Category: Sports

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Marshall Levenson
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Elite Tampa (Fla.) Tampa Bay Tech wide receiver Dallas Wilson committed to the Oregon Ducks well over one year in January 2023.Because of his talent level though, schools have certainly not given u…

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John Garcia Jr.
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Rivals.com

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College football recruiting is a year-round deal for most elite recruits, and certainly some recruiting trips hold more value than others. It’s not limited to the undeclared, of course, as plenty o…

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Rory McIlroy has denied reports linking him with a move to LIV Golf, and insists his future lies with the PGA Tour.

London financial paper City AM reported at the weekend that McIlroy, who has been among the staunchest critics of the Saudi-funded breakaway, could be about to jump ship in a deal worth £680m.

McIlroy’s manager Sean O’Flaherty told the Irish Independent the report was “fake news” and the world No 2 was asked about the claim ahead of this week’s RBC Heritage, live on Sky Sports from midday on Thursday.

“I honestly don’t know how these things get started,” McIlroy said in an interview with Golf Channel which he subsequently posted on his official account on X, formerly Twitter. “I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV.

“I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.

“It doesn’t mean that I judge people that went and played over there, I think one of the things that I’ve realised over the past two years is people can make their own decisions for whatever they think is best for themselves and who are we to judge them for that?

“But personally for me, my future is here on the PGA Tour and it’s never been any different.”

Asked if he knew where the rumour had originated, McIlroy said: “No, no idea.

“Jeez, I think over the last two years there’s been so many rumours of guys… and I think the one thing I’ve realised as well is guys need to keep an open mind and I’m sure there’s been players who are still playing on the PGA Tour that have talked to the guys from LIV and had offers and whatever.

“But I have no idea. It’s never even been a conversation for us and it’s one of those things.

“It’s unfortunate we have to deal with it and this is the state that our game’s in but I’m obviously here today, playing this PGA Tour event and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.”

In separate interviews in January, McIlroy admitted he had been “too judgmental” of the Saudi-backed LIV circuit and the players who signed there, and he said there should be no punishment for LIV players who would wish to return to the PGA Tour.

McIlroy was then asked in March whether he’s considered joining LIV as the PGA Tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund continue, but McIlroy said the money doesn’t sway him.

“It’s not for me,” McIlroy said in March. “I’m too much of a traditionalist. I love winning golf tournaments and looking at the trophy and seeing that Sam Snead won this trophy or Ben Hogan or Gene Sarazen or Jack Nicklaus or Gary Player, Tiger Woods, Nick (Faldo), whoever it is. The people that came before me.”

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Rashee Rice and Teddy Knox are being sued in Texas for over $1 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages by two people who say they were injured in a six-vehicle crash March 30 in Dallas.

The plaintiffs, Edvard Petrovskiy and Irina Gromova, allege Rice and Knox deliberately raced their vehicles at speeds well beyond the posted limits and caused the six-vehicle crash that led to their injuries.

Rice, a wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, was the leaseholder of both vehicles and was driving one at the time of the crash. Knox, a football player and former teammate of Rice’s at SMU Mustangs, was driving the other.

Rice, 23, and Knox, 21, are each facing one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury, according to police.

In the lawsuit, Petrovskiy and Gromova claim injuries that include brain trauma, cuts to the face requiring stitches, bruises, disfigurement and internal bleeding.

They are asking for actual damages that include medical care, physical pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, mental anguish and property damage of $71,122.69.

On April 3, Rice said in an Instagram post that he took “full responsibility” for his actions.

Earlier Monday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said that the team expects Rice to participate as they began their offseason program Monday with virtual meetings. Reid wouldn’t say whether the Chiefs were planning on having Rice participate later in the spring when they move the program to Kansas City.

“I want to keep gathering the information from the law enforcement people,” Reid said. “We’ll just see where everything goes from there [and] let the process take place.”

Knox has been suspended by SMU, which said in a statement last week that it “takes these allegations seriously.”

I don’t think that this is particularly widely known or properly understood, but Jude Bellingham was always “scheduled” to be playing in the Champions League quarterfinal second leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. Only it was supposed to be for Manchester City against Real Madrid instead of Bellingham traveling to England’s north-west with Spain’s champions-elect this week.

It was January last year that I had coffee with an unimpeachable Manchester City source who, when pushed and prompted, admitted that while City might do some ancillary trading during summer 2023, there were only two absolute “must-buy” targets — Joško Gvardiol and Bellingham.

One said yes, Gvardiol, and one said no: Jude the dude. Any club, no matter how behemoth, can be forced to feel the sting of rejection. Top players have a range of options, it’s most definitely a seller’s market — no matter your club history or wealth, it’s quite feasible to miss out on a transfer-market objective.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

But even once you set aside City’s willingness to pay their principal targets stunning salaries, the concept of a young, talented and ambitious Englishman rejecting the offer to work and learn under Pep Guardiola and be likely to win a minimum of two trophies in his first season is pretty extraordinary. By the summer of 2023, Guardiola had been in charge for seven years and had won 14 trophies — an average of two per season.

What transpired, and I feel infinitesimally responsible here, was that Bellingham had already decided, even prior to Guardiola letting him know how important he could be to City, that if there were any possibility of swapping Borussia Dortmund for Madrid then he was, without any question, going to prioritise Los Blancos above any team in the world.

Responsibility? Well, during the period Spanish soccer was becoming the best, most thrilling, most winning, most technically advanced and intriguing football on the planet, I was fortunate enough to work as a part of Sky Sports LaLiga coverage in the UK — a steady 21-year stream of live matches from 1997 onwards, plus what I reckon was a superb weekly magazine show called “Revista De la Liga.”

I recall, during that golden era, regularly telling people (fans, media and plenty in the football industry) that I firmly anticipated this stream of exceptional, well-analysed football flowing into homes all over the UK for 21 years would fundamentally inspire and alter how fans, coaches, players and media thought and talked about the sport we loved. I believed that LaLiga would have a seismic influence. Big ripples in the pond.

The first interview I had with Bellingham this season was just after Madrid beat Union Berlin 1-0 in their Group C match when the Englishman, in his Champions League debut for the 14-times European champions, scored the winner in the 94th minute. It had been dramatic, and a glorious moment for a 20-year-old only a month into his first season at the Bernabéu.

He told me that “since I was a kid” he’d had a TV in his room, on which he’d seen “Madrid innumerable times produce comebacks in situations where you’re saying ‘there’s no way they’ll turn this around!’” The Sky Sports LaLiga effect. That improbably late win over Berlin was, specifically, the very thing he’d been inspired by. That, specifically, was the very thing he’d chosen to sign for Madrid to do.

Bellingham, like Gareth Bale before him, had been wholly seduced by the magic of Real Madrid’s history — the European domination, the battles with Barcelona, the iconic white shirts, the constant array of all-time great footballers who’ve been on Los Blancos‘ books. Seduced by the chance to write his own name in that history. You can easily imagine.

So, now, here we are. Madrid need to beat City in their HQ and then they have to cope with Barcelona in the Clasico on Sunday (stream LIVE from 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+). Precisely the hyper-important, potentially historic moments Bellingham joined this club in order to influence. And they’ve arrived in Manchester just when his energy and sharpness have hit a little bit of a trough.

Very few top athletes or coaches will admit to motives above and beyond winning a crucial match, medal or final — but they’re human beings. The pasta is important but the sauce adds flavour, don’t ever let them kid you it’s not so. In other words, Bellingham — along with Toni Kroos, Vinícius Júnior, Eduardo Camavinga, Antonio Rüdiger and others — have a driving purpose about them this week: to eliminate the European champions and proceed to the semifinal. But that’s not all, and anyone who says it is is lying.

Whether consciously or subconsciously, Bellingham will feel the desire to prove to Guardiola, City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain, his England teammates Phil Foden and Kyle Walker and, probably most of all, himself, that not only was he right to choose Madrid over the English champions but that he can demonstrate it in Manchester at City HQ.

The 20-year-old has been simply stunning this season — when he joined Madrid I told LaLiga TV that a phenomenon had landed and I think that’s been proven 10 times over. To change culture and language and climate, to play in the most hot-house, political, quixotic club in the world, to not only cope but to, within weeks, become one of the two or three most important, most relied-upon footballers at Real Madrid — that is an inordinate achievement.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti, realising how impactful, how mature, how determined his new recruit was, has gone on to squeeze every last drop out of Bellingham. To the player’s detriment, I think.

There’s absolutely zero wrong with the Englishman’s attitude, ideas or performance level — in fact, had he played like he’s done in the last few matches all season then people, by May, would be saying “this is impressive, he’s adapted, he’s contributed and even greater things lie ahead.”

The trouble is that Bellingham set himself such extraordinary standards that when the immense workload he’s carried (3,000 minutes, fourth most-used player, even after 38 days out injured, and 30 goal contributions) has an impact, and the needle dips even marginally, then Spain’s media report it as if it were some sort of panic-inducing crisis. Nitwits.

It’s not his stats — certainly it’s not them alone — which mark this first season in Spain as epoch-marking. It’s Jude’s chutzpah. It’s his total, head-over-heels mutual love-affair with the Madrid support, it’s his vision, his ambition, his self-belief, it’s the fun he brings to football and it’s the fact that he oozes charm, wit and enjoyment when he interacts with the media.

It’s the fact that no one at Madrid, not even senior seen-it-alls like Kroos and Luka Modric, is immune to his charm nor will they evade his critical gaze if they’ve failed to hit his standards. Highly motivated, highly demanding. He’s also carrying a shoulder problem which was caused in a heavy fall against Rayo Vallecano since November.

From that day to this he’s been playing through pain, his left shoulder has been supported by a tight-fitting sports-brace and, in my opinion, all of this is gradually gnawing at the simply exceptional performance level Bellingham’s shown since day 1 in Spain. Literally no one outside the club has put the right emphasis on how debilitating and draining this can be.

More, I think that constant niggling pain in his shoulder, plus his vicious will-to-win and the fact that he’s not getting a fair rub-of-the-green from Spanish referees, all join together to account for how often the Englishman’s been ready to snarl and show his short-fuse in recent weeks.

For my taste it’s a healthy sign. He’s confident in his environs, he’s fiercely competitive and there’s ferocity when he’s not happy about something. All of these traits are integral parts of winner-DNA, which Bellingham possesses. But his fury can’t be all-consuming to the point that it’s distracting.

Ancelotti’s comment earlier this season was: “Bellingham is a fighter, a winner who, sometimes, lets it get to him when he’s not capable of ensuring that we win a match.”

But we are entering a moment when Bellingham, even aged 20 and in his debut season, needs to be one of those who ensure that Madrid win a match. One against the reigning champions, one which would, with any old type of victory, would put Los Blancos in the semifinals [again] and one which would allow him to shake hands with Guardiola, look him in the eye and say: “Sorry to turn you down Pep but, look at what you missed out on! Do you understand my decision now…?”

And then, for afters, maybe he could win the Clasico for Madrid just like his belter of a goal helped them to do in Barcelona?

Big night on Wednesday, I wish him well. But whether or not he’s got the right stuff to put City out and Madrid through, this will remain an absolutely extraordinary season for the Englishman abroad.

FRISCO, Texas — As the Dallas Cowboys begin their voluntary offseason program Monday, All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb isn’t expected to attend workouts as he awaits a long-term contract, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Lamb is entering the final year of his rookie deal, set to earn a fully-guaranteed $17.99 million salary from his fifth-year option.

While the offseason program is voluntary, Lamb has been a regular attendee in the past. In Phase 1 of the program, players are limited to workouts, meetings and rehab. The only mandatory part of the offseason program is the June minicamp. If a player skips that, he would be subject to fines totaling more than $100,000.

While Lamb is not expected to be at the team’s facility, he has worked out with Dak Prescott and the other skill players at the quarterback’s backyard field at his house or at other locations locally in the past.

Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons also wasn’t in attendance for the start of the offseason program.

Last year, All-Pro right guard Zack Martin dealt with a calf injury for a good portion of the offseason and held out of training camp for a few weeks before signing an adjusted contract that guaranteed him $36 million in 2023 and 2024.

The Cowboys have expressed a desire to sign Lamb, who turned 25 last week, to a long-term extension since last offseason, but talks have not progressed. Last year, Lamb set team records for receptions (135, best in the NFL) and yards (1,749). His 395 catches for 5,145 yards are the most in franchise history for a player through his first four NFL seasons, as are his 18 100-yard games.

Lamb isn’t the only star receiver looking for a long-term deal. Minnesota‘s Justin Jefferson is also up for a contract extension and talks have gone slowly there, as well.

Cole Palmer and Mauricio Pochettino have both reiterated that the Chelsea midfielder is the team’s penalty taker after a “daft” spat with Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke.

Chelsea were 4-0 ahead when they were awarded a penalty, given after Abdoulaye Doucoure’s clip on Palmer inside the area.

The Blues midfielder had already scored a first-half hat-trick as Chelsea thrashed Everton 6-0, and as the second-half penalty was given, both Madueke and Jackson claimed the spot kick for themselves.

Thiago Silva came over to diffuse tensions and Madueke looked set to win the argument, before Palmer intervened to take the ball from his team-mate.

Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher also had his say to back-up Palmer’s claim, with Jackson then returning to the group. As Palmer prepared to set the ball down, there was shoving between the players and clear arguments, but Palmer eventually took – and scored – the spot kick.

It was an embarrassing incident in what was one of Chelsea’s best performances of the season, which Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher called “daft” on Monday Night Football.

Pochettino: We need to think as a collective

In his post-match interviews, Pochettino apologised to the Chelsea fans for his players’ behaviour. He added that such an incident would not happen again, encouraging his players to think as a collective.

He said: “It is a shame. We cannot behave in this way, I told them ‘this is the last time of this behaviour’.

“It is impossible to have this type of behaviour after this performance. If we want to be a great team, we need to change and think in a collective way.

“It’s a process for a young team who need to learn a lot. I was talking about this to the players after the game. It’s the last time I want to see something like this. I want to apologise to the fans.

“We need to make clear next time that happens. They need to learn and be professional. We need to be focused on the collective. They knew it was Cole. Cole is the taker. It’s a clear example that it’s a process we still need to learn.”

When asked if there would be a punishment for Madueke and Jackson, and if they apologised, Pochettino added: “No [there will be no punishment]. It’s about learning. They are young guys.

“Remember Burnley? No one wanted to take and he [Palmer] showed the personality… The discipline is going to be more strong. If they behave like a kid? Here it’s impossible. It’s a shame and unacceptable thing.

“I think we all agreed this behaviour cannot happen again and they were wrong… We are like in a school now to show they were wrong and they need to learn. If they don’t learn after we will take some decisions. Now it’s about to learn and use this type of experience to move on and be better.”

Palmer: I’m the penalty taker and I wanted to take it

Palmer added to an already exemplary first season with Chelsea with a perfect hat-trick and the penalty at Stamford Bridge.

He admitted the spat might have been taken a bit too far, but added there is no bad blood between the players.

“Other players wanted to take it, which is understandable because it’s 4-0,” he told Sky Sports. “But I’m the penalty taker and I wanted to take so in the end, I took it.

“We’re trying to show that everyone wants to take responsibility, maybe it was a bit over the top with the argument and stuff but everyone wants to help. It was nothing major, we were laughing and joking about it. The gaffer has told us now.”

Carragher surprised by Pochettino reaction

After both interviews, Carragher said he was surprised that Pochettino was as vocal about the spat as he was, explaining: “I wasn’t expecting that from Pochettino.

“When the players were interviewed, they tried to downplay the situation. I thought it might be the case that everyone was sat down in the dressing room and the manager gave the players a message of what they were saying and downplay it after a great win.

“It was really interesting how upset Pochettino was and how angry he is at that situation.

“He’s looking at it as the best night for his team and him as a manager at Chelsea, but people are going to be talking about this situation.

“I was surprised by his reaction, but also pleased as well because he’s sending a really strong message to the players. I don’t think it will happen again.”

Dele: Players showed their age

Everton midfielder Dele joined Carragher on Monday Night Football, and said Jackson and Madueke showed flashes of their inexperience at 22 years old.

“For me, this is the players showing their age,” he said.

“Pochettino will be very disappointed. The big thing about him is that he cares so much about you as a person and the players showing that kind of thing, it’s selfish.

“It’s good to see your strikers wanting to score but if you aren’t the penalty taker, you don’t try and get the ball. They are young so as long as they learn from it.

“It’s a shame because they’ve had an amazing night. It’s a shame because this is what people will be talking about, rather than their amazing performance.”

HOUSTON — Coach DeMeco Ryans made it clear he isn’t paying attention to the hype the Houston Texans are receiving.

“We don’t care about expectations,” Ryans said Monday. “Talk doesn’t win games. We have to go out and play good football when the time comes.”

The Texans spent $178.5 million this offseason in guaranteed money, according to Roster Management System, the fourth most in the NFL.

That includes a reworked contract for newly acquired All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs. The Texans sent a 2025 second-round pick (via the Minnesota Vikings) to the Buffalo Bills for Diggs and voided the final three years of his deal before increasing his base salary to $22.52 million guaranteed. He’s now set to become a free agent in 2025.

“The guy’s been an All-Pro player, been a Pro Bowl player, over 1,000 yards for multiple seasons,” Ryans said. “So, we’re excited about adding Diggs to our team.”

The Diggs trade capped the Texans’ aggressive spending on both sides of the ball. They signed defensive end Danielle Hunter, coming off a career-high 16.5 sacks, to a two-year, $49 million deal. They added former Tennessee Titans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, coming off a career-high 163 tackles, to a three-year, $34 million contract. They traded for former Bengals running back Joe Mixon before giving the 2021 Pro Bowler a three-year, $27 million contract extension.

Those expensive offseason moves have generated buzz for the Texans, but Ryans won’t let the team change its approach.

“We’re always hunting. That doesn’t change for us,” Ryans said. “Expectations on the outside, whatever that may be, it doesn’t change who we are. The expectation from the outside doesn’t permeate inside our building.”

The Texans spent to build on Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud‘s initial season, when they won the AFC South and a playoff game for the first time since 2019.

Stroud was vital for the team’s success as he earned Offensive Rookie of the Year and was a Pro Bowler. He led the NFL in passing yards per game (274) and became the first rookie to rank first in touchdown-interception ratio (23-5) since the merger.

“I’m very excited,” Stroud said. “I think we have a lot of potential, have a ton of guys who have played a lot of meaningful ball. A lot of guys who can do different things with the ball. With all the expectation, the outside noise, the time now is to focus. Right now it’s time to build the foundation and build the chemistry.”

Stroud’s new receiving trio features Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Diggs. In the 2023 season, Collins ranked eighth in receiving yards (1,297) and had eight touchdowns. Dell was on pace for 1,205 receiving yards before suffering a season-ending leg injury in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos in Week 13. Dell finished with the 709 yards.

Ryans provided an update on Dell’s recovery and said he is participating in Phase One of the Texans’ offseason program.

“I’m excited to have Tank back,” Ryans said. “That was a devastating loss for us last year, losing him. He’s such a dynamic player for us, such an inspiration for myself, a lot of our team. So, I’m excited to see Tank back working with our guys, and excited to see him make that same jump I talked about from year one to year two.

One of the best from the West Coast, now at IMG Academy in Florida, will play his college football in the Pacific Northwest.

Rising-senior Raiden Vines-Bright announced his commitment to Jedd Fisch and Washington on Monday, fresh off of spending the weekend on campus with family for an extended visit with the new staff in town.

“I’m committed to Washington,” he told Rivals. “It felt like the perfect fit for me. I have a great relationship with the staff as that staff was my first Power Five offer (at Arizona) and the way receivers are used in that offense is very attractive.”

Vines-Bright is the fourth overall pledge for UW in the 2025 recruiting cycle, but first among wide receiver projections.

Naturally, the extended time on campus this weekend all but wrapped up the recruitment of the Arizona native. The familiarity and the people mixed in well.

“Definitely coach Kevin Cummings and coach Fisch and the new staff played a part,” Vines-Bright said. “And I have a great relationship. It helped tremendously as they were constantly the hardest staff recruiting for about two years straight now.”

The difference with the staff’s approach to the newest commitment comes in many forms. From prestige, to now playing in the Big Ten, Washington presents differently for the IMG standout.

But Seattle remains the same, one of the top venues the Husky pledge has taken in as a national recruit.

“I also loved the campus and facilities and feel great being in Seattle,” he said. “It’s super nice, lots of green out here and you have all different types of cultures.

“There is just a little of everything.”

As for what is to come on the field, Fisch’s staff picking up where Kalen DeBoer and company left off is the expectation.

“We’re coming back for that natty,” Vines-Bright said.

Trailblazer Yan Dhanda has told Sky Sports that British South Asians in Football still face an uphill battle against stereotyping and unconscious bias in the game.

Former Liverpool youngster Dhanda, who said he has loved his two years away from England playing for the Ross County faithful, is one of Britain’s highest-profile footballers from a South Asian background – and has been joined in Scotland for the second half of the season by Birmingham City loanee Brandon Khela.

The Indian-heritage pair wrote their name into club folklore on Sunday by helping Ross County claim a massive three points and their first-ever victory over Rangers after 24 previous attempts.

Sky Sports News exclusively revealed in January that the West Midlands pair had made history in January when they lined up for Ross County at Celtic Park.

It was the first time two British South Asians had both started a top-flight match in the SPFL and a proud moment for Scottish football as well as Sikhs and Indians all over the world.

England’s Premier League season, by contrast, looks set to end with zero South Asian representation on the pitch for the second successive season – the first time that has happened in almost 15 years.

There is just one footballer from Britain’s South Asian community playing regularly in the men’s second tier, Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury, and only one regular in the Women’s Championship, Blackburn Rovers’ Millie Chandarana.

Dhanda featured alongside the duo in last year’s inaugural South Asians in Football Team of the Season.

Asked why there has been a stigma towards South Asian communities trying to make their way in the game, Dhanda told Sky Sports: “I just think, I’ve said it before that people stereotype [South] Asians to doing certain jobs because they are good at it.

“Me and Brandon have proved that we are good at football as well and there are others like (Norwich City defender) Danny Batth who is good at football, and there’s lots more coming through from a younger age.

“But I think the stigma around Asian people was stereotyping them to being good at other jobs.”

Dhanda was speaking ahead of the Indian harvest festival of Vaisakhi, with Sikhs also marking 325 years since the birth of Sikhism as a collective faith.

The former England U17 international added: “I’m quite lucky I had some very good coaches [at academy level] who are now first-team managers that I have learnt quite a lot from.

“I think they have been supportive. I’ve had quite a lot of young managers who have a different mindset – compared to maybe back in the day – when it comes to Asian players. I think I was quite lucky in my academy days when it comes to the coaches that I have worked under.”

Why Dhanda’s comments are important

Dhanda and Sky Sports News’ Dev Trehan came together in 2020 to take a stand for South Asians in English football after former Football Association chair Greg Clarke reinforced racialised stereotypes by suggesting British South Asians had different interests compared to Black people, pointing to levels of representation in the FA’s IT department.

Clarke apologised and stepped down from his roles with the FA, UEFA and FIFA following a series of comments made in front of a DCMS Select Committee hearing, and has since been succeeded as FA chair by Debbie Hewitt.

But his remarks opened old wounds among Britain’s South Asian football community whose mistrust of authorities stems from being locked out of the elite game in England for more than 50 years after many families moved to the United Kingdom in the seventies.

Dhanda, who fronted the Football Association’s Bringing Opportunities to Communities drive in 2019, condemned the stereotypical comments, telling Sky Sports News the remarks indicated football has gone backwards rather than forwards on South Asians in The Game.

British South Asians are the most populous ethnic minority group in the country – and Sky Sports News has produced South Asians in Football content and supported the community every week since that interview with Dhanda, creating the longest-running major initiative in the space both in media and football.

Some three-and-a-half years after Dhanda spoke out, the Football Association has finally admitted the gross under-representation of South Asians in the professional game is “stark” and that taking steps to addressing the long-standing issue is now “a long-term aim” for English football’s governing body.

Yasir Mirza, who was appointed FA director of equality, diversity and inclusion last year, said last week that the FA’s key mantra “A Game for All” is about ensuring English football is safe and inclusive for everybody, including Britain’s South Asian community.

“I think the challenge is quite stark around South Asian representation in the elite game,” added Mirza, who was speaking at a Football and Faith event at Wembley Stadium ahead of Eid.

“Keeping our foot on the pedal I think is a really, really important job for us. It’s a long-term goal. It’s a long-term aim for us.”

But has football really moved on?

Two years ago, the Premier League launched its first-ever South Asian Action Plan, which is linked to its No Room for Racism action plan.

The Premier League said 1,344 boys and girls engaged in community qualifiers run by six Premier League clubs last year, culminating in 24 teams and 200 players taking part in last year’s Emerging Talent Festival – though not all of the players were from South Asian backgrounds.

Crystal Palace, who stunned Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, were among the clubs supporting last week’s No Room for Racism activation.

Messaging was displayed around Selhurst Park during their recent game with Manchester City, with players taking the knee ahead of kick-off to show their unity against all forms of discrimination.

But at the turn of the year, Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari hit out at more “lazy racist stereotyping” after a Crystal Palace scout’s comments about South Asian families on LinkedIn.

Palace’s lead pre-academy scout Michael Verguizas wrote: “Asian families put all their efforts into education plus their [sic] more aligned to the game of cricket… Don’t think it’s pushed in their families or in their culture…Boys following this sport are far and few in this industry”.

Bhandari posted on social media: “This is some lazy racist stereotyping that does not align with grassroots participation data from someone with authority over the player pathway.”

Academic Dr Stefan Lawrence said: “Yet further evidence of the nonsense that exists in football discourse about [South] Asian players. People in the game should be doing much better by now. No excuses.”

Anti-racism campaigner and former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq added: “Welcome to 2024 – these people decide the future of our kids.”

Sky Sports News has contacted Crystal Palace for comment.

FA Council Member Yashmin Harun wrote on social media: “The gatekeepers within football are some of our biggest barriers, and they need to be outed for the views they hold. Unfortunately he’s not the first and he won’t be the only one with these views…”

Dhanda: We’re still getting racism

Friday marks a year to the day since former Crawley Town manager John Yems was handed the longest-ever ban for discrimination in English football after making racist comments to players.

His initial 17-month suspension was extended to three years after the Football Association appealed against the sanction on the basis it was insufficient.

It came after Yems was found guilty by an independent regulatory commission on 11 out of 15 charges for using discriminatory language, admitting one further charge.

Dhanda has been a target for racist abuse for much of his football journey, including a high-profile incident during his time at Swansea.

He told Sky Sports News in 2021 he was grateful for the messages of support from “across the football community” after receiving racist abuse on social media after an FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.

It later emerged that the offence was committed by a 14-year-old boy, who was subsequently placed on an educational support programme.

“When you go on your phone and see something like that, it’s not nice,” Dhanda said.

“I had Steve Cooper as manager who was very supportive and really likes young players. He was great for me at the time. He supported me a lot. I was only young at the time, so it was difficult to deal with.

“I think it is difficult and there is no sugarcoating it and saying it is easy to just ignore it, because it is tough, and we still do get it, and other players from different backgrounds get it as well.

“It is not fixed yet and the problem is still there.”

Dhanda: Believe in yourself when others don’t

Dhanda said aspiring young footballers from South Asian backgrounds must try and take some hope from the exploits of the handful of players that regularly feature in elite men’s football in Britain.

“I think you have to take belief from that,” Dhanda said.

“They need to know that when we were their age in the academies – you didn’t see many players in the opposition team or your own team that looked like you. But don’t take anything from that [would be my message].

“I think me and Brandon, we have proved that you can get to the professional level, you can make a living out of being a footballer and you can get to the highest level.

“I think you have to take belief from that and keeping believing in yourself even when others don’t.”

Khela: I never saw anyone that looked like me

Sky Sports News revealed in the summer of 2022 that Sikh-Punjabi teenager Khela had become the first British South Asian ever to sign professional terms at Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City.

The midfielder said he tried to use the glaring absence of South Asians across elite pathways as an extra incentive to try and make it in the game.

“When I was really young, trying to break through I never used to see anyone that looked like me who was the same skin colour as me,” Khela said.

“That was the only challenge [that I had faced on my own individual journey] really, but that motivated me to inspire other people.”

Asked if he was surprised when he learned he was the first British South Asian to turn out for Birmingham City in almost 150 years of Blues history, Khela said: “Yeah, looking back at it now. But hopefully it should inspire other people and show that there is a pathway there, especially at Birmingham City.”

British South Asians in Football

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — A victory at the 2024 Masters seemed inevitable for Scottie Scheffler.

The Texan has been ranked No. 1 in the world for more than 80 weeks during his short career. He’d won eight times on the PGA Tour since February 2022, a stretch that saw him become the first golfer ever to win the Players Championship in back-to-back years.

Scheffler is regarded as perhaps golf’s best ball striker since Tiger Woods in his prime, and Scheffler’s magical hands around the greens also have drawn comparison to you-know-who.

Until Sunday, Scheffler had only one major championship victory, the 2022 Masters, which might have been the only reason anyone would doubt his status as the game’s next generational star.

After entering Sunday’s final round of the 88th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club leading by 1 shot, Scheffler ran away from the other contenders on the second nine to win a second green jacket in three years.

Scheffler carded a 4-under 68 over the final 18 holes to finish at 11 under for the tournament and beat Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg by 4 strokes. Aberg, who was an amateur at Texas Tech a year ago, was attempting to become the first golfer to win the Masters in his debut since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Aberg posted a 3-under 69 in the final round.

Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood tied for third at 4 under.

“I feel like I’m playing really good golf right now,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I’m in control of my emotions as I’ve ever been, which is a good place to be. I feel like I’m maturing as a person on the golf course, which is a good place to be.

“I think it’s hard to argue with the results of the last few weeks. I’ve been playing some nice golf. But I really try to not focus too much on the past.”

At 27, Scheffler became the fourth-youngest golfer to win multiple green jackets; only Jack Nicklaus (25 years, 81 days), Woods (25 years, 100 days) and Seve Ballesteros (26 years, 2 days) were younger.

Scheffler claimed his second Masters title in only his fifth start at Augusta National, which is the second-fewest starts needed to accomplish the feat in the tournament’s history. Horton Smith won two of the first three Masters, in 1934 and 1936.

Scheffler also became only the fifth golfer in Masters history to win multiple green jackets by 3 strokes or more, joining Woods (1997 and 2002), Ballesteros (1980 and 1983), Nicklaus (1965 and 1972) and Sam Snead (1949 and 1952).

“Obviously, Scottie is an unbelievable golf player, and I think we all expect him to be there when it comes down to the last couple holes of a tournament,” Aberg said. “He’s proven it again and again, and I think he makes us better. He makes you want to beat him, obviously, and that’s the same for me and the same for everyone else in this field.”

In the past 35 days, Scheffler has won three times against elite fields at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players and now the Masters.

“I’m just pinching myself honestly,” said Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott. “I don’t really know what I’m seeing. The guy is special. He’s a different kind of special. I think we’re all seeing it, and we’re all questioning, ‘Where did this come from?’”

What is Scheffler doing so well?

“What is he not good at?” Scott said. “I don’t know. I think his superpower is [that] people that are super powerful are good at everything, and he seems to be good at everything. He doesn’t really have a weakness. I think people created a weakness in his putting. He’s not a weak putter. He’s a good putter. He’s a very good putter.”

After his victory, Scheffler didn’t wait long to FaceTime with his wife, Meredith, who watched the final round at her aunt’s home in Dallas. Meredith Scheffler is expecting the couple’s first child later this month. Scheffler said he planned to fly home Sunday night, then he’s scheduled to play in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, starting Thursday.

“I will go home, soak in this victory tonight,” Scheffler said. “Will definitely enjoy the birth of my first child. But with that being said, I still love competing. My priorities will change here very soon. My son or daughter will now be the main priority, along with my wife, so golf will now be probably fourth in line. But I still love competing. I don’t plan on taking my eye off the ball anytime soon, that’s for sure.”

Scheffler said he spent Sunday morning with friends and tried to take his mind off golf, which wasn’t easy. At one point, his neck started bothering him from the stress. He had battled a neck injury at the Players Championship in March.

The final two pairings of Aberg-Homa and Scheffler-Morikawa made their way to Amen Corner (hole Nos. 11 to 13) shortly before 5 p.m. ET. By the time they left, only one of them — Scheffler — still had a prayer to win.

Aberg made the first big mistake when his sweeping shot from 216 yards went too far left and bounced into a pond at the par-4 11th. He made a double-bogey 6 and fell 4 shots behind Scheffler.

A short while later, Morikawa hit his approach shot from nearly the same spot as Aberg. He yelled, “Damn it,” after his ball took flight and watched it bounce into the pond. The result was his second double bogey in three holes — he couldn’t get out of a greenside bunker on No. 9 on his first try — as he fell 5 shots behind Scheffler.

“Greed got the best of me,” Morikawa said. “Nine, can’t miss it over there and can’t leave it in the bunker. Eleven, just tried to hit too perfect of a shot. It’s not like at that point I was trying to press. I knew where I stood. Yeah, it’s just can’t do that.”

Then on the 12th hole, where swirling winds, a narrow green and the intimidating Rae’s Creek have spoiled many Masters hopefuls’ dreams over the years, Homa’s chances took a devastating blow. He didn’t hit a bad tee shot on the shortest par-3 on the course, but his ball leaped high off the sunbaked green and settled in vines on a bank.

After watching his ball bounce hard off the green, Homa asked his caddie, Joe Greiner, “Where did it go?”

After a couple of minutes, Homa found it in the thick ground cover, but he had to take an unplayable lie and a 1-stroke penalty. His chip shot got caught up in the fringe, and he two-putted for a double-bogey 5 to drop to 5 under.

“The honest answer is it didn’t feel fair,” Homa said. “I hit a really good golf shot, and it didn’t feel fair. I’ve seen far worse just roll back down the hill. Yeah, the professional answer is these things happen.”

Scheffler made a bogey of his own at the 11th when he missed the green, chipped to 9 feet and missed a par putt. He played it safely on the 12th and made par.

Scheffler ended any doubts about winning again when he made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. On the par-5 13th, he reached the green in 2 shots and two-putted for a birdie to move to 9 under. Then on the par-4 14th, he spun his approach shot to a foot and tapped in to go to 10 under.

“I did not ever let myself get attached to the lead,” Scheffler said. “I just tried to keep pushing. I mean, I think if I would have played a little bit defensively it would have been a significantly different finish. I went for the green in two on 13 [and] was able to make birdie. I attacked the pin on 14 and was able to make birdie. Went for it again on 15 and made a nice par.”

“If I was just trying to make pars the whole back nine, I would have been standing on 18 having to make par and hoping Ludvig would only make a par.”

Scheffler added another birdie on the par-3 16th, and what had seemed inevitable for so long was now reality.