Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal gave all they could in title fight
Mikel Arteta admitted there was 'nothing else to squeeze' from his Arsenal side after they finished second in the Premier League for a third consecutive season. Arteta confirmed transfer plans are in place to try and end a 21-year wait for the title.
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World Test Championship final quick hits: Steve Smith's nightmare, Marnus Labuschagne's switch and South Africa's reviews
Travis Head falls to a screamer, Steve Smith falls to a part-timer, and South Africa fails to review on day one at Lord's. Here are the quick hits from the World Test Championship final. Marnus Labuschagne is the latest Australian batter to try a move to opener to kickstart their career. Ravi Shastri endorsed the move, AB de Villiers said he looked "very decisive", but half an hour before lunch on day one he was walking back to the pavilion with just 17 runs next to his name. Labuschagne has scored just one Test century since December 2022 and while he looked relatively assured in his first outing as a Test opener, every innings without a major score adds a little more pressure to the once and future king. Travis Head had a wild slash at the first ball he faced from Marco Jansen but he couldn't reach it, only to make contact with his sixth ball, lofting him over cover. Once he got going, it looked like he was set to lead another recovery effort like the match-winning 285-run partnership with Steve Smith in the 2023 WTC final. Head played a few more attacking shots as he threatened to pull off a typically ferocious counter-attack, but in the last over before lunch it came undone thanks to a stunning grab. Jansen speared a ball down the leg side and Head looked to whip it over mid-wicket, as he so often has, but could only get a feather on it and South Africa wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne leapt gloriously to snaffle a catch in his right glove. South Africa had no luck with reviews early on at Lord's. Twice the Australians were caught in front, twice they were given not out, twice they were sent upstairs and twice they were saved by the umpire's call. So, perhaps it was with that precedent in mind that Temba Bavuma opted against referring one that would have been overturned. Kagiso Rabada was all over Beau Webster early in the second session when the gigantic all-rounder came forward to one and crumpled as the ball collected a mixture of front and back pad. It was given not out by the standing umpire, but it looked plumb — and that's because it was. The two sounds saved Webster, as Bavuma made a very recognisable "bat first" signal with his hands rather than the "T" calling for a review. Later in the innings, as Webster found some rhythm, Bavuma decided to send Lungi Ngidi's shout upstairs only to have replays show the ball cannon into the middle of his bat. Aiden Markram is rarely called on to bowl in Tests for South Africa, boasting a grand total of 80 overs from 16 of his 45 games before the Lord's clash. So, when he was brought on for some off spin after one over of Wiaan Mulder's second spell, it felt like he was only being used to swing someone around to the other end. His first five balls passed without much consequence, but on the last, Steve Smith, fresh from his fifth journey past 50 from his last six innings at Lord's, slashed and edged. As Marco Jansen fumbled, it appeared Smith might get a life, but when the big slip snaffled it on his third attempt, Smith was Markram's fourth Test scalp, taking his bowling average from 85 down to 64 in one delivery. After Mitchell Starc struck with the wicket of Markram in the first over — the 19th time Starc struck in his first offering — it put Mulder in the fearsome left-armer's sights. And he should have had him in the fifth over when he sent a ball across the batter and found a regulation edge. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey moved to his right but as he went down onto his right knee, the ball stayed higher than he expected and hit the heel of his hands, bounced into his chest and onto the ground. It was as easy a chance as you can expect at Test level, with former Test opener Matthew Hayden labelling it an "absolute sitter" in commentary. The pain would have been eased for Starc when he removed Ryan Rickelton soon after, while Mulder scratched his way to 6 off 44 before being castled by Pat Cummins.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Soccer players call for Football Australia to ban yellow-card bets, tackle match fixing
The professional soccer players' association has called for gambling on yellow cards to be banned in the wake of the A-League's second match fixing scandal in 12 months. In a rare public criticism of Football Australia, Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) has also blasted the governing body's integrity unit, demanding that it drastically scale-up its player education program. The association's CEO Beau Busch said he decided to make the organisation's demands public after a player with Melbourne-based A-League team Western United was last week charged with match-fixing offences involving games played in April and May. The latest scandal comes a year after three Macarthur FC players were charged with match-fixing offences in May last year. If convicted, the players allegedly involved in both matters face potential prison time. "We need to learn from this now. We need to get far better," Mr Busch said. "If it's a matter of public pressure being applied to deliver better outcomes for the game, we're comfortable doing that." ABC Investigations revealed last week that Victoria's gambling regulator has launched a probe into Football Australia's ability to protect its players from match fixing, and the range of betting markets it allows on soccer. Football Australia is currently renegotiating its contracts with bookmakers that set out the range of games and elements of play on which gambling companies can offer bets. Mr Busch called on Football Australia to ban gambling on yellow cards in the wake of the Macarthur FC and Western United matters. In both cases, players are alleged to have intentionally received yellow cards in acts of apparent spot-fixing. Mr Busch said allowing such bets was "potentially leaving sport open to more manipulation". "We need to look at how damaging this has been to the sport and can we have confidence that we can design a new system that will negate those risks as well?" He said gambling should only be allowed on yellow cards again if Football Australia drastically improved its integrity training. In 2023, Four Corners revealed that Football Australia gets a cut from bets placed on all levels of soccer in Australia, from international Socceroos and Matildas games to amateur suburban matches. The governing body does not publicly disclose exactly how much revenue it earns from the payments from gambling companies, which are known as product fees. But its latest annual report showed it received $15.1 million in "other" revenue during 2024, which included product fees from gambling companies, appearance fees, fines against players and payments from the A-League operator, Australian Professional Leagues. Football Australia's acting CEO, Heather Garriock, has been travelling in Saudi Arabia for the Socceroos latest World Cup qualifier, so was unavailable for an interview. Football Australia did not respond to questions about its negotiations with gambling companies. Mr Busch called for a bigger proportion of Football Australia's gambling revenue to be invested in integrity education for players. "You should not get the benefit of this gambling money that comes into the sport without the burden of making sure our people are safe," he said. Mr Busch said the current integrity training program — which is delivered as an annual, online video seminar — did not adequately teach players about the consequences of match fixing. Mr Busch said his association had repeatedly asked the governing body to resume in-person integrity training — which was moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic — since the Macarthur FC players were charged a year ago. "We've tried to work collaboratively with Football Australia to try to improve that, but I don't think there has been a significant improvement despite the damage that has occurred to the sport," he said. "We want to see that swiftly remedied." No system is 100 per cent secure, but the Signal app can be used to protect your identity by using end-to-end encryption. Please read the terms and conditions of the app to work out if it is the best method of communication for you. Mr Busch said when he played in the A-League in the late-2000s, teams were forced to undergo an annual intensive training program run by Football Australia's integrity unit that drilled into them the risks of match fixing. "There was a significant workshop that we did in the preseason," he said. "It was an in-person workshop." He said the current online seminar is only delivered in English, and in-person training should cater to players recruited from overseas. "If you look at the players that are playing in our competition, we have a range of languages, from Spanish and Japanese, to French, Italian and German," he said. "We need to make sure that every single player has not only sat and watched the webinar but actually can clearly understand their obligations." After the ABC put the players association's concerns to Football Australia, it responded by saying it would resume face-to-face integrity training before the start of the next A-League season. "Football Australia and several other bodies, including Sport Integrity Australia (SIA), Professional Footballers Australia, FIFA, and the Asian Football Confederation, contribute to the delivery of integrity education," it said in a statement. "Football Australia is continually evolving the delivery of its integrity education in conjunction with other partners. "Football Australia continues to engage with the PFA to further strengthen the delivery and content of integrity education." Melbourne University sports integrity expert Jack Anderson said player education was crucial in combating match fixing in soccer. "Proper education, engaging with the players face-to-face and regularly circling back to them during the season, is hugely important," he said. "When you think about the poor publicity that a sport attracts when things go wrong, any investment in education will pay huge dividends."
