(Reuters): Wimbledon's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year will have no major financial impact on British tennis, outgoing All England club Chief Executive Richard Lewis has said.   The grasscourt Grand Slam was scheduled to start on Monday but was cancelled for the first time since World War Two in April.   The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said its spending plans would not have to be curtailed.   "It won't be s

(Reuters): Mario Gomez brought the curtain down on his career with a goal on Sunday as the former Germany international scored in VfB Stuttgart's 3-1 loss to Darmstadt.   The 34-year-old striker helped the side earn automatic promotion to the Bundesliga after one season in the second division by finishing runners-up to champions Arminia Bielefeld.   "It was always my dream after such a great career, which I could not have imagined, to give something

(Reuters): Chelsea manager Frank Lampard showed his ruthless side as he hauled off three of his brightest young players at halftime in Sunday's 1-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Leicester City.   Lampard was clearly unhappy with what he witnessed in the opening 45 minutes and admitted he could have substituted seven or eight of his players at the interval.   As it was Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour and Reece James made way for the vastly more experienced trio

(Reuters): Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuettl has backed Danny Ings to overtake Jamie Vardy and win the golden boot this season after the striker netted a brace in Sunday's 3-1 Premier League victory at Watford.   Ings glided past two Watford defenders and curled in a low effort in the 16th minute, before adding another in the second half to take his league tally for the season to 18 goals, one behind Leicester City's Vardy.   Hasenhuettl said he w

PARMA, Italy, June 29 (Reuters): Third-placed Inter Milan scored twice in the last six minutes through Stefan De Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni to snatch a 2-1 win at Parma in Serie A on Sunday despite a subdued display.   The scarcely-deserved victory left Inter eight points behind leaders Juventus and four adrift of second-placed Lazio with 10 games each to play.   Gervinho put Parma ahead with a solo goal in the 15th minute and, after a subdued display, Inter

BARCELONA, June 29 (Reuters): Juventus are set to sign Brazil international Arthur Melo from Barcelona after the midfielder agreed a five-year contract with the Italian champions and passed a medical, according to Spanish media reports on Sunday.   The move is part of a twin negotiation between the clubs which involves Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanic moving to Barca, said reports in sports dailies Mundo Deportivo and Marca.   Mundo Deportivo said Juve will p

(Reuters): Burnley must start spending more to stay competitive in the Premier League because their current transfer strategy is not sustainable in the long term, manager Sean Dyche has said.   Midfielders Aaron Lennon and Jeff Hendrick and goalkeeper Joe Hart left the club this week, while 11 more players will be out of contract at the end of next season.   Dyche, whose team are 11th with seven games to go, said bargains were hard to come by these days. &

(Reuters): Kevin de Bruyne's first-half penalty and a superb strike by Raheem Sterling after the break earned holders Manchester City a comfortable 2-0 away win at Newcastle United in the weekend's last FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday.   City's domination of the first half was absolute and the only surprise was it took a penalty for them to lead at halftime, De Bruyne slotting home in the 37th minute.   Newcastle did improve marginally after the br

(Reuters): Manchester City's slim hopes of retaining their Premier League crown have gone but they still have two trophies in their crosshairs, manager Pep Guardiola said after the club reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Newcastle United.   As well as the Cup, City are also still in the hunt for the Champions League title and hold a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid from the away leg of their last 16 clash in February before the competition was suspended due

(Reuters): Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce wants "clarity" from the Premier League on the proposed Saudi-backed takeover of the club as he says the delay in approving the deal is "not healthy for anybody".   A group with an expected 80% investment from Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF have made a reported 300 million pounds ($370.95 million) bid to buy United from British businessman Mike Ashley.   The club are awaiting the outcome of the l

Reuters Dustin Poirier absorbed several heavy blows but delivered a few more Saturday night, ultimately outlasting Dan Hooker for a unanimous decision victory in a “fight of the year” candidate in the main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.   Poirier (26-6) and Hooker (20-9) boxed at an incredible pace throughout the first two rounds, both remaining standing despite being rocked multiple times. Hooker nearly ended it late in Round 2, after both fighters ha

New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) Indian women's team goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan has highlighted the 'unity in diversity' in the current senior national side maintaining it to be a true representation of secular upbringing.   In a recent chat with AIFF TV, Aditi said: "When I first started playing for the national team, it was majorly dominated by players from Manipur. But it has become more of a diverse team now."   "The team has a lot of charact

London, June 28 (IANS) Six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said that former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone's recent comments on racism shows why the sport has failed to bring in more diversity or do more about racial abuse. Hamilton said that Ecclestone's comments were "sad and disappointing" and that they demonstrated "how far we as a society need to go before real equality can happen."   "Bernie is out of the sport and a different ge

Aizawl, Jun 27 (PTI): Mizoram sports minister Robert Romawia Royte on Saturday said that the state will soon have a FIFA certified football ground at Kolasib town near the Assam border. Royte paid a visit and inspected the ongoing construction of Sports Authority of India (SAI) sports academy at Kolasib''s Saidan and the laying of artificial turf at the football ground there.   He was accompanied by supply minister and Kolasib MLA K Lalrinliana and Serlui MLA La

TURIN, Italy, June 27 (Reuters) - Cristiano Ronaldo scored a thumping penalty and created goals for Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain as Juventus hammered 10-man Lecce 4-0 on Friday to stretch their lead over Lazio at the top of Serie A to seven points.   The 35-year-old Ronaldo had set out his stall in the first half with an acrobatic overhead kick, and when Lecce's Fabio Lucioni got a straight red card for a clumsy challenge after 32 minutes the visitors were left with

June 27 (Reuters) - Liverpool have condemned the behaviour of fans who gathered in Liverpool city centre for a second night on Friday to celebrate their team's Premier League title win and urged them to stay at home due to fears of a surge in COVID-19 cases.   Local media reported that fans launched fireworks at the Royal Liver Building, with a fire breaking out on the balcony of the landmark owned by Farhad Moshiri, the majority shareholder of the side's local rival

June 27 (Reuters) - Sebastian Vettel believes the back-to-back races in Austria at the start of the Formula One season will be decided on slim margins and his Ferrari team will need to fine-tune their racing strategy to remain competitive over two weeks.   Four-times world champion Vettel and team mate Charles Leclerc hit the track in Ferrari's 2018 car, the SF71-H, earlier this week in a test at Mugello as the Scuderia stepped up their preparations for the 2020 campaign

Berlin, June 27 (IANS) Bayern Munich's free-coring striker Robert Lewandowski has been named as Bundesliga's Player of the season.   Lewandowski won more than 50 per cent of the votes and defeated the likes of Timo Werner, Jadon Sancho, Amine Harit, Erling Haaland, Kai Havertz and Serge Gnabry.   Borussia Dortmund star Sancho finished second overall, with Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz completing the podium.   Lewandowski started the new sea

Liverpool, June 27 (IANS) Former Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard paid a heart-warming tribute to current captain Jordan Henderson after the latter guided the club to a historic Premier League title.   Liverpool were crowned champions of the league after Manchester City lost to Chelsea 1-2 at Stamford Bridge. This meant that the defending champions couldn't overhaul Liverpool's point tally with seven matches to go and the Reds were crowned league winners.  

Mumbai, June 27 (IANS) Indias limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma was known for his lazy elegance from the time he entered the international stage, but former teammate Irfan Pathan believes that there has always been more to the stylish opener than just talent.   Speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, former India all-rounder Irfan spoke about how Rohit always worked hard in early years even if his body language suggested otherwise, "Lot of people are mistaken wh