Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - New Zealand middle distance great Sir John Walker has donated a national team track suit which he wore at the 1986 Commonwealth Games to the World Athletics Heritage Collection.

The announcement of Walker's generous donation was made on the 44th anniversary of his 2000m world record of 4:51.4 set on 30 June 1976 at the Bislett Games in Oslo.

Walker's run, which he has often described as his greatest race, broke Michel Jazy's mark of 4:56.2 which had stood for a decade.

A month after that 2000m record, Walker became Olympic 1500m champion in Montreal.

In November Walker attended the World Athletics Heritage Mile Night in Monaco.

Walker's track suit will be on display at the World Athletics Heritage Olympic Athletics Display at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.

United beat Brighton

Bruno Fernandes scored two goals as Manchester United won 3-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League to stay in contention for a top-four finish.

The result left United fifth on 52 points from 32 games, two behind fourth-placed Chelsea who have a game in hand and ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers on goal difference.

A dominant United stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 games and celebrated their first league win at Brighton since 1982.

United are next at home to relegation-threatened Bournemouth while 15th placed Brighton visit bottom team Norwich City.

-Reuters

RTS gets a one game ban

Warriors fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been suspended for one match after being found guilty of a shoulder charge at the NRL judiciary last night.

The decision means the club skipper will miss Saturday night's clash with Brisbane.

Even if he had entered an early guilty plea, the star No.1 was facing a week on the sidelines.

The incident occurred in the 61st minute of the Warriors' 50-6 loss to the Storm at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Friday night.

The weekend showdown with 15th-placed Brisbane, who are riding their own five- match losing streak, looms as one of the most important games of the season for both sides.

Meanwhile new loan player Jack Hetherington has been rushed straight into service for the Warriors, he's been named on the bench for Saturday's game.

-NRL

North-South rugby game back

Sky Sport says the once traditional North-South rugby game will return next month.

Sky says it has been scheduled for Eden Park on August 29th.

In April New Zealand Rugby confirmed they were considering a return of the clash with doubts about any international rugby this year because of Covid-19.

According to the Breakdown on Sky Sport, selection for the historic inter-island fixture will depend on which province a player made their first-class debut for.

All Blacks assistant coaches John Plumtree and Scott McLeod will coach the north, and Greg Feek and Brad Mooar the south.

The inter-island match was once a regular fixture on the New Zealand rugby calendar until 1986.

It was played in 1995 and the last was in 2012.

Carter returns to club rugby

All Black great Dan Carter will turn out for his Canterbury club this weekend.

The Southbridge club has confirmed that the 112 test veteran will play at number ten against West Melton.

Carter last played for Southbridge in 2014.

The 38 year old is currently a member of the Blues squad, but is yet to play in Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Root to miss first Test

England cricket captain Joe Root will miss the first test of their three-match series against West Indies to attend the birth of his child, with Ben Stokes set to take the reins in his absence.

The first test is scheduled to begin on July 8 in Southampton and Root will leave England's training camp today to be with his wife, Carrie, who is expecting their second child later this week.

Root will also miss England's three-day warm-up match that begins today.

With the series being held in a biosecure environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 29-year-old will have to undergo a seven-day self-isolation period at home before joining the England squad ahead of the second Test at Old Trafford on July 13.

Stokes, who has served as England's test vice-captain since his appointment in July last year, will become England's 81st test captain, while Jos Buttler will assume vice-captaincy duties.

-Reuters

Huskies score first win

The two Auckland clubs have scored wins in the latest games in the National Basketball League.

The Auckland Huskies grabbed their first win with a 109-93 victory over Taranaki with Izayah Le'afa scoring 20 points and Leon Henry 18.

Meanwhile the Franklin Bulls made it two straight wins as they scored a 75-69 victory over Nelson.

Canterbury top the table with three wins from three.

Champions League will go ahead

European football's governing body says it's fully committed to staging a Champions League Final Eight tournament in Lisbon in August.

The news comes despite several suburbs of the city preparing to go back into lockdown as coronavirus cases climb again.

UEFA said in a statement that its president Aleksander Ceferin had held a video conference with Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa to discuss plans for the eight-team mini-tournament.

-Reuters

Ferrari stick with old car

Ferrari have had a major rethink of their 2020 Formula One car but updates to make it go faster will not be ready until the third race of the season.

Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc will instead start the COVID-19 delayed season in Austria this weekend in cars similar to those they wrapped up testing with in Spain at the end of February.

"The truth is that the outcome of the tests led us to take a significant change of direction in terms of development, especially on the aerodynamic front," team boss Mattia Binotto said.

Champions Mercedes and also Red Bull looked faster in testing, with Ferrari coming away from Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya recognising they lacked comparative pace.

Both Mercedes, the team of six times world champion Lewis Hamilton, and Red Bull have subsequently added performance upgrades.

The season was supposed to start in Australia on March 15 but was delayed by the pandemic. The revised schedule sees two races at Austria's Red Bull Ring before moving to Hungary and then Britain.

-Reuters

Former FIFA official banned

Football's world governing body FIFA has banned Markus Kattner, a former leading official in the Zurich organisation, for 10 years and has fined him $1.6 million after a probe into bonus payments.

FIFA said in June, 2016, that an internal investigation revealed that Kattner, FIFA's former Secretary General Jerome Valcke and the organisation's ex-President Sepp Blatter had received $128 million in compensation over five years, calling them "massive payouts".

Blatter, who led FIFA from 1998 until 2015, was banned from football for six years in February 2016, while Valcke is banned until 2028.

The 45-year-old Kattner, who holds German and Swiss citizenship, joined FIFA as Director of Finance in 2003 and four years later became Deputy Secretary General.

He became Acting Secretary General in September 2015, after the departure of Valcke, but was then fired in May 2016.

According to the Ethics Committee's final judgement, Kattner argued that the ethics process against him had not been fair and that he did not grant any bonus payments either to himself or to anyone else in the top management.

-Reuters

Kyrgios and Becker trade insults

Nick Kyrgios and Boris Becker traded insults on social media following the Australian tennis player's criticism of Alexander Zverev after a video appeared to show the German dancing in a crowded club despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The video was posted on Instagram by German designer Philipp Plein and later deleted. There was no indication of when the video was taken.

Zverev said last week he would self-isolate after playing in Novak Djokovic's ill-fated Adria Tour exhibition tournament in Serbia and Croatia, which had to be abandoned after numerous players tested positive for COVID-19.

Kyrgios on Monday called Zverev, the current men's world number seven, "selfish", prompting a rebuke from commentator and former six-time Grand Slam champion Becker.

"Don't like no #rats! Anybody telling off fellow sportsman/woman is no friend of mine! Look yourself in the mirror and think your better than us... @NickKyrgios," Becker said on Twitter.

Kyrgios was prompt in his reply: "For goodness sake Boris, I'm not competing or trying to throw anyone under the bus. It's a global pandemic and if someone is as idiotic as Alex to do what he has done, I'll call him out for it. Simple."

-Reuters

Pakistani cricketers cleared to travel

Six Pakistan cricketers, including former captain Mohammad Hafeez, have been cleared to join the rest of the team in England after returning a second negative result in Covid-19 tests.

Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz also tested negative for the second time in three days and would join rest of the team in Worcestershire.

Four other players -- Kashif Bhatti, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali and Imran Khan -- tested positive for the second time earlier this week.

The first batch of Pakistan players underwent Covid-19 testing on their arrival in Manchester on Sunday before moving to Worcestershire for a 14-day isolation period.

Pakistan are scheduled to play three tests and three Twenty20 internationals behind closed doors in August-September. The exact dates and venues have not been announced yet.

-Reuters