Getty ImagesMike HensonBBC Sport rugby union news reporter8 minutes agoCommentsPremiership Rugby bosses say that a proposed rebel breakaway rugby circuit targeting some of the league’s top stars is fundamentally flawed, and would wreck the pathway producing new talent.R360, which has been fronted by former England centre Mike Tindall, plans to launch next year, promising bumper contracts, a globe-trotting itinerary and new revenue streams.However, Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor says he has had no contact with its organisers and doubts their ambitions can be realised.”The R360 thing is a distraction, sure, but it’s not grounded in the same amount of work and detail that we’ve been doing,” he said.”It’s not a threat per se, but we have no idea how it could ever work full stop – definitely not for the club game in England, in France, the United Rugby Championship, in the southern hemisphere.”R360 plans to run in two blocks – from April to June and August to September. Its organisers hope its schedule might co-exist with the men’s international rugby calendar in the northern hemisphere, however it would put it on a collision course with domestic rugby in Europe.England are contractually obliged to pick players from Premiership clubs, meaning any R360 recruits would immediately risk their Test career.Any new event may not be sanctioned by the game’s governing bodies and would require significant investment to lure players, hire venues and market itself to fans.With the new Nations Cup tournament beginning in 2026, a first Club World Cup cleared for launch in 2028 and new, deeper agreements between the existing club and international game, Massie-Taylor believes the start-up competition risks the gains of recent years.”Rugby needs roots, it doesn’t need pop-ups,” he added.”There’s an international game, there’s a club game that relies on it, and there’s a community game.”The whole thing’s linked and the community game’s inspired by both. Funding comes down to help the community game and that sometimes is an inhibitor to growth because you have to find a solution that compromises all these types of things.”But without those roots it’s very difficult to understand how a system could ever work.”Premiership Rugby says it has recorded 30% growth among fans aged 18-34, while this Saturday’s Premiership final between Bath and Leicester has sold out in record time.It is one of 30 matches to have sold out this season, up from 18 in 2023-24 and 13 in 2022-23.Broadcaster TNT Sports have reported 10% growth in audiences for the Premiership this season, and recorded their biggest Friday night rugby audience ever for Bath’s semi-final win over Bristol.TNT boss Andrew Georgiou was more blunt about R360’s claims that they can tap into unrealised audiences and income.”If these folks believe that they are going to grow the revenue by putting this thing on, I think they’re delusional,” he said. “I really do.”What it will do is further complicate what is already a well-functioning rugby ecosystem.”I would just ask some pretty fundamental questions around is this a commercially sustainable model?”The fact that it’s being likened to LIV Golf, I think is a perfect analogy. It’s commercially unsustainable.”‘Big game’ concept could go overseasFollowing in the footsteps of Harlequins’ well-established ‘Big Game’ concept, Bristol played their home game against West Country rivals Bath at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium last month, drawing more than 51,000 to the Welsh capital.Another club is considering the possibility of shifting a regular-season home game to a bigger stage for the 2025-26 season, with Massie-Taylor saying the league might test the waters across the Atlantic in the run-up to the Rugby World Cup in the United States in 2031.Newcastle staged a home game against Saracens in Philadelphia in 2017, but the fixture fell well short of the hoped-for sellout, with the 18,500-capacity Talen Energy Stadium less than a third full.Saracens, who were also the ‘away’ team for London Irish’s more successful St Patrick’s Day fixture in New Jersey in 2016, have shown interest in taking a game stateside previously, with then chief executive Mark Thompson saying in September they would “certainly” consider it if the circumstances were right.The 2025-26 Premiership season will begin on a Thursday evening, with the opening round reconfigured to avoid any clash with the Women’s Rugby World Cup final.The Red Roses are hot favourites to advance to Saturday, 27 September’s showpiece at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.The first matches of the season will be spread across Thursday 25, Friday 26 and Sunday, 28 September, with a number of clubs interested in testing out the timeslot on Thursday evening.Next year’s Six Nations will also begin on a Thursday evening, with French broadcasters keen to maximise audiences and avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics the following day.Related topicsRugby Union

Tasnim ChowdhuryBBC Sport journalist1 hour agoYou might have noticed something missing from the courts at Queen’s Club this year – where have the line judges gone?A familiar sight around the edges of the courts for decades, the men and women who shout “out” and “fault” have been replaced by electronic line calling.Electronic line calling uses cameras, computers and sensors to track a ball and is used by tennis umpires to judge whether a ball is in or out.This season the men’s tour – the ATP – has adopted the technology across all of its events, while the WTA – the women’s tour – has also been using it at many of its events. A combined men’s and women’s event, such as Queen’s, offers an easy opportunity for the technology to be used across the two tournaments. The ATP said the move to electronic line calling was to “optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces”.A new women’s event at Queen’s started on Monday, while the men’s tournament follows at the same venue a week later.Getty ImagesGet in touchSend us your questionsContact formContact formWhat about Wimbledon?Wimbledon will end its 147-year use of line judges this summer, relying solely on electronic line calling.The technology will be in place for qualifying and the main draw.Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam tournament that still uses line judges and players are not allowed to use electronic replays to challenge human decision.The French Open want to maintain traditions synonymous with the 134-year-old tournament and are unwilling to lose human control.This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.What is Ask Me Anything?Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits.We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world’s biggest sporting events.Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio.More questions answered…Why female tennis players are returning to Queen’s after half a centuryWhen does the tennis grass court season begin?Why does French Open not have electronic line calling?Related topicsTennis

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedJess AndersonBBC Sport journalist at Queen’s Club9 June 2025, 17:58 BSTUpdated 34 minutes agoBritain’s Sonay Kartal secured the biggest win of her career as women’s tennis returned to Queen’s Club for the first time since 1973.The 23-year-old secured a superb 6-1 3-6 6-3 win over world number 16 Daria Kasatkina of Australia to start her grass-court season on a high.It is the first time a women’s tournament has been held at the iconic venue since 1973, when Olga Morozova lifted the trophy.Queen’s has been a mainstay on the men’s calendar and a WTA 500 event has been added this year in an attempt to raise the profile of the women’s game and increase the visibility of the sport.Come Sunday, the trophy will finally have a new name on it, with world number seven Zheng Qinwen, Australian Open champion Madison Keys and 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina among the top seeds competing in the capital.Jodie Burrage will attempt to set up a meeting with doubles partner Kartal in the last 16 when she faces Amanda Anisimova later on Monday.Meanwhile, British pair Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu overcame China’s Jiang Zinyu and Wu 6-4 6-2 Fang-hsien on their maiden outing as a doubles partnership on a packed Court One.It could be an all-British affair in the quarter-finals should Britons Burrage and Kartal overcome top seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Erin Routliffe on Tuesday.Kartal has enjoyed a remarkable rise in the past 12 months, moving from outside the top 250 to a career-high of 50 in the world.Cheered on by a packed partisan crowd, Kartal dominated the opening set against Kasatkina before the Australian bounced back in the second set to level proceedings.But it was an impressive response from the Briton, who beamed after slamming down a forehand winner to seal victory.”The nerves hit me a little but to be able to play on this court with you guys cheering me on it was a super special moment,” said Kartal.”The last few months I’ve played bigger tournaments so I’m handling the bigger occasions better. “But I’m going at my own pace in this crazy sport.”‘Scrap that, we’re going for the Wimbledon title’Fans were treated to an appearance from Sir Andy Murray before the action kicked off, with the club’s main court renamed the Andy Murray Arena in honour of the five-time champion.Murray spoke on court before hitting a few balls – later apologising for his “diabolical” tennis.The Briton also delivered the coin toss for the first match of the tournament between two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia.Getty ImagesBut while crowds had gathered early to see three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, it was the more intimate court one where fans queued for over an hour to see Boulter and Raducanu team up.The pair were full of smiles as they comfortably came through their opening-round match thanks to some powerful baseline shots from Boulter and clever put-aways from Raducanu, who was playing only her second WTA Tour doubles match.Asked if they would pair up again for Wimbledon, Raducanu gave a diplomatic answer, saying: “We haven’t spoken about it.”It kind of happened spontaneously but it went pretty well. We’re just going to keep trying to do as best as we can this week and take it from there.”Boulter joked: “Scrap what she said – we’re going for the Wimbledon title.”To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedThat friendly rapport between the two translated on court, with the pair laughing and high-fiving between points.Raducanu even had a chat with the crowd while filling up her water bottle, such is the closeness of the stand to the players’ chairs.Backed by a capacity crowd of 1,000, the British number one and two complimented each other well.”Sometimes on the smaller courts you get a bigger feel for the match because it’s more intimate and you hear the support more. I think it puts a really nice feel to it,” Raducanu added.It also gave the two a chance to play on the grass before they begin their singles campaigns on Tuesday.Raducanu faces Spain’s Cristina Bucsa before Boulter takes on Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic.Related topicsTennis

Andy Murray tells BBC Sport’s Clare Balding he would be open to coaching again in the future, but doesn’t “think it will happen immediately” following his stint with Novak Djokovic earlier this year. WATCH: ‘Boultucanu’ up and running with doubles win Available to UK users only.

Reuters24 minutes ago7 CommentsChampions League runners-up Inter Milan have appointed Parma boss Cristian Chivu as manager.The 44-year-old, a former defender and youth team coach at Inter, leaves Parma after only 13 games in charge and replaces Simone Inzaghi.The former Romania international was appointed by Parma in February – his first senior coaching role – winning three games as he steered Parma to Serie A safety.Inzaghi left Inter after the 5-0 Champions League final defeat by Paris St-Germain on 31 May and has taken charge of Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.Chivu, who has signed a contract until 2027, won three league titles during seven years as an Inter player.Inter said he has “gone through experiences and challenges of enormous importance, events that have shaped him as a man and a professional, binding him inextricably to the black and blue colours”.Chivu will take charge of Inter during the Club World Cup. They begin their campaign against Mexican side Monterrey on 17 June.Related topicsItalian Serie AEuropean FootballInter MilanFootball

Getty ImagesElizabeth HudsonBBC Sport Journalist33 minutes agoA fan died after falling from the stands during Sunday’s Nations League final between Spain and Portugal in Munich.The man, from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district in Bavaria, fell from the middle tier into the lower tier and then on to a staircase in the media area at the Allianz Arena.He died at the scene from his injuries.Munich police are investigating but said there was “no evidence to suggest foul play”.Portugal beat Spain 5-3 on penalties after the game finished 2-2.A Uefa statement read: “Despite the best efforts of the medical team, the person sadly passed away at 00:06. Our thoughts are with their loved ones at this difficult time.”Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said: “I want to show my deepest condolences because a fan has died. It reminds us of what is important in life.”A Portugal spokesperson said the death “casts a shadow on our victory” and coach Roberto Martinez said it was “extremely sad news”.Related topicsFootball