Sport news in brief
Klopp admits he tried to sign Sancho
Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he considered signing Jadon Sancho from Manchester City before he moved to Borussia Dortmund, only to be scuppered by the culture of English clubs not selling to domestic rivals.
Klopp, whose Liverpool team face Bayern Munich at Anfield in the first leg of the Champions League last-16, had been asked about the current condition of German football when he made the revelation.
“Buying English players is a smart idea because we would never have a chance to get Sancho,” he said. “We are not blind – we saw him, we liked him and then we think, ‘Can we get him?’ No. Because English clubs don’t sell to other English clubs. I don’t know exactly what the reason is for that but they don’t do it. Now, they can go to Germany which is a wonderful league.”
Semenya accuses IAAF before landmark case
Caster Semenya has said the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) breached confidentiality regulations ahead of her appeal hearing on Monday where she is fighting for her athletics future.
The South African 800-metres double Olympic champion is seeking to overturn a new set of IAAF regulations that are aimed at lowering the testosterone levels of hyperandrogenic athletes.
The appeal, being heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, could be a landmark case for the sport with wide-reaching consequences.
Semenya believes the IAAF breached confidentiality rules of the hearing after they released the names of five expert witnesses they will bring to the CAS to testify on their behalf.
England coach reveals Gatland rivalry
John Mitchell recalls the time his intense club rivalry with Warren Gatland would force him to leave the house he shared with the Wales coach in Hamilton.
Working in the capacity of England’s defensive mastermind, Mitchell will be looking to deny his longstanding friend in Saturday’s Six Nations title clash at the Principality Stadium.
The Kiwi duo played together for provincial heavyweights Waikato 124 times, but they also locked horns as opponents, placing their relationship under temporary strain that extended beyond Gatland’s gripe that his provincial captain “wasn’t a great flat-mate – he wasn’t much good at the cooking and housework”.
“Warren probably thinks he was a better house-mate than me and I was the untidy one!” Mitchell said. “It was a bit of a student house. He had another team-mate in our house, he was the best man at our wedding, and I had another team-mate in there too. We were probably perceived as the more scruffy of the two.
“We were arch rivals so whenever we played each other there was always competitive tension that night so one would leave the house for the night. I was the one to want my focus a bit earlier so I would go to my girlfriend’s. I’d just depart without any consultation.”
United face trip to Molineux in quarter-finals
Last season’s finalists Manchester United will travel to Molineux to take on Wolves in the quarter-final of the FA Cup.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side last won the cup in 1960 under the captaincy of the late Bill Slater.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer strengthened his case to be made full-time Manchester United boss and confirmed the Red’s place in the last eight with a 2-0 win at Chelsea.
United avoided their city rivals for another round whilst Pep Guardiola’s City will make the journey down to The Liberty Stadium to face Championship Swansea.
Swansea v Man City
Watford v Crystal Palace
Wolves v Man United
Millwall v Brighton