice and James Jordon were stood down for the rest of the AFL season by the Swans this week for breaching the club’s standards, including drinking and bringing women back to their hotel after Sunday’s win over Essendon in Melbourne. Continue reading...

After an underwhelming season, Arsenal have made major changes with club legends departing and top talent from all over Europe arrivingGuardian writers’ predicted position: 2nd (NB: this is not necessarily Suzanne Wrack’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 2nd Continue reading...