Sports

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from June 23.

Football

Harry Kane was flying the flag for LGBTQ+ rights.

No hurry for Zlatan.

Rio Ferdinand went down memory lane.

Mateusz Klich mocked himself.

Wayne Rooney was on holiday.

While Manchester United midfielder Fred watched former club Atletico Mineiro beat Flamengo.

Cricket

You don’t see that every day!

Golf

US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick thanked everyone for their messages.

Darts

Even Michael van Gerwen is turning down Man Utd.

Tennis

Team Onsrena celebrated.

Gymnastics

Simone Biles had an axe to grind.

Boxing

The fight is on!

Formula One

Roscoe returned.

French minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has reaffirmed her wild claim that up to 30-40,000 Liverpool fans with fake tickets tried to enter the Stade de France ahead of the UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid in May.

Reds fans including women, children and the disabled were tear gassed, hit with riot shields by police forces and robbed by armed gangs of local youths at European football’s showpiece event, with a French senate investigation currently underway in order to ascertain the cause of the problems which left some supporters traumatised and others with serious injuries.

Oudéa-Castéra and French minister of the interior Gérald Darmanin sought to immediately blame fans in the aftermath, claiming that a ‘massive forgery’ of tickets had occurred in a press conference before insisting to the senate that up to 40,000 tried to enter without a valid match ticket. While fans published masses of video evidence online showing police brutality, neither minister provided any evidence backing up their version of events.

Ahead of testimony in the senate from fans of both Liverpool and Real Madrid last week, senate inquiry co-chairman François-Noël Buffet showed understanding and empathy towards supporters and their accounts of what happened. Buffet pre-faced their accounts by saying: ‘English football fans were not the cause of these problems. Let’s say that clearly. They showed great control in chaotic surroundings.’

The lack of evidence for the 30-40,000 figure, combined with evident failures by various French authorities and competition organiser UEFA, means Oudéa-Castéra and Darmanin have been widely mocked and derided in France for their reaction.

Even Paris chief of police Didier Lallement debunked the figure in his own senate testimony, when he admitted to having given the figures to ministers, adding that it had ‘no scientific value.’ In his testimony, UEFA events CEO Martin Kallen said that around 2,700 fake tickets were in circulation, though even that figure is contested as Kallen admitted that faulty pens and bluetooth connections meant some fans with valid tickets were turned away.

Despite the chief of police’s admittance that the 30-40,000 figure is essentially worthless, Oudéa-Castéra doubled down on it in an interview on Sunday evening.

‘All that we have said is consistent, Oudéa-Castéra told RTL in France. ‘I see a lot of people fighting to try and understand the coherence between the 30,000 [ticketless fans who tried to enter the stadium] we talked about, and the 2,800 fake tickets UEFA says it found. All of that is coherent. This is not false information or lies, it’s important for me to say that. I spent a lot of time in my hearing at the senate explaining this consistency.

‘There was this pre-filter, and we did indeed have 30-40,000 [without tickets]. The inquiries will allow the facts. But all of the information I have had in my hand, along with Gérald Darmanin, so far shows that our figures are consistent.’ Again, Oudéa-Castéra provided no evidence of extra information to back up her claim.

Oudéa-Castéra is a political novice who was only drafted in to the sports minister role on 8 May, less than three weeks ahead of the final, by French president Emmanuel Macron with whom she has shared a personal relationship since their days at one of France’s most prestigious finishing schools in the 1990s.

The former tennis player has appeared sheepish and conciliatory in much of her rhetoric since her senate hearing at the beginning of June, but her tone will not appease fans who last week demanded an apology and consequences for ‘lies and smears’ before the senate.

‘I am obviously sad about what happened,’ Oudéa-Castéra added. ‘Sad that France’s image has been damaged. Sad that 2,700 people who had valid tickets did not make it into the stadium. And that a big number of people experienced something terrible on that night, which will stay in their memories. We have a lot of work to do to erase that.’

‘I have talked a lot to the English. It was important for me to discuss things with my counterpart Nigel Huddlestone. I also wrote to the chairman of Liverpool. I wrote him a letter with my heart and my guts. I needed to tell him a number of things, notably our apologies for this experience that the Liverpool fans lived.’

Liverpool raise asking price for transfer for international defender to £20m

Premier League legend backs Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland to have prolific seasons

For more stories like this, check our sport page .

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

The first Old Firm clash and Edinburgh derby of the new Scottish Premiership season are among the Scottish Premiership fixtures to be shown live on Sky Sports.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst will take his Rangers side to Celtic Park on Saturday, September 3, with kick-off at 12.30pm.

New Hibernian boss Lee Johnson’s first clash with city rivals Hearts will be live on Sky Sports on Sunday, August 7 at midday.

Champions Celtic will start at home to Aberdeen on Sunday, July 31, a day after Rangers kick-off their title challenge away to Livingston.

Ange Postecoglou’s trip to newly-promoted Kilmarnock is also part of the live fixtures on Sunday, August 14 at midday. Celtic will be back on Sky Sports on Sunday, August 28 when they travel to Tannadice to face Dundee United.

Rangers’ game against Hibernian at Easter Road will also be shown live on Sunday, August 20, with kick-off at 12.30pm.

Confirmed Scottish Premiership fixtures live on Sky Sports

Saturday 30th July: Livingston vs Rangers, kick-off 12pm

Sunday 31st July: Celtic vs Aberdeen, kick-off 4.30pm

Sunday 7th August: Hibernian vs Hearts, kick-off 12pm

Sunday 14th August: Kilmarnock vs Celtic, kick-off 12pm

Saturday 20th August: Hibernian vs Rangers, kick-off 12.30pm

Sunday 28th August: Dundee United vs Celtic, kick-off12pm

Saturday 3rd September: Celtic vs Rangers, kick-off 12.30pm

Key dates for the 2022/23 season

The Scottish Premiership season will begin on the weekend of July 30/31.

The campaign will take a break in the middle of the season to accommodate the first-ever winter World Cup , pausing on the weekend of November 12/13, before resuming on the weekend of December 17/18.

The season will end on the weekend of May 27/28.

The Premier Sports Cup final will be held on Sunday, February 26 while the date for the Scottish Cup final is yet to be confirmed.

The Europa League final will be played on May 31 in Budapest, the Europa Conference League final will be on June 7 in Prague and the Champions League final is scheduled for June 10 in Istanbul.

Doncaster: It promises to be another exciting season

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster expects another “gripping” season of Scottish Premiership football, live on Sky Sports .

“We’ve enjoyed a really positive relationship with Sky for many, many years. It’s been a great partnership, we’ve seen audiences growing in terms of viewers on Sky Sports in recent years and I think a huge part of that is the partnership and the way in which we’ve developed that partnership with Sky.

“We’re very grateful for the support that Sky continues to give the whole of the Scottish game and we’re really looking forward to Sky Sports again exclusively presenting the cinch Premiership live again next season.

“There’s a huge amount to look forward to and part of that is indeed the women’s game.

“Next season the top two divisions of the women’s league will come under the remit of the SPFL and we’re very excited about that.

“I think it’s a hugely exciting development in the game in Scotland. We’ve seen the growth in women’s football across the globe and we want to be a part of that.

“It’s been led very much by the clubs and we’re certainly hopeful that we’ll be able to give whatever support we can to maximise the potential that undoubtedly exists in women’s football in Scotland.”

The new Scottish Premiership season with Sky Sports

• Up to 48 live matches from the Scottish Premiership plus the play-off finals.
• Live coverage presented by Eilidh Barbour with analysis from Kris Boyd and Andy Walker, and more.
• Round the clock coverage on Sky Sports News , on skysports.com and across our Sky Sports social channels.
• Free-to-watch highlights of every Scottish Premiership game on our website.
• Sky Sports is your ultimate destination for domestic football with live coverage of the Premier League, EFL, Scottish Premiership and the Women’s Super League.
• Find out more about Sky Sports

Win £250,000 with Super 6!

Another Saturday, another chance to win £250,000 with Super 6. Play for free, entries by 3pm

The Advocate claimed two major awards among its six first-place honors in the 2021 Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s annual writing and photography contest.

The awards were announced Sunday in Natchitoches when the LSWA convention, which is held in conjunction with the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s induction celebration, came to a close.

The Advocate, which competes in Class I for the state’s large newspapers and online publications, was judged Best Section and Scott Rabalais was named Columnist of the Year.

Other first-place awards for The Advocate staff were in Best Section, where it actually took first and third, while individual awards were won by Amie Just (Breaking News), Brooks Kubena (General Sports) and Travis Spradling (College-Pro Photography).

The Advocate also accumulated the most sweepstakes points in Class I with five first-place awards and 24 total points with points awarded on a 3-2-1 basis for first- through third-place awards.

The Times-Picayune added 12 points on one first-place award.

Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune |The Advocate won Story of the Year honors on a feature he did on former Saints player Steve Gleason while Duncan was with The Athletic.

2021 LSWA Contest Results

First-places and The Advocate, Times-Picayune and Acadiana Advocate top-three awards:

WRITING

Pro event

Class I: 1, Katherine Terrell, The Athletic. (Honorable Mention) Amie Just, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

College event

Class I: 1, Brody Miller, The Athletic. 2, Rod Walker, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

Pro-College event

Class II: 1, John James Marshall, Designated Writers

Prep event

Class I: 1, Jimmy Watson, Shreveport Times. (HM) Christopher Dabe, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

Prep-Amateur event

Class II: 1, Jake Martin, Ouachita Citizen.

Pro column

Class I: 1, Teddy Allen, Shreveport Times. 2, Rod Walker, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

College column

Class I: 1, Ron Higgins, Tiger Rag. (HM) Scott Rabalais, The Advocate.

Prep column

Class I: 1, John Marcase, Alexandria Town Talk. 2, Robin Fambrough, The Advocate. 3, Kevin Foote, Acadiana Advocate.

General sports column

Class II: 1, Raymond Partsch III, The Daily Iberian.

Pro feature

Class I: 1, Jeff Duncan, The Athletic. 2, Rod Walker, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate. (HM) Christian Clark, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

College feature

Class I: 1, Adam Hunsucker, Monroe News-Star. 3, Leah Vann, The Advocate. (HM) Wilson Alexander, The Advocate.

Prep feature

Class I: 1, Jimmy Watson, Shreveport Times. 3, Robin Fambrough, The Advocate.

General sports feature

Class II: 1, Teddy Allen, Designated Writers.

Breaking news

Open Class: 1, Amie Just, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate. (HM) Rod Walker, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

General sports

Open Class: 1, Brooks Kubena, The Advocate. 3, Zach Ewing, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

Outdoors writing

Open Class: 1, Glenn Quebedeaux, Crowley Post-Signal.

Special sections

Open Class: 1, The Advocate. 3. The Advocate.

College-Pro photography

Class I: 1, Travis Spradling, The Advocate.

Prep-Amateur photography

Class I: 1, Rick Hickman, Lake Charles American Press. 2, Travis Spradling, The Advocate.

General photography

Class II: 1, Raymond Partsch III, The Daily Iberian.

Major awards

Best section

Class I: 1, The Advocate.

Class II: 1, The Daily Iberian.

Prep writer of the year

Class I: 1, Jimmy Watson, Shreveport Times. 2, Robin Fambrough, The Advocate.

Class II: 1, Jim Derry, St. Tammany Farmer.

Beat writer of the year

Open Class: 1, Brody Miller, The Athletic. 2, Luke Johnson, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate. (HM) Christian Clark, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

Columnist of the year

Class I: 1, Scott Rabalais, The Advocate. (HM) Rod Walker, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

Class II: 1, John James Marshall, Designated Writers.

Story of the year

Jeff Duncan, The Athletic

Sportswriter of the year

Raymond Partsch III, The Daily Iberian & Kinder Courier News

Newspaper sweepstakes

(points awarded on a 3-2-1 basis in all categories in regular writing contest except for Story of the Year; first-place awards in parentheses)

Class I (top five): 1, The Advocate (5), 24 points. 2, The Athletic (4), 18. 3, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate (1), 12. 4, Shreveport Times (4), 12. 5, Tiger Rag (1), 8.

Class II (top five): 1, tie, The Daily Iberian (3), and St. Tammany Farmer (1), 11 points. 3, Designated Writers (3), 9. 4, Ouachita Citizen (1), 7. 5, tie, Crowley Post-Signal (1) and Kinder Courier News, 6.

BROADCASTING

Best radio show host (solo): 1, Matt Moscona, 104.5 ESPN.

Best radio show host (duo): 1, John James Marshall and Ben Marshall, 1130 The Tiger.

Best radio interview: 1, Raymond Partsch III, 103.7 The Game.

Best live radio broadcast team: 1, Tony Taglavore and Jimmy Martin, The River 95.7 FM.

Best podcast: 1, Ralph Malbrough, Andrew Juge, Dave Cariello and Kevin Held, Saints Happy Hour Podcast.

Best TV sportscast: 1, Fletcher Mackel, WDSU-TV.

Best live TV broadcast team: 1, Lyn Rollins and Chris Mycoskie, ESPN+

SPORTS INFORMATION/COMMUNICATIONS

Release/Feature

(Division I, Football): 1, Jason Pugh, Northwestern State.

(Division II, Men’s basketball & baseball): 1, Kane McGuire, Louisiana Tech.

(Division III, Women’s basketball & softball): 1, Harrison Valentine, LSU.

(Division IV. all other sports): 1, Kane McGuire, Louisiana Tech.

Game notes: 1, Matt Sullivan, UL.

College radio play-by-play: 1, Chris Blair, LSU.

Best college graphic: 1, UL baseball.

Best college photo: 1. Ben Massey, UL.