20 Jun 2020

Today's sports news: What you need to know

9:53 am on 20 June 2020

Latest - Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes fired home a late penalty to rescue a point for the visitors in a lively 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier football League.

Bruno Fernandes of Man Utd celebrates a goal.

Bruno Fernandes Photo: PHOTOSPORT

It had looked as though Dutchman Steven Bergwijn's first-half strike would prove enough to revive Tottenham's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

But United, with Paul Pogba sent on as a substitute just past the hour for his first appearance since January, stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12.

Pogba added some spark to United's play and it was his dribble that forced a clumsy tackle by Eric Dier to concede the penalty that Fernandes fired past Hugo Lloris.

United thought they had another penalty awarded in stoppage time when Fernandes went over under challenge from Dier but VAR rightly reversed the decision to the home side's relief.

Tottenham remained in eighth spot on 42 points while United are fifth on 46, two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

Meanwhile Southampton hammered bottom side Norwich City 3-0 at Carrow Road.

It was Southampton's seventh away win of the season and takes them up to 13th on the table.

-Reuters

Zanardi in hospital

Former Formula One driver and twice Champ Car champion Alex Zanardi underwent surgery for severe head injuries after being involved in a road accident while racing his handbike in Italy.

Alex Zanardi, Italian champion on HandBike.

Alex Zanardi Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Siena's Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital said in a statement that the 53-year- old Italian, who lost both legs and nearly his life in a 2001 Champ Car crash in Germany, was in a "very serious" condition.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported sources saying the accident involved a truck on a state highway near the town of Pienza to the south-east of Siena.

The hospital said the four-times Paralympic road cycling gold medallist was flown to Siena by air ambulance and arrived at around 6pm local time (1600 GMT).

Sky Italia television reported that Zanardi had been competing in the 'Obiettivo Tricolore' road race for Italian paralympic athletes.

Zanardi is an inspirational figure in the worlds of motorsport and paralympic endeavour, a hugely popular and positive competitor who returned from life- changing injuries with a smile.

He had both legs amputated above the knee, with his heart stopping seven times as he lost all but a litre of the blood in his body, after the horrific crash at the Lausitzring in Germany in 2001.

-Reuters

A-League to be televised

The rest of the A-League football competition will be televised after Football Federation Australia and Fox Sports confirmed an agreement on a new broadcast deal through to the end of July 2021.

2019 A-League champions, Sydney FC.

Sydney FC Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The agreement ensures that the remainder of the current A-League season will resume on 16 July and be completed as planned.

FFA CEO James Johnson says a key feature of the new broadcast deal includes a shift in the timing of the next A-League season, with the 2020/21 season now commencing in December 2020 and concluding in July 2021.

The A-League is scheduled to resume on July 16th.

The Wellington Phoenix fly to Australia today with their first game back against Sydney FC on July 17th.

Sane to leave City

Manchester City's Germany winger Leroy Sane has turned down the offer of a contract extension and will leave the club, manager Pep Guardiola said.

Leroy Sane of Manchester City.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

"Leroy has rejected to extend his contract. Everyone knows. If at the end of the season two clubs agree he can leave, if not he will leave at the end of his contract.

"The club offered two or three times and he rejected it," Guardiola told a news conference ahead of Monday's game with Burnley in the Premier League.

Sane's contract runs out at the end of next season.

Guardiola said he had wanted Sane to stay but the player wants to make a fresh start.

-Reuters

Neymar to pay back almost 12 million dollars

Paris St Germain and Brazil forward Neymar has been ordered to pay his former club Barcelona $11.7 million after losing a lawsuit over an unpaid bonus.

Neymar of PSG

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Neymar moved from Barca to PSG for a world record fee of $387 million in 2017 but took the La Liga side to court over the terms of the last contract he signed with them a year earlier, claiming he was entitled to $76 million.

Despite their long-running legal dispute, Barca tried to sign Neymar last year and the player even stopped training with PSG in order to try and force through the move, prompting angry protests from the French side's supporters.

The move eventually broke down, with PSG's sporting director Leonardo claiming Barca failed to meet their asking price for the forward, who formed a world-beating attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez between 2014 and 2017.

-Reuters

Mercedes can go quicker

Six times world champion Lewis Hamilton can expect a quicker car when the Formula One season finally starts in Austria next month, with Mercedes promising plenty of updates.

Lewis Hamilton in Singapore

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The W11 car unveiled in February has yet to race, with the season delayed since March by the COVID-19 pandemic, and team technical director James Allison said months' worth of improvements were in the pipeline.

"So we've got quite a lot of ideas about how to make it quicker... our challenge now is to make sure that that quarter of a year of development can get off the drawing boards and onto the car as swiftly as possible.

Mercedes have won the last six drivers' and constructors' championships and were fastest in pre-season testing in Spain in February.

A seventh title for Hamilton would equal Michael Schumacher's all-time record.

The season will start with two races at Austria's Red Bull Ring on July 5 and 12. and Allison said that already felt 'desperately close'.

-Reuters

Redskins statue taken down

A statue of former Washington Redskins NFL owner George Preston Marshall was removed from the grounds of RFK Stadium.

Marshall integrated the franchise only after being forced to do so in the 1960s.

In 1962, Marshall was the last NFL owner to integrate.

Marshall launched the franchise as the Boston Braves in 1932 and remained the principal owner until he died in 1969.

In 1933, the franchise was renamed the Redskins and shared Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox. Marshall brought the team to his hometown of Washington, D.C., in 1937.

--Reuters

Djokovic still inspire by the other two

Novak Djokovic still feels inspired by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the world number one, adding that the rivalry between the so-called 'Big Three' is a great promotion for tennis.

The "GOAT" (greatest of all time) debate in men's tennis has divided opinions in the last decade and still remains a hot topic as the triumvirate continue to dominate the field, sharing the last 13 grand slam titles among them.

Federer, who will be 39 in August, leads the race with 20 grand slam singles titles, with Spaniard Nadal close on his heels with 19.

Djokovic is three behind the Swiss with 17 majors under his belt and is the youngest of the trio - at 33 he is a year younger than Nadal.

"What Roger and Rafa are doing is epic. Both of these guys are legends," the Serb told Tennis Channel.

"They do inspire me and I have said this millions of times and I will say it again. They made me the player I am today. They still continue to inspire me and motivate me to be even better.

Djokovic has previously said he believes he will win the most grand slam titles and become the longest-reigning world No.1 by the time he retires.

-Reuters