Internazionale v Tottenham: Champions League Group B – live!

Ben Stokes and Alex Hales charged with bringing cricket into disrepute

• England pair to face two-day London hearing in early December
• Both men charged with two counts for September 2017 brawl

Ben Stokes and Alex Hales have both been charged with two counts of bringing the game into disrepute and face a two-day disciplinary hearing this December following last year’s involvement in a street brawl in Bristol.

While Stokes was last month found not guilty of affray at Bristol crown court for his part in the incident on 25 September 2017 – and Hales was not charged – the pair are centrally contracted England players and still liable for cricketing sanctions.

England’s groundbreaking pro contracts will change women’s rugby for ever | Ali Donnelly

Anti-doping rift deepens as agencies turn on Wada over Russia ‘compromise’

• UK and US agencies among those furious with Wada decision
• It sends ‘a message to the world that doping is tolerated’

The civil war in global anti-doping has intensified further after the World Anti-Doping Agency was accused by 13 major anti-doping agencies – including the UK and US – of “moving the goalposts” and “sending a message to the world that doping is tolerated” over its willingness to strike a deal with Russia.

In an extraordinary attack the 13 agencies also said they were “dismayed” by Wada’s behaviour. They further insisted that Wada must postpone Thursday’s decision to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) because the Russians had not met Wada’s open roadmap to return.

Barcelona v PSV Eindhoven: Champions League – live!

County cricket: Sussex v Warwickshire, Somerset v Surrey and more – live!

Olympics unlikely to be bridge too far for eSports if the money is right | Andy Bull

Distinctions between sports and games seem less important than the money that can be made from them, as one billionaire bridge ace proved by getting cards into the Asian Games

The richest sportsman on the planet isn’t Floyd Mayweather, LeBron James, Lionel Messi or Roger Federer, but Michael Bambang Hartono, a 78-year-old from the small town of Kudus, in Central Java, Indonesia. His jab’s weak, he surely can’t dunk, and his backhand likely sucks, but he’s a crack lobbyist and he plays a mean hand of bridge. These two talents go together. In 2016, after years of effort, Hartono persuaded the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to include bridge as a competitive event at the 2018 Asian Games. Last month, he took part in the contest himself, as a member of Indonesia’s supermixed team, and won a bronze medal.

Billy Joe Saunders charged with misconduct for ‘sickening’ video

• Video appears to show boxer offering woman drugs for a sex act
• British Boxing Board of Control will hold hearing next week

Billy Joe Saunders has been charged with misconduct by the British Boxing Board of Control after the emergence of video footage in which he appears to offer a woman drugs.

Images filmed from inside the WBO world middleweight champion’s car show him speaking to a woman through the passenger window – Saunders offers £150-worth of drugs to the woman to perform a sex act. He then asks her to punch a passerby, which she does, before the boxer drives off.

Adil Rashid to sign new contract at Yorkshire as an all-format cricketer

• Agreement will end impasse started by England Test call-up
• Leg-spinner to be available for red-ball cricket with county

Adil Rashid looks set to recommit to Yorkshire as an all-format cricketer and bring to an end to a summer-long impasse after turning down approaches from rival counties.

Poet’s Word joins top runners ruled out of action after injury

• King George winner must be long odds-on for retirement
• Saxon Warrior and Alpha Centauri retired after setbacks

A devastating week for the equine stars of Flat racing continued on Tuesday when it was announced that Poet’s Word had suffered an injury and will not be seen again in public this year. The news followed two days after the retirements of Alpha Centauri and Saxon Warrior, who were found to have leg problems after running on Saturday.

“Poet’s Word has sustained an injury and will not be able to race again this year,” said the horse’s trainer, Sir Michael Stoute. “His owner, Saeed Suhail, will soon be coming to England and will make a decision on his future.”

Surrey and Worcestershire bookend table but share much in between | The Spin

The county title was won in a thriller reminding us how the West Midlands club retains the heart of first-class cricket

When 22 players gather in huge stadiums built for full houses in midsummer, and rattle around in late season gloom to the applause of 20 hundred-weight of empty tip-up chairs and a crisp wrapper, County Championship cricket can feel a little soulless.

Enzo Calzaghe obituary

Trainer who propelled his son Joe to success as one of Britain’s greatest boxing champions

The Celtic diehards helping football tackle the taboo around periods

Few would expect football clubs to be at the forefront of an effort to break the taboo around periods. Yet here we are

Talking Horses: where was the security on St Leger day at Doncaster?

Video of prolonged tomfoolery on Saturday suggests security presence was inadequate for a busy and prestigious raceday

Twitter users who take an interest in racing will probably, by now, have seen a video of some bad behaviour by a particular racegoer at Doncaster on St Leger day. Apparently efforts are being made to identify her but that’s not what concerns me (which is why I’m not linking to the video). What concerns me is how she was allowed to behave in that way without being stopped by security.

Bolton’s Stephen Darby retires at 29 after motor neurone disease diagnosis

• Right-back also played for Bradford, Liverpool and Swindon
• Bolton manager Parkinson praises ‘outstanding professional’

The Bolton defender Stephen Darby has announced his retirement, aged 29, after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease. The right-back, who began his career at his hometown club Liverpool, received the diagnosis from a specialist recently.

New England Patriots land Josh Gordon from Cleveland Browns in surprise trade

• Wideout’s stint with Browns finally ends with trade to Patriots
• Gordon has been suspended several times for drug violations
• New England send fifth-round pick to Cleveland in exchange

Josh Gordon’s strange, stuttering career will start anew in New England.

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have a new offensive toy.

Alexander Povetkin has Russian government behind him, warns Hearn

• Anthony Joshua’s promoter says fight is important for Russia
• ‘This is a major, major thing if he could stick one on a Brit’

Alexander Povetkin has the full weight of the Russian government behind him as he prepares to fight Anthony Joshua at Wembley on Saturday evening, the promoter, Eddie Hearn, has warned.

LPGA Tour makes swing towards mixed golf events and more prize money

• Talks between men’s and women’s tours in US and Europe
• Brittany Lincicome featured as exemption on PGA Tour in July

The prospect of golf’s leading men and women competing in the same event is edging closer, according to the head of the LPGA Tour, who confirmed talks are taking place with his equivalents at men’s tours on both sides of the Atlantic. Mike Whan also said the concept of women professionals earning identical sums to men is not fanciful.

Whan, who has been the LPGA Tour commissioner since 2010, has been in detailed discussions with Jay Monahan of the PGA Tour and the European Tour’s Keith Pelley as golf seeks to boost interest levels with mixed events. Options including full and smaller field events, plus mixed pairs competitions, are being assessed.

RFU's full-time contracts for England women's team 'hugely significant'

• Total of 28 contracts will be available for the 15s side
• Sarah Hunter: ‘young girls can now aspire to making a living’

The England women’s captain, Sarah Hunter, believes the decision of Twickenham to offer 28 full-time contracts from the beginning of next year is “hugely significant” and will encourage more to take up the sport.

Kevin Beattie obituary

Footballer who was central to the success of Ipswich Town’s cup-winning side of the 1970s and 80s

Black is the colour to end red-card muddle over misjudged tackles | Robert Kitson

The dismissal of Will Spencer against Wasps for a challenge without malice exposed the need for a lighter sanction

We will come to the rights and wrongs shortly but imagine for a moment you are a rugby player in a packed defensive line. The opposition are moving the ball at pace towards your side of the field and you have to make a split-second judgment. Is the ball destined to reach the individual you are marking or will it disappear out the back to someone else? You are a forward, paid to tackle hard for a living. Missing is unthinkable. You wait … and then launch yourself. Uh, oh. The ball has gone and your target’s head has slightly dipped. Damn it. Too late now.

A sub-two-hour marathon is not as fanciful as some might imagine | Sean Ingle

Lewis Hamilton soars in Singapore but Sergio Pérez plumbs the depths

Ferrari’s strategy came up short, Max Verstappen underlined his potential and the future of F1 was leaked on social media

A weekend that had begun with such optimism for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari ended with the team and driver bearing the demeanour of the defeated. They should have done better. Vettel had hit the wall in FP2, ending his session. He insisted it made no difference to his preparation but crucially second practice was the only one run in exactly the same night conditions as qualifying. Lewis Hamilton pointedly noted that small events have ramifications and he was right. The race might have been different had Vettel been on pole but, forced to go aggressive, Ferrari’s strategy failed. The undercut did not work, he hit traffic and he was on the wrong tyre – losing second to Max Verstappen. The title looks as if it has gone and the Scuderia increasingly appear to need a comprehensive overhaul. Vettel can deliver but he needs the car and sharp minds on the pit wall that have been missing of late.

ECB sets out to show reasons its Hundred format can be a success | Ali Martin

ECB’s twist on T20, available from 2020, was road-tested on Monday at Trent Bridge and the games were short if not sweet

The Hundred, eh? After a couple of low-key pilot matches at an empty Trent Bridge in mid‑September it is possible to report back that the ECB’s funky new format is, to all intents and purposes, still cricket.

Young Boys ready to be brave in group stage bow against Manchester United

• Swiss side in Champions League group stage for first time
• ‘We’ll play with courage,’ says coach Gerardo Seoane

David von Ballmoos, Young Boys’ 23-year-old goalkeeper, unwittingly sums up the challenge Manchester United present the Swiss champions when attempting to play down their opponents in Wednesday’s opening Group H game. “We will not change everything just because we play Champions League,” he says. “We now have footballers as opponents we previously only knew as stars. But we look to us.”

David Squires on … Champions League big guns getting ready for action

Our cartoonist on the return of European club football’s premier competition (outside of the Anglo-Italian Cup)

The Fiver | The significance of that trainspotting cow

'They're either naive or scheming': Özil’s agent hits out at Neuer, Kroos and Müller

• Erkut Sögüt defends player’s decision to meet Erdoğan
• ‘Thomas Müller did not understand the whole discussion’
  

Mesut Özil’s agent has hit out at Germany’s Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller and Toni Kroos over comments they made in the wake of the Arsenal midfielder’s decision to quit international football.

Sergio Ramos goes on offensive as Real start Champions League defence

• Madrid host Roma as they bid for fourth successive title
• Ramos on Griezmann’s Ballon d’Or claim: ‘Ignorance is bold’

By the time the Champions League final comes around next June, Real Madrid will have been European champions for 1,100 days. On Wednesday they begin their journey there against Roma at the Santiago Bernabéu, a 20-minute drive from the Wanda Metropolitano where the final will be held, new home of rivals Atlético – the team they twice beat to take the title. “No one has done what Madrid have done; no one has even got close,” said the Roma central defender Kostas Manolas. “Above all, we feel proud,” said Sergio Ramos, the captain. “It’s not chance.”

Thomas Tuchel returns to Liverpool with scars and a point to prove

PSG’s manager resumes his rivalry with Jürgen Klopp two years after his Borussia Dortmund were beaten in an Anfield epic

Manchester City have best players in the world, says Mikel Arteta

• City No 2 still makes Real Madrid Champions League favourites
• Arteta in charge against Lyon while Pep Guardiola serves ban

Mikel Arteta believes Manchester City have the best players in the world and would not change them for anyone, though he still reckons Real Madrid should be favourites for the Champions League.

“It’s hard to make comparisons, we still have a very young squad,” the City assistant manager said. “It is a surprise to be made favourites when there is a team out there that has won the competition three times in a row. Even if they have lost Cristiano Ronaldo I would still make Real Madrid the main favourites because of their history and their experience but I do think the Champions League is going to be quite open this season. There isn’t that much between the top teams.”

Arsenal opt for change in management structure as Gazidis joins Milan

• Raúl Sanllehí to become Arsenal’s new head of football
• Vinai Venkatesham to assume new role as managing director

Ivan Gazidis is to leave his position as chief executive of Arsenal to take over a similar role at Milan. The 54-year-old has worked for the Gunners since 2009 and has described his move as “the hardest decision” of his life.

Gazidis will leave Arsenal on 31 October before taking up his new post at San Siro on 1 December. Arsenal announced that they will not directly replace Gazidis – with Raúl Sanllehí, currently head of football relations at the Emirates, to become head of football. The chief commercial officer Vinai Venkatesham will take over the role of managing director at the same point.

Champions League: previews for the big matches this week

Form guide, fitness news and facts on Inter v Spurs, Liverpool v PSG, Manchester City v Lyon and Real Madrid v Roma

The 100 best footballers in the world 2017

Our panel of 169 experts from 63 nations compile a list of the greatest male players in 2017. Click on an individual to read more about their year.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores 500th career goal with stunning spinning volley – video

Marathon world record smashed by Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin – video

Benfica women set Portuguese record with 28-0 win over Ponte de Frielas – video

Footballers push ambulance from pitch in Brazil after it fails to start – video

Players from Flamengo and Vasco da Gama pushed an ambulance from the pitch on Saturday after the vehicle – which was transporting an injured player to hospital – failed to start.

Vasco’s Bruno Silva had been knocked unconscious in an aerial collision and needed medical attention abut after being loaded into the ambulance it needed the players to push it to be able to leave the pitch.

Play resumed after the incident and the match finished 1-1. Silva has been discharged after a night in hospital.

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'I hope the fan is happy,' says Cheika after Lukhan Tui incident – video

Australian flanker Lukhan Tui says he no longer wants to play following an altercation with a fan after his sides 23-19 loss to Argentina.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika claimed that the incident occurred because the fan pushed Tui’s sister.

Gennady Golovkin v Canelo Álvarez: scuffle breaks out at weigh-in – video

Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Álvarez both made weight on Friday ahead of their much-anticipated rematch for the world middleweight championship on the Las Vegas strip.

Afterwards, Canelo quickly invaded Golovkin's space when they came together for the traditional staredown and briefly drove his forehead into his opponent's, but the Kazakh fighter stood expressionless, staring right back until they were separated.

Mexico's Álvarez said he did it because he was "excited from seeing all the fans", while Golovkin dismissed his opponent's provocation by saying: "Tomorrow you'll see [the] real war."

Football transfer rumours: Steven Caulker to Arsenal Kyiv?

Today’s fluff is taking up a fraction of my mind

It says something about the quality of today’s transfer tittle-tattle that the most interesting rumour concerns the Arsenal chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, who is leaving the Emirates after a decade to take up a similar role at Milan. According to the Mail, the boardroom bigwig is “99.9% certain to leave”, after a source informed them that “it looks like a done deal”.

It is nearly six years since Steven Caulker, then a highly-rated 20-year-old centre-back blossoming at Tottenham, made his first and so far only England appearance in a friendly against Sweden. He is currently out of contract after leaving Dundee last month, but apparently not for long: he is wanted by Arsenal Kyiv, who having lost six of their first eight league matches to sit bottom of the Ukrainian Premier League with a goal difference of -12 could certainly do with some defensive reinforcement.

CVC’s Premiership bid may have been rejected but it could signal change | The Breakdown

The takeover’s threat to club independence and existing regulations may have prompted its failure but it has opened up a debate about how rugby can brand and run itself better

The response of one Premiership club official to the takeover bid for the league by the private equity company CVC was succinct: the devil will be in the detail. An immediate cash injection for each side of £17m was the lure but a halving of income from central funds made the longer-term prospect look risky.

The Fiver | All the urgency of a dog that knows it’s being taken to the vet

Spurs suffer, spitting in Serie A and corner umbrellas – Football Weekly

Max is joined by Barry Glendenning, Mark Langdon and Lars Sivertsen to look back at Liverpool’s triumph, an Eden Hazard masterclass, Santi Cazorla, Douglas Costa and more from Europe

Sports quiz of the week: Golovkin v Álvarez, Osaka and footballers in tutus

Who had a magic touch? Who is getting on? Who travels badly?

WhatsApp chat, bear attacks and George Weah returns – Football Weekly Extra

Max is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and John Ashdown to cover the rest of the Nations League fixtures, Spurs, loans and much more

Sublime swerve, motorbike madness and an introduction to Kin-Ball | Classic YouTube

This week’s roundup also features T20 action, the best of Wesley Sneijder and Marshawn Lynch’s philosophy

Anderson and Broad close on final spells of two more England journeys | The Spin

After sharing 111 Tests with Alastair Cook the batsman’s retirement will have set the pair thinking about their own exits

Alain Prost: ‘Getting Renault back on top is so difficult I find it interesting’

The four-times F1 champion is back at the heart of the sport as a special adviser to Renault. As he explains, being an outsider battling against the odds is a key motivating factor

It is striking how short silences punctuate Alain Prost’s replies, pauses during which it is impossible not to be caught by the steely gaze of his grey-green eyes. Behind them, sharp as ever, he considers every answer. Here, then, is “the Professor”, bringing the same thoughtful analysis to the table that he brought to the track and his four world titles – experience from which the Renault team are now benefiting after they presented Prost with a challenge he has enthusiastically embraced back at the heart of F1.

“When I find an interesting challenge with an objective and it’s good for you, your personal life, the brain, why not? I am very happy,” he says.

Who is the greatest England cricketer of all-time?

Alastair Cook hailed Jimmy Anderson the ‘best cricketer England have ever produced’. Our correspondents beg to differ

Young, svelte, pre-injury Botham was great on the numbers alone. In his first 50 Tests Botham scored 2,500 runs at 35 and took 230 wickets at 22, a swing bowler in the Anderson class. For the last eight years of the Botham Supremacy he was something else, toting around his own outlandish celebrity, still conjuring moments of paunchy brilliance, but never looked after in the manner of the current crop. The greatest and, oddly enough, still the most famous modern English cricketer. BR

When athletes retire we face the most difficult question: who are we? | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Sports stars spend their youth lauded for their grace and strength. How do we stop ourselves from becoming ‘a tattered coat upon a stick’ when glory fades?

Professional athletes are shooting stars: they burn bright as they flame across the sky, then suddenly fade into quiet darkness. Movie stars, best-selling authors, and platinum musicians can stay affixed in the firmament of celebrity for decades, twinkling on our Twitter feeds and Entertainment Weekly covers. But years of physical abuse of our bodies through training and competing wears down athletes – and our importance – to stiff, aching, Advil-popping appendages. The useless appendix of the entertainment business. How are we to stay relevant in society beyond yakking endlessly about our glory days?

The day Donald Trump's narcissism killed the USFL

Although the president is a constant critic of the NFL, he unintentionally helped the league during a hapless turn as a witness in a 1986 lawsuit

As its third season came toward a close, the United States Football League filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL, claiming it had established a monopoly with respect to television broadcasting rights. The suit was led by Donald Trump, the New Jersey Generals owner who was convinced his league would win and, as a result, force a merger with the NFL. Held over 42 days in the United States District Court in Manhattan, it was one of the most eagerly anticipated trials in the history of modern sports. And the USFL seemed to have a good shot – until Trump stepped up …

The NFL’s lead attorney, Frank Rothman, utilized an approach that was the 180-degree opposite of [USFL attorney Harvey] Myerson’s. He didn’t beat people down. He didn’t scream, rant, snarl. A distinguished 59-year-old with broad shoulders and gray hair, Rothman was the former CEO of MGM/UA Entertainment, and he exuded a natural dignity. He sat back, let Myerson do his dance (as the entity that led the suit, the USFL was first to call witnesses), then meticulously went about making the NFL’s case that the USFL, by moving to fall, dug its own grave. “They had everything their way at the beginning,” Rothman said. “They had the jury they wanted. They hammered away at the Harvard [presentation]. Myerson was pitching the little guys versus the big guys. I would go back and tell the NFL people, ‘Listen, when we get our turn we can start turning this thing around. We have to be patient.’ But, actually, it didn’t take that long.”