Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The much-anticpated fight between heavyweight boxers Joseph Parker and Junior Fa has been postponed after Fa was ruled out of the fight following a blood test.

The fight was due to be held in Auckland on 12 December but organisers hope to reschedule the fight for February or early March.

Following a blood test last Friday, the fight doctor ruled that Fa would not be able to fight next month.

Fa's manager Mark Keddell said his boxer was "gutted" with the latest development.

"He's getting an operation on Tuesday, we're very confident that things will go well. He's in tremendous shape so he should be able to bounce back pretty quickly, just got to repair a bit of damage and go from there."

Fa has had previous medical concerns but Keddell would not link this with the current issue.

"Where not talking about what the actual issue is because in this kinda game every bit of information is an advantage to the opposition so we're happy to chat about it after the fight but we're keeping our cards close to our chest."

Warriors sign Sironen for three years

The Warriors have signed South Sydney back rower Bayley Sironen on a three-year contract from next season.

The 23-year-old is the son of the legendary Paul Sironen and younger brother of Manly Warringah's Curtis Sironen.

After five games in his first two NRL seasons, Sironen established himself as a frontline player for the Rabbitohs this year appearing in 19 games to lift his career tally to 24.

"I was really keen to add an edge/middle forward to our roster for 2021 and Bayley fits the bill," said new Warriors head coach Nathan Brown.

"His addition puts pressure on all our forwards for positions and adds invaluable depth of quality in our back row.

He becomes the seventh new addition to Warriors' 2021 squad following the signings of Ben Murdoch-Masila (Warrington), Kane Evans (Parramatta), Euan Aitken (St George Illawarra), Addin Fonua-Blake (Manly Warringah), Sean O'Sullivan (Brisbane) and Marcelo Montoya (Canterbury Bankstown).

Pandemic forces changes to test championship

The International Cricket Council has announced a change to the format of the Test Championship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 15 percent of matches in the tournament are expected to be incomplete by the scheduled time of the final next June.

Previously, they would have been declared drawn and the points split.

However, positions in the nine-team table will now be calculated by the percentage of points earned in completed matches.

The change allowed Australia to go ahead of India to top the table, but the rest of the standings are unchanged.

England remain third followed by New Zealand.

The ICC has also announced that the next Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa, scheduled for the end of 2022, has been pushed back to 2023.

This eases a congested 2022 in women's cricket, which includes the delayed 50-over World Cup in New Zealand and the Commonwealth Games.

Sri Lankan guilty of match-fixing

Former Sri Lanka paceman Nuwan Zoysa has been found guilty of match-fixing by an independent anti-corruption tribunal.

The 42-year-old Zoysa was provisionally suspended in October 2018 and charged with three offences under the ICC's anti-corruption code, including "being party to an agreement or effort to fix" a match.

Zoysa, who played 30 Tests and 95 one-day internationals, remains suspended and sanctions will follow in due course, the ICC said.

His other offences were "directly soliciting, inducing, enticing or encouraging a player" to fix or influence the progress of a match, and failing to disclose approaches to "engage in corrupt conduct".

Zoysa was Sri Lanka bowling coach from 2015 until his suspension.

In 2019, he was also charged with four anti-corruption breaches in the United Arab Emirates' T10 League. Those proceedings remain ongoing.

-BBC

Contract extentions for NZ cyclists

Four New Zealand cyclists have extended their deals with Australian pro team Mitchelton-scott.

Georgia Williams, Jack Bauer, Sam Bewley and Dion Smith have had their deals with their respective squads extended.

Williams has signed a one year extention and 2021 will be her fifth season with the team.

Bauer, Bewley and Smith have all been handed two-year extensions, with 35 year old Bauer now heading into what will be his fourth year with Mitchelton-Scott.

-Mitchelton-Scott

Pep signs on for another two years

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has signed a new two-year contract that will keep him in charge until the end of the 2022-23 English Premier League season.

The Spaniard has guided City to two Premier League titles, three League Cups and an FA Cup since his arrival in 2016.

Guardiola's current five-year stay at City is his longest spell in charge of a club since he began his managerial career in 2008.

The 49-year-old managed Barcelona from 2008-12 and spent three years in charge of Bayern Munich before joining City.

Under Guardiola, City became the first English top-flight club to collect 100 points in a season when they cruised to the title in 2017-18.

They successfully defended their title the following season to become the first team in a decade to win back-to-back Premier League crowns.

Guardiola's City side are currently 10th in the Premier League with 12 points from seven games, six behind pacesetters Leicester City with a game in hand.

-Reuters

Botham grandson to start for Wales

James Botham, grandson of former England cricketer Ian Botham, was among three uncapped players named by Wales in their side to face Georgia in the Autumn Nations Cup as they rested regulars for the test at Llanelli this weekend.

Cardiff Blues flanker Botham goes straight into the team despite having only been brought into the squad at the start of the week while scrumhalf Kieran Hardy and centre Johnny Williams will also earn their first caps.

Wales coach Wayne Pivac always said he would make sweeping changes from the team that suffered a sixth successive defeat in the 32-9 loss in Dublin.

Botham, 22, the son of former Cardiff wing Liam Botham, was born in Cardiff and came through the Wales age grade system.

"We had a good look at James, he has impressed and done very well," said Pivac.

"He is a player with a very big future, we believe."

-BBC

Woods and son to play tournament

Tiger Woods and his son Charlie will be hunting a title when they team up next month at the PNC Championship, a joint PGA/LPGA Tour family tournament.

Formerly known as the Father/Son Challenge, the PNC Championship will be played in Florida and feature major winners and family members as competing teams.

It marks the first time Woods, winner of 15 majors, and his 11-year-old son have played the tournament that was last year won by Germany's Bernhard Langer and son Jason.

The young Woods has shown signs that he has some of his father's golfing genes by winning his age group at a nine hole U.S. Kids golf event in August by five shots.

Past winners have included Jack and Gary Nicklaus, Raymond Floyd and Robert Floyd Jr. plus Craig and Kevin Stadler.

The PGA Tour also said Gary Player, Greg Norman, John Daly and Annika Sorenstam will be taking part in this year's event.

-Reuters

Survival package for UK sports

The British government has announced a 300 million pound 'winter survival package' to help spectator sports impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but excluding the Premier League and cricket.

The cash injection is largely made up of loans.

"Support will be provided to rugby union, horse racing, women's football and the lower tiers of the National League football," the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement.

"Rugby League, motorsport, tennis, netball, basketball, ice hockey, badminton and greyhound racing are also in line to benefit."

More than 100 sports bodies wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in September to ask for emergency funding, warning of "a lost generation of activity" because of the pandemic and the ban on spectators.

-Reuters