In today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Dame Lisa Carrington has made a strong start to the World Canoe Sprint World Championships in Canada.

Carrington along with Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughn won their heat of the K4 500 to qualify directly to the final.

New Zealand's most decorated Olympian then won her heat of the K1 500 to qualify for the semi-finals.

Ashton Reiser in the men's K1 500, James Munro in the K1 1000 and the men's K4 500 are all through to their respective semi-finals.

Carrington is also competing in the K1 200 and the K2 500.

Phoenix win opener

The Wellington Phoenix have beaten Devenport City Strikers 4-0 in their round of 32 match of the Australia Cup.

Ben Waine bagged a brace either side of a maiden first team goal for Oskar van Hattum before new import Bozhidar Kraev marked his debut off the bench by scoring Wellington's fourth.

Their prize is a round of 16 match with beaten A-League grand finalists Melbourne City.

The two sides met in the quarter-finals of last season's competition, with the Nix prevailing in a memorable penalty shoot-out.

Phoenix head coach Ufuk Talay says it was a good, professional performance from the players to overcome Devonport.

"Overall pretty happy with the outcome tonight and pretty happy with the performance, especially the second half performance. And scoring four goals is very good for the team."

The Phoenix will now head to Sydney, where they will play a training match against Central Coast Mariners this weekend.

The date and venue for their Australia Cup round of 16 match against Melbourne City will be confirmed in the coming days.

Albon staying at Williams

British-born Thai driver Alex Albon will be staying at F1 team Williams beyond next season on a multi-year agreement.

There was no word on his future team mate. The second seat is currently filled by Canadian Nicholas Latifi, with speculation he is likely to be replaced.

Williams had flagged up on social media they were making an announcement, with Formula One followers in a high state of excitement after a couple of bombshell driver moves in the last two days.

Australian Oscar Piastri, the youngster who was announced by Renault-owned Alpine as a 2023 driver on Tuesday and then publicly rejected the move, has also been linked to Williams.

Albon joined the Mercedes-powered team this year following a year out of Formula One after losing his seat at Red Bull.

The former champions are last in the standings after 13 races, with Albon scoring all three points so far. Latifi is the only driver on the grid who has yet to score.

-Reuters

Players to stop taking a knee

Premier League players will stop the pre-match anti-racism gesture of taking the knee before every match.

Top-flight clubs started taking a knee to support the Black Lives Matter movement, which rose to prominence following the death of George Floyd in the United States in May 2020.

Premier League captains took the decision after consulting with players.

The gesture will instead be seen before certain rounds of games, including the Boxing Day fixtures and cup finals.

Players and staff will also take the knee before the first and last matches of the 2022-23 campaign as well as dedicated No Room for Racism match rounds in October and March.

The gesture took place before the Community Shield between Liverpool and Manchester City last Saturday.

Captains and players are said to believe that 'less is more' - hoping when the knee is taken it will have greater impact.

The gesture was inspired by NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who decided on the silent protest against racial oppression by kneeling during the US national anthem.

-BBC

Offside technology to be used in Champions League

Semi-automated offside technology will be used in the Champions League this season after being introduced for next week's UEFA Super Cup match between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt.

The system, which uses special cameras that will track body points on players, will be used for the Super Cup in Helsinki and then from the Champions League group stage.

UEFA said the new system will operate with special cameras that track 29 different body points per player, with a total of 188 tests performed since 2020, including all games from last season's Champions League, the knockout stage of the Women's Champions League and the women's Euros.

The Super Cup game takes place on Aug. 10, with English referee Michael Oliver appointed as the on-field official.

FIFA said last month that SAOT would be used at this year's World Cup in Qatar, promising decisions that are more accurate and a lot quicker.

Using cameras strategically positioned around the stadiums, and a chip in the match ball, FIFA said the technology will go a long way to cutting down on VAR decisions on marginal offside calls and reduce the time needed to check.

Spectators will also be able to see some of the 3D animation when VAR decisions are explained on a stadium's screen.

-Reuters

Voice of baseball dies

Vin Scully, one of baseball's most revered broadcasters who called Dodgers' games for a record-breaking 67 years and narrated some of the sport's greatest moments, has died at the age of 94.

"We have lost an icon," Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten said.

Scully joined the Dodgers' broadcast crew in 1950 when the club still played in Brooklyn. He followed the team to Los Angeles in 1958, where for generations of Southern California fans he was "the soundtrack to summer," personifying "Dodger baseball" more than any player.

He also attracted a national following as the voice of NBC's baseball "Game of the Week" and broadcast numerous World Series.

In October 2016, when at age 88 he left the Dodgers booth, long since named in his honor, he completed the longest tenure with one team of any professional sports broadcaster.

In his final games, he was celebrated by the Dodgers at an emotional farewell ceremony, hailed as a "national treasure" by the U.S. Congress and the national media, and saluted by fans and players alike with standing ovations.

Shortly after his retirement, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, at a White House ceremony.

-Reuters

Warriors sign assistant coach

Experienced Super League coach Richard Agar will join the Warriors on a two-year deal as an assistant coach from next season.

The 50-year-old Agar's coaching résumé includes head coach roles with Hull FC, Wakefield Wildcats, Warrington Wolvesand Leeds Rhinos while he is a current assistant coach with Toa Samoa.

"Richard has tremendous experience in top level coaching and will add huge value to our coaching team," said Warriors CEO Cameron George.

"He'll provide terrific support for our new head coach Andrew Webster in his role alongside his fellow assistant coaches Stacey Jones and Justin Morgan."