Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Rugby administrator Brent Impey has resigned as chairman of SANZAAR citing a conflict of interest.

Impey has held the role for the last five years but he has decided the time is right for a change and will step aside on 31 December.

Impey said SANZAAR needed to make changes and an independent chair would be best placed to make it happen.

"While there was no imperative for change it was appropriate to rotate the role, however I now believe that the role of chair of a national union as well as chair of SANZAAR is a conflict for any country," Impey said.

"I also hold the view that SANZAAR should become membership based. The four country consensus model is outdated if we are looking to grow the game commercially and internationally. A membership model would allow the group to act together on issues such as the global calendar, rules, regulations, governance, and mutual commercial interests.

"Currently, the odds are heavily stacked against SANZAAR in its present form being able to affect change."

Impey will continue in his role as chairman of New Zealand Rugby.

Earlier this year Impey was diagnosed with cancer and has undergone several months of chemotherapy.

He has non-Hodgkin lymphona which doctors at the time said was curable.

All Blacks drop in rankings

The All Blacks have slumped to third in the World Rugby rankings following the weekend's loss to Argentina.

The All Blacks have been on the slide since their lacklustre World Cup campaign in Japan last year.

The semi final loss to England dropped them to third but they moved back to second after winning the bronze medal against Wales.

Under new coach Ian Foster the side has won just two of their five games.

South Africa remain number one with England second.

It is the first time the All Blacks have lost consecutive games since 2011.

Argentina have risen two spots to number eight.

Six straight losses has resulted in Wales falling to number nine in the rankings.

-World Rugby

NBA player joins Breakers ownership group

NBA player Victor Oladipo has joined the New Zealand Breakers ownership group.

The 28-year-old becomes one of the world's youngest basketball team owners.

Oladipo is currently with the Indiana Pacers and the two-time All Star guard said he was looking at different business opportunities post his playing career.

Oladipo will not be part of the day-to-day operations of the club.

The Breakers leave for Australia on 1 December to start their Australian National Basketball League pre-season with the competition expected to tip off on 15 January.

Athletics NZ up for award

Athletics New Zealand has been nominated for a special World Athletics award marking the problems associated with the Covid-19 pandemic this year.

The award recognises a Member Federation that has managed to deliver an uplifting athletics event, development event or other athletics achievement, in spite of the health and safety challenges it faced in 2020.

World Athletics commented on Athletics New Zealand.

"While the country faced one of the toughest lockdowns world-wide, the federation was able to work its way out of it, first by helping to stage virtual events and later, live competitions. While high level athletes were not able to compete overseas, the federation organised several competitions, one of which was capped by an area record in the women's hammer throw. The Rotorua Marathon in September was one of the first mass participation events to take place in the world since March."

Other Federations nominated are Kenya, Nicaragua, Palestine, Peru and Poland.

The winner will be announced at the World Athletics Awards 2020 to be held virtually on December 5th.

First up loss for Venus

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus and his Australian partner John Peers have been beaten in their opening doubles match at the ATP Finals in London.

The 6th seeded Antipodean duo were beaten 7-6, 7-5 by 4th seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in a match lasting 1 hour 42 minutes.

It's a similar result to their previous encounter at the Rome Masters in September where Venus and Peers lost 7-6 7-6.

The loss will mean they probably have to win their two remaining Group matches to qualify for the semi-finals.

Meanwhile Novak Djokovic has started strongly in the singles with a straight sets win over Diego Schwartzman.

The five-time champion beat the debutante 6-3, 6-2.

Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev finally claimed his maiden victory at the ATP Finals with an impressive 6-3 6-4 defeat of Germany's Alexander Zverev to join Djokovic at the top of the Tokyo Group.

Medvedev went home empty-handed from his debut at the season-ender last year, losing all three matches.

Canterbury well placed again

Plunket Shield leaders Canterbury are well placed for a fourth straight win heading into the final day of their game against Otago in Alexandra.

Otago are 157 for four in their second innings, still 174 runs behind Canterbury.

Auckland are 109 for two in their second innings at the Basin Reserve, 58 runs behind Wellington.

New Black Cap Devon Conway scored 157 and Wellington skipper Michael Bracewell 142 in Wellington's first innings of 446.

And Northern Districts are 158 for four in their second innings in Nelson, a lead of 224 over central Districts.

Australian cricketers self-isolate

An outbreak of Covid-19 in Adelaide has rocked Australian cricket a month before the test series against India and forced a number of players, including captain Tim Paine, into self-isolation.

South Australia state, which hosts the first test at Adelaide Oval on Dec. 17, reported 14 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, a dramatic increase from the previous day, prompting other Australian states to tighten internal borders.

Adelaide hosted Sheffield Shield cricket matches last week and players involved have been directed to self-isolate after returning to their home states.

Wicketkeeper Paine and test team mate Matthew Wade are isolating in Tasmania after playing for the state against New South Wales.

Cricket Australia (CA), who spent months securing government approvals for India's tour, hope to have crowds of 27,000 per day at Adelaide Oval for the first test.

An escalation in the outbreak could threaten the first of four tests against Virat Kohli's India, a tour worth hundreds of millions of dollars to CA.

-Reuters

Wallabies ready for loose forward battle

Australia are preparing for a mighty battle of the back rows when they face Argentina in the Tri-Nations on Saturday after the Pumas dominated the tackle area in their maiden victory over the All Blacks last weekend.

The Pumas played an almost perfect game against New Zealand on Saturday but their ability to slow down, and sometimes poach, All Blacks ball at Western Sydney Stadium particularly caught the eye of Wallabies loose forward Liam Wright.

"They attack the breakdown quite well," Wright said.

"As we know with Argentina their hookers are actually quite good over the ball as well ... they've essentially got four backrowers there who are constantly looking for that ball."

Wright is a contender to replace Lachie Swinton in the back row for Saturday's match in Newcastle as the New South Wales flanker serves a ban for the red card he was shown on debut in Australia's win over New Zealand two weeks ago.

-Reuters

Fury won't fight again this year

Tyson Fury has confirmed he will not return to the ring this year less than a month after saying his next fight would take place on Dec. 5 in London.

The 32-year-old Briton has not fought since February when he won the WBC world heavyweight title in Las Vegas with a seventh-round stoppage against Deontay Wilder.

"The Gypsy King is returning in 2021," Fury wrote on Twitter. "Only those that have supported me 100% since my comeback will be with me for the glory."

Fury had earlier announced his next fight would be in December in London against an unnamed opponent.

He did not say why the December date was off, nor did he say who his opponent would be next year.

American Wilder had called on Fury to agree to a third fight after the first bout in 2018 ended in a draw. However, Fury refused after Wilder accused him of cheating in their February bout. -

-Reuters

Hollywood stars closer to buying Wrexham

Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are a step closer to completing their proposed takeover of Welsh football team Wrexham after members of the Wrexham Supporters Trust which owns the club voted in favour of the move.

The pair said last week their goal was to grow the club that plays in England's fifth-tier and get them back into the English Football League, while also increasing attendances at an improved Racecourse Ground, which has a capacity of 10,000.

WST said more than 91% of its members had taken part in an extraordinary ballot after which the takeover was approved, with more than 1,800 members in favour of the move.

Wrexham were relegated from the EFL in 2008 and have never competed in the top-flight of English football. They have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals three times.

Founded in 1864, Wrexham have been owned by their fans since 2011 and British media reported that the takeover could lead to around two million pounds being invested in the club. Wrexham are currently 14th in the National League.

-Reuters

Jack ban halved

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has halved Australian swimmer Shayna Jack's four-year ban for a positive drug test before last year's world championships, saying she did not intentionally ingest the banned anabolic agent Ligandrol.

The 22-year-old freestyle swimmer was withdrawn from the team days before the championships in Gwangju, South Korea, having tested positive for the substance in an out-of-competition test on June 26 last year.

Swimming Australia provisionally suspended Jack before the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority said she would be banned for four years commencing July 12, 2019 subject to any procedure she would initiate at CAS.

Jack, who is set to miss the Tokyo Olympics next year, said on Instagram that sport's highest court "confirmed in emphatic terms" that she did not intentionally use Ligandrol.

-Reuters