Rodriguez returns 'adverse finding' after Yafai fight
Matchroom Boxing said in a statement: "Today the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association informed Matchroom, the World Boxing Council and the British Boxing Board of Control that Francisco Rodriguez has returned an adverse analytical finding as part of a post-fight night anti-doping test following his bout with Galal Yafai on June 21, 2025."The matter will be handled by the BBBofC and the WBC."The loss was Yafai's first in 10 pro fights, while Rodriguez has 39 pro wins and six losses, with one draw and a no contest.
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Daily Mail
a minute ago
- Daily Mail
Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal were '100%' RIGHT in handling of Thomas Partey case amid claims complaints were raised with the Gunners 'almost a YEAR' before he was arrested
Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal 's handling of Thomas Partey, who was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault days after his contract at the Emirates expired. The Gunners boss insisted that the club '100 per cent' followed the 'right processes' amid widespread criticism following the revelation that complaints were made about the midfielder almost a year before his first arrest in 2022. Partey is accused of attacking three women between 2021 and 2022. He was first arrested in July 2022 but The Telegraph claimed to have seen definitive evidence that Arsenal, the FA, and the Premier League were aware of concerns as early as September 2021. Reportedly, no formal investigation was launched in the wake of that, because they fell outside the FA's safeguarding responsibility for adults and minors 'at risk' in the sport. Partey left Arsenal last month following the expiry of his contract, with reports suggesting negotiations over a new deal had stalled weeks earlier. Speaking ahead of the start of his side's pre-season tour of Asia, Arteta insisted he was unable to comment on the 'very complicated' legal matter but did maintain that the club acted in the correct manner. Partey, who spent five years in north London, played more than 50 games for Arsenal while on bail, it has emerged Partey left Arsenal last month following the expiry of his contract, with reports suggesting negotiations over a new deal had stalled As reported by ESPN, when pushed on whether he believes the club followed the right processes, Arteta replied: '100 per cent.' The charges against Partey follow a three-year investigation by Scotland Yard and came just five days after his Arsenal contract expired on June 30. He is currently without a club after five Premier League seasons at the Emirates. The Ghanaian international midfielder is accused of five counts of rape. Two counts of rape relate to one woman and three counts of rape relate to a second woman. The one count of sexual assault relates to a third woman. None of the alleged victims can be named. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on August 5. The Crown Prosecution Service has said the charges came after it 'carefully reviewed a comprehensive file of evidence'. Partey 'denies all the charges against him' and 'welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name', his lawyer said. The Metropolitan Police said the investigation into Thomas Partey began in February 2022 after officers first received a report of rape. He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing. He played more than 50 games for Arsenal while on bail, it has emerged. In a statement, his lawyer Jenny Wiltshire, of Hickman and Rose, said: 'Thomas Partey denies all the charges against him. 'He has fully cooperated with the police and CPS throughout their three-year investigation. 'He now welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name. 'Given that there are now ongoing legal proceedings, my client is unable to comment further.' Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, whose team is leading the investigation, said: 'Our priority remains providing support to the women who have come forward. 'We would ask anyone who has been impacted by this case, or anyone who has information, to speak with our team. You can contact detectives about this investigation by emailing CIT@
Daily Mail
a minute ago
- Daily Mail
First Test scoreline flattered the Wallabies... but our brave Lions can only improve Down Under
The first Test between the Lions and the Wallabies might not have produced the fireworks we were expecting, but there were still plenty of issues for our Three Wise Men to sink their teeth into. Here, former Scotland captains ANDY NICOL and JASON WHITE join Mail Sport's deputy chief sports writer CALUM CROWE to run the rule over the Scottish midfield axis, why the victorious Lions dropped off in the second half, and whether we should be anticipating a 3-0 whitewash or a stirring Aussie fightback. What were your overall thoughts on the game and why do you feel there was such a drop-off in the second half? Andy Nicol: It was a very comfortable win for the Lions. They were excellent for the first 50 minutes, sharp in attack and strong in defence but then almost stopped playing. At 24-5, it looked like it could get to 40 and the Aussies around me in the stadium were fearing the worst. In fact, many ended up talking to each other rather than watching the game. Australia upped their game a little in the second half but it was more because the Lions dropped in their accuracy and intensity and let them back in the game. The eight-point difference hugely flattered the Wallabies and the Lions won with some ease. Jason White: The Lions were so dominant in the first half and should really have had another couple of tries through Huw Jones and James Lowe. They were good value for their victory, with Ellis Genge, Tadhg Beirne, Finn Russell and Huw Jones producing the big performances the occasion required. The second-half drop-off was a concern. They could have kept some of the players on the pitch for a bit longer before bringing on replacements. Australia certainly grew into the game and have the capacity to improve their performance by 20 per cent for this week, which is a concern for the Lions. Calum Crowe: The Lions were running riot in the first half and physically dominated the Wallabies. But there seemed to be an element of complacency in their performance during the second half. Leading 17-5 at the break, they should have kicked on and racked up a record score against Australia. After taking their foot off the gas, it was Australia who emerged with more credit at full-time. Andy Farrell and Maro Itoje have spoken about standards and they will be driving the message this week that the second half just wasn't good enough. How did you rate the Scotland midfield axis of Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones? CC: They were outstanding in a dominant first-half performance. Russell's pass to create the opening try for Tuipulotu was world class and the Wallabies defence had no answer to the Scotland playmaker. Tuipulotu revelled in the occasion after some of the jibes from the Aussies, but it was Jones who really impressed me. He has been one of the Lions standout performers across the tour so far. He was unfortunate to have a try ruled out but some of the lines he was running were devastating and he's clearly a player at the peak of his powers right now. AN: Finn was magic in the first half. He controlled the game beautifully, kicking well, passing sharply and looked total class. His build-up play for Sione's try was brilliant; two very different passes but both executed perfectly. His only blip was when he butchered the cross-field kick for Joe McCarthy. He will be gutted as he normally gets those kick passes right on the money. Sione was excellent as well, bringing great shape to the Lions attack, running direct when it was required. Huw almost got on the scoresheet as well but his try was ruled out fo not releasing the ball in a tackle. Huw did a lot of good things and, collectively, they defended very well against the strength of this Australia team, their centres. JW: They were excellent as a unit and should be proud of their input. One of Finn's super strengths is his ability to have time on the ball and assess which option to take, all within milliseconds. His pass for Sione's try was a brilliant example of that. Defensively they were capable of keeping the Australia X-factor players quiet. A good day's work all round. Australia looked under-cooked in the first half. Have you been surprised by their approach, their lack of game time, and their reluctance to release players to play for their club sides during the warm-up games? AN: They were really poor in the first 50 and only got back in because the Lions dropped off. There's been a lot of talk out here about how Australia have got the build-up all wrong. Which seems very strange as they have known for 12 years the Lions were coming. One theory is they are still correcting the huge errors made by Eddie Jones but, fundamentally, they haven't got the players and t did not look fully prepared. This series could make or break Australian rugby because there is so much sport out here that it's competing against, and one thing Aussies like is success. They will not get behind a losing team, so the next two weeks are huge for Australian rugby. JW: The biggest head scratcher for me has been their Test team only playing one Test, against Fiji, in the run-up. If their internationalists were not playing for clubs/provinces, I don't understand why they did not schedule more full fixtures. The CEO and planners in Australian rugby appear to have got it majorly wrong in that respect. CC: They came into this series with only one game under their belt. This tour has essentially been in the diary for 12 years, so I can't understand why the Wallabies have been so badly prepared. It would have made much more sense for more of their Test players to play in the warm-up games and get a taste of what the Lions are all about. In the first half on Saturday, they looked woefully off the pace and that ultimately comes down to a lack of proper preparation. Given the gulf in quality between the teams, should we be expecting 3-0 series whitewash? This could be the most one-sided Lions series in history. CC: If the Lions don't win 3-0, the tour will be viewed as a failure. They are miles ahead. We love to build these things up and try to portray the matches as having jeopardy attached to them. But the reality is these two teams are a total mismatch in terms of quality. The Lions should wipe the floor with the Wallabies and rack up some big numbers on the scoreboard. They dropped off massively in the second half on Saturday. I don't expect the same slackness in the next two games. We could well see them put 50 points on the Aussies in either of the next two games. AN: I always saw the second test in Melbourne as the potential banana skin for the Lions, mainly because of the scale of the stadium, the importance of the stadium in Australian culture and how it might inspire the Wallabies into action. After watching them on Saturday, I am not concerned. The Lions are the much better team, look better connected and coached and should win this series 3-0. JW: My worry is that Australia have the capacity to improve by at least 20 per cent this weekend, which will definitely cause the Lions trouble if they do. Having said that, the Lions can play better than they did and Farrell and the players will know they need to recover well, refocus and find another 10-15 per cent in their performance levels. What's your view on the tour as a whole so far? Has it lived up to previous tours or been a bit flat so far? AN: From a rugby perspective, it has not been that exciting because the opposition have not been able to be really competitive in the warm-up games. It felt flat when I was watching it from Edinburgh, but since arriving into the Sea of Red in Brisbane the Lions still has huge interest for the fans. Russell's valiant attempt to stop Max Jorgensen comes to nothing as the Wallaby hits the line I hosted an event on Saturday with almost 5,000 Lions fans and the stadium was split 50/50, so there is huge excitement from a fans perspective. JW: The one disappointment has been the lack of genuine jeopardy in the games running up to the first Test. Australia are the weakest Southern Hemisphere team at the moment so it was always likely to be the case. Releasing the Test players to the warm-up games was a no brainier to me. It will likely mean a change to how any future Lions tours to Australia look in future. CC: It has undoubtedly been flat. Rugby union is dying a slow death in Australia. As a sport, it's just not all that popular any more. The fans haven't really bought into the tour and it hasn't been helped by the fact so many of the warm-up games were so uninspiring. When the Lions go on tour in New Zealand and South Africa, you know it's going to be box-office. The Springboks and the All Blacks represent a mighty challenge, whereas the Wallabies are very much the poor relation. What changes would you like to see being made for this week? Or will Andy Farrell stick with the same team? JW: Everything points to the same team unless there are injuries. There is definitely room to make changes on the bench. Henry Pollock is the obvious one to bring into the conversation due to his high energy and ability to influence a game. I also have a sneaky feeling Owen Farrell might just find his way into the Test squad over the next two weekends. CC: I expect Farrell will probably stick with the same team. But there is definitely an argument for adding more firepower out wide. Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham would have scored a bucketload of tries on Saturday, especially during a dominant first half. But James Lowe and Tommy Freeman were relatively quiet on the wings. I don't expect Farrell to drop Lowe given their relationship with Ireland, but Freeman might be the one whose place is under threat. Van der Merwe and Graham would bring explosive pace and finishing prowess to a back-three who looked slightly one dimensional at times. AN: Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry were simply outstanding and fully vindicated the decision to pick them. Garry Ringrose will be available again after his head knock which will definitely mean there will be a discussion on the 13 jersey. Huw Jones played well so I would stick with him, mainly because I would not want to change that winning partnership and understanding with Sione and Finn. If Blair Kinghorn is fit, he will be in the mix but I think Farrell will go with the same team, with the message to take the series with a convincing win in Melbourne.
Telegraph
a minute ago
- Telegraph
Newcastle are having a nightmare in the transfer window
There is no point trying to pretend otherwise; there is no amount of spin that can turn this into a positive for Newcastle United. They have had a bad summer and nobody at the club will try and argue differently. They have tried and failed to sign at least five of their priority targets. They have been snubbed. It is the painful sting of rejection. A realignment in recruitment is needed. Newcastle wanted to sign Bryan Mbeumo (going to Manchester United), Liam Delap (joined Chelsea), João Pedro (signed for Chelsea) and Hugo Ekitike (on the verge of joining Liverpool). They also held a brief interest in Matheus Cunha (gone to Manchester United) and Dean Huijsen (signed for Real Madrid) before swiftly moving on. They are also now in danger of losing out to Manchester City in their attempt to buy goalkeeper James Trafford from Burnley. The player had wanted to join Newcastle for more than a year. Newcastle had a deal worth £20m in place to sign the England Under-21 international, only for the plug to be pulled shortly after Paul Mitchell was appointed as sporting director 12 months ago. The club had been willing to improve that offer to £25m in this window, but Burnley have been holding out for £40m following their return to the Premier League. Negotiations reached a stalemate and now Man City – who negotiated a 20 per cent sell-on clause when they sold him to Burnley in 2023 – have made their interest in the 22-year-old known. It looks like Newcastle are going to miss out on another key target. The reality is this: Newcastle are shopping in the top-tier player market because they want to build a top-level team. That is fine in theory, but in practice, they fail whenever there is competition. The pool of elite players is a small one. Everyone is looking for the same things but other clubs can offer more money, their name carries more prestige, they have a legacy aura. They also have the lure of London and Manchester. When rich clubs have overthrown the old order in the past – like Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and even Chelsea – they shook things up and turned heads with pound sterling. Newcastle have the richest owners in the world in the form of Saudi Arabia's PIF, but the financial rules were changed precisely to prevent Newcastle doing the same. These are long-standing issues. We have gone over this ground before, but this summer has highlighted the problems it presents once more. When Newcastle were looking to close the gap on the 'Big Six', they signed up-and-coming players who could grow with them. They identified players with potential, such as Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães, before the bigger clubs were willing to take a chance on them. Their needs are different now. They have closed the gap, but staying there is a different sort of challenge. They desired 'plug-in-and-play' signings who could make an instant impact on the Champions League and the Premier League. That is the level they find themselves at because of results on the pitch but, given their many failures in this window, they may have to tilt back in the former direction. Unfortunately, Newcastle are the weakest members of that top-tier group from a financial and prestige standpoint. It has been reaffirmed by everything that has happened over the past few weeks. What we have seen, ever since manager Eddie Howe said they needed to be dynamic and move swiftly in the market back in May, is a collision between expectation and reality. A club with huge ambitions has been forced to confront the fact they are not operating at the same level as those they strive to compete with every season. Newcastle currently have the eighth-largest wage bill in English football and that will almost certainly not change this year. The bruising truth is it might never do so. They could edge ahead of Aston Villa, just as they edged ahead of them in the league table last season, but the gap between themselves and the Big Six remains a gulf because so too do the revenue streams. Newcastle may have enjoyed their most successful period for more than two decades, qualifying for the Champions League twice, as well as winning their first domestic trophy for 70 years, but they have exceeded expectations and defied predictions. They have, in short, massively over-achieved. Nobody thought they could qualify for the Champions League and win a trophy 12 months ago, when a second transfer window passed without a first-team signing being made, but somehow they managed it. It was a triumph against the odds, but you cannot keep pulling off miracles. Everyone at the club recognised that back in the spring when shortlists were drawn up. This summer was the chance to build a bigger squad, with more depth and upgrades in key positions. Having rid themselves of PSR constraints, this transfer window was supposed to be transformative. Instead, Newcastle have hit a ceiling they are struggling to break through. They have improved with the signing of Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest, which ended a three-year search for a right sided forward. But they have so much still to do. More players will arrive before deadline day, but internally there is a desire not to panic. As frustrating and as disappointing as recruitment has been up to this point, the worst thing they can do is sign someone for the sake of it, just to quieten the clamour for new faces that always comes at this time of year. In turn, Newcastle have refused to be bullied. With Liverpool, and others, circling Isak, the pressure on them has been building. Of course, the player has been unsettled. It would be impossible not to be. Isak had been promised a new contract by former co-owner Amanda Staveley in 2024. However, Mitchell, who left the club last month, decided not to open those talks as Isak had more than three years left on his current deal and the club's PSR position made it difficult. This led to acrimony and the player's agent felt insulted. Everything that has followed can be traced back to that moment. But Newcastle have been steadfast. They insist, from the very top, which means chairman Yasir Al-Rumayaan and co-owner Jamie Reuben, that Isak is not for sale at any price this summer. For the time being, they will let the noise and the distractions die down. They respect the fact the constant speculation about his future has been difficult for him as well as them. But when the dust settles, they will offer him a new deal that would make him the club's highest earner. A mess was created that still needs to be cleared up. It is a difficult task, especially when there is no sporting director and the chief executive, Darren Eales, is working his notice. Running a club without a proper executive team is not the way any football club should operate, let alone one that aspires to be 'number one' according to their chairman. However, for all the setbacks in terms of bringing players in this summer to improve the squad, the one thing Newcastle could not countenance is making themselves weaker. Ambitious clubs do not sell their best players to a direct rival, for well below their valuation, when they have three years left on their contract. And Newcastle do remain ambitious, even if they do not have everything in place to achieve their goals at the moment. Isak is far too good and far too integral to how they play to lose him. Struggling to sign players is one thing; selling the world-class ones you have would be even worse. In a tricky period, that at least has been recognised.
