All Premier League matches this weekend have been postponed as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, it was announced on Friday.

English top flight clubs took the decision despite guidance from the British government that cancelling sporting events was not compulsory during a period of national mourning.

“At a meeting this morning, Premier League clubs paid tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the Premier League said in a statement.

“To honour her extraordinary life and contribution to the nation, and as a mark of respect, this weekend’s Premier League match round will be postponed, including Monday evening’s game.”

All games in the English Football League, Women’s Super League and Scottish professional leagues have also been postponed.

Other sporting action in Britain scheduled for Friday, including Test cricket and European golf’s PGA Championship, has been cancelled as a mark of respect.

Those events could restart over the weekend.

However, sporting chiefs have been advised to avoid any clash with a state funeral, the date of which has yet to be announced.

“There is no obligation to cancel or postpone events and sporting fixtures, or close entertainment venues during the national mourning period,” the government said in a guidance statement.

“This is at the discretion of individual organisations. As a mark of respect, organisations might wish to consider cancelling or postponing events or closing venues on the day of the state funeral.”

Fixture crunch

With fixtures next weekend potentially impacted by the policing operation in London for the funeral, football authorities face the headache of a fixture pile-up in a season already congested by a mid-season World Cup.

Manchester United’s Europa League clash with Real Sociedad at Old Trafford and West Ham’s game against FCSB in the Europa Conference League at the London Stadium went ahead on Thursday with pre-match tributes.

The British Horseracing Authority said there would be no races on Saturday — extending cancellations into a third day.

King’s Lynn, the only horse owned by the queen entered to run this weekend, will not run at the Curragh on Sunday.

Racing will return on that day, with the programme featuring the St Leger, one of Britain’s five Classic races, which the queen won in 1977 with her filly Dunfermline.

A decision is yet to be made on any rescheduling of the third Test between England and South Africa at the Oval. Thursday’s first day was a washout.

England captain Ben Stokes said he would be “honoured” to play in the queen’s memory with the possibility the match could be extended into Tuesday to make up for lost time.

“She loved sport, be honoured to play in her memory,” Stokes tweeted in response to a question on whether sporting events should go ahead.

Organisers of the PGA Championship said they were “hopeful” of resuming play over the weekend at Wentworth, near London.

Play in the opening round was suspended on Thursday and postponed on Friday.

The final three stages of Cycling’s Tour of Britain were cancelled on Thursday, with Spain’s Gonzalo Serrano declared the winner.

Tributes poured in from sports stars in Britain and across the globe after the queen’s death was announced on Thursday.

Roger Federer hailed Queen Elizabeth II for her “elegance” and “grace” while Brazilian football great Pele said her “legacy will last forever”.

England football captain Harry Kane wrote on Twitter: “The queen was an amazing inspiration and will be remembered for her incredible years of service to this country. Rest in peace, Your Majesty.”

Source: AFP

Chelsea have sacked Thomas Tuchel just over a month into the new campaign, and Brighton boss Graham Potter is an early favourite to take the reins, per reports.

Despite giving him £254m to spend on new recruits this summer, Chelsea have sacked Thomas Tuchel after their poor start to the season continued on Tuesday night.

The Blues had won just three of six league matches before opening their Champions League campaign in Croatia on Tuesday. Dinamo Zagreb were the opponents and completed a trademark smash and grab when shocking Chelsea with a 1-0 victory.

That stretched their streak of away defeats to three, and Tuchel has now paid the price.

Chelsea announced they have relieved Tuchel of his duties via their official website.

Thomas Tuchel sacked

A club statement read: “On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the Club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the Club.

“Thomas will rightly have a place in Chelsea’s history after winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and Club World Cup in his time here.

“As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the Club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition.

“Chelsea’s coaching staff will take charge of the team for training and the preparation of our upcoming matches as the Club moves swiftly to appoint a new head coach.

“There will be no further comment until a new head coach appointment is made.”

Tuchel leaves Chelsea having led them to Champions League glory just 15 months ago. He also managed Chelsea to two domestic finals last year, though both ended in defeat at the hands of Liverpool.

Source: UK.Sports

Kylian Mbappe on Monday played down suggestions that his relationship with Paul Pogba could be impacted after his name came up in a blackmail affair engulfing his France teammate.

Pogba says he is the victim of a multi-million euro blackmail plot to discredit him by claiming he asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on Mbappe.

The claims about the witch doctor were revealed publicly by Pogba’s elder brother Mathias.

Paul Pogba, who left Manchester United in the close season to return to former club Juventus, denies the accusation.

“No because today as things stand I prefer to believe what my teammate says,” Paris Saint-Germain star Mbappe said when asked if there might be a problem with Pogba.

Mbappe was speaking at a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game between PSG and Pogba’s Juventus in Paris.

“He called me and gave me his version of events. It is his word against his brother’s word. I am going to trust my teammate,” Mbappe said of his fellow 2018 World Cup winner.

“I think it’s in the interests of the national team as well with a big tournament coming up.

“At the moment he already has certain problems and now is not the time to add to those problems.

“We’ll see what happens but I am quite detached from all that.”

A criminal investigation was launched in France last week into the affair.

Based on the findings of a preliminary investigation last month it will examine allegations — for now against persons unknown — including blackmail by an armed gang, kidnapping and membership of a criminal conspiracy.

Pogba is sidelined for Juve’s clash with PSG on Tuesday and faces a battle to be fit for France’s defence of the World Cup trophy in Qatar starting in November.

He is currently recovering from a knee injury.

Source: AFP

Tyson Fury has offered fellow British heavyweight Anthony Joshua the chance to fight for his WBC crown before the end of the year.

Fury, who suggested he was retiring from boxing after beating Dillian Whyte in April, is now searching for a high-profile opponent after rival champion Oleksandr Usyk said he does not intend to fight again until 2023.

Joshua suffered a second consecutive defeat to the Ukrainian in Saudi Arabia last month and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, is considering options for a return early next year.

Fury announced he was retiring on his 34th birthday last month, having previously performed a number of U-turns over his future in the sport.

But in a video posted on social media on Monday he appeared to confirm he had reversed his decision.

“You’ve all heard that I’m going to be fighting within the next few months, and before I announce an opponent I need to do this just in case,” said Fury.

“Anthony Joshua, I know you’ve just lost a fight to Usyk, and I know you’re belt-less at the moment, and I’d like to give you an opportunity to fight me for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world and the lineal championship in the next few months.

“You’re coming off a 12-round fight so you’re match fit, you’re ready, I’m giving you a few months’ notice.

“If you’re interested I’ll send you the date over and we can rumble — a battle of Britain for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world. Let me know if you’re interested. If not, I will select another opponent.”

Joshua is unlikely to take the bait as his team look to help him rebuild with a bout against a different opponent.

Usyk, who retained his WBO, IBF and WBA titles with his victory over Joshua, said on Friday he hoped to set up a unification bout against Fury next year.

Source: AFP

Erik ten Hag hailed Antony’s deadly partnership with Marcus Rashford as Manchester United’s new signing scored on his debut while his strike partner’s brace sent Arsenal crashing to 3-1 defeat on Sunday.

Antony made a dream debut as the Brazil forward scored just 35 minutes into his first appearance following his £82 million ($94 million) move from Ajax.

Some pundits questioned United’s decision to splash out such a big fee on the 22-year-old.

But Ten Hag knows all about Antony from their time together at Ajax, where the United manager worked before taking charge of the Premier League club in the summer.

And Antony appeared to the manor born as he unfurled an array of skills and intelligent play to dazzle the Old Trafford crowd.

He formed an instant relationship with fellow forward Rashford, who provided an astute assist for Antony’s clinical finish.

After Bukayo Saka’s equaliser, Rashford took the game away from Arsenal with a pair of composed strikes to end the Premier League leaders’ perfect start to the season.

“They both played great, a continual threat. I know our offensive is really strong, they are creative and have speed,” Ten Hag said of Antony and Rashford.

“This is the first time they have played together and this performance is great to see.

“I thought the first 10 minutes was the best we have played so far this season.”

Arsenal had won their first five games but United’s four-match winning run is their longest in the Premier League since winning five in a row in 2021 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

It is exactly the kind of streak Ten Hag needed his team to go after his reign started with embarrassing defeats against Brighton and Brentford.

Spirited United

The 4-0 loss at Brentford was especially chastening, but since then Ten Hag has got the response he wanted after calling for his players to show more hunger and character.

“We are happy and satisfied with the win, also the performance against a really good team,” Ten Hag said.

“The spirit from this team, they can deal with setbacks. It is really great and shows your mentality. We have really improved on that.

“We have the right characters and now it is about cooperation. We have to stay calm, stay composed and play our game.”

Old Trafford was buzzing in the aftermath of another encouraging result that showed United’s 2-1 success against bitter rivals Liverpool was no fluke.

But, well aware of the flaws in a team that finished a woeful sixth last season, Ten Hag warned United not to get carried away.

The winning streak has lifted them to fifth place after they were bottom of the table following the Brentford debacle, yet Ten Hag sees plenty of room for improvement.

“We could’ve done things better but we are not as long together as Arsenal,” he said.

“When we get that we will have better control of the game. That’s hard work. There’s a lot of room for improvement.

“We can have better pressing and organisation. We can control the game more.

“We can be better in possession with better composure on the ball then we will dictate the game even more.

“We haven’t been together long so we’ll work on it. You can see that Arsenal are more together, but our team spirit brings us the win.”

Source: AFP