RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP FINAL:

If you’re gay, don’t hold hands, if you fancy a drink, keep it to one — the russian World Cup already comes complete with travel tips that make it sound about as welcoming as a wet weekend in, well, repino, where Gareth Southgate and his england players will be holed up in what appears to be a remake of The

Shining, with borscht. Not all nonconformist behaviour is frowned upon in russia, however. Implication in a systematic, government-backed athlete doping programme appears to be no hindrance to free passage at all — or at least it doesn’t in the case of deputy prime minister and head of the russian football federation Vitaly Mutko, who will be playing a prominent role in today’s World Cup draw, when he should be banned from every sporting event on the planet.